Florida cracker architecture

Florida cracker style house

Florida cracker architecture is a style of vernacular architecture typified by a wood-frame house. It was widespread in the 19th and early 20th century. Some elements of the style are still popular as a source of design themes.

Florida cracker refers to colonial-era English pioneer settlers and their descendants. There was no air conditioning, and the new immigrants to the Sunshine State had to design their homes to get some relief from the harsh Florida climate.

Houses of this style are characterized by raised floors, a straight central hallways from the front to the back of the home (sometimes called "dog trot" design) and a detached kitchen. Later, iterations of this style incorporated metal roofs. The homes were typically built with wide porches, or verandas wrapping around the entire home, to provide shade as well as additional living space.

Examples

Cracker style house at the Forest Capital Museum State Park

• Big Bend Farm Buildings at the Tallahassee Museum in Tallahassee, Florida
• Cracker Homestead at the Forest Capital Museum State Park in Perry, Florida
• Florida vernacular architecture at the Cracker Country museum on the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida
• Capt. Francis A. Hendry House in LaBelle, Florida
• Stephens House at the Manatee Village Historical Park, Bradenton, Florida
• Old Mayo Free Press Building, the Old Lafayette County Courthouse and House of the Seven Gables in Mayo, Florida
• Bensen House in Grant, Florida
• Plumb House in Clearwater, Florida
• Winchester Symphony House in Eau Gallie, Florida
• Laura (Riding) Jackson Historic House in Vero Beach, Florida

See also

• Classic Cracker, Florida's Wood-Frame Vernacular Architecture, Ronald W. Haase, 1992, Pineapple Press, Sarasota, Florida, ISBN 1-56164-013-1
• Architecture of the United States
• Cracker Gothic

External links

• Valle, Erick (2005). "Florida Vernacular Architecture". Traditional Neighborhood Design. Archived from the original on May 19, 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2006.
• "Gallery: Florida Cracker Homestead". Exploring Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers. Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida. 2002. Retrieved June 28, 2006.
• "Cracker House". A History of Central Florida Podcast. University of Central Florida.
• Cracker Houses