From Vernacular to Spectacular: How Houses Changed Lifestyles of the Hudson Valley Dutch, 1700-1830

During the 18th century, new concepts in design were introduced and adopted. Modifications to domestic buildings suggested even a small house could reflect an owner’s stylish aspirations. Increasing material wealth enabled many householders to enlarge their dwellings and embrace the concept of specialized and personalized rooms. Older vernacular houses were adapted and new structures were built. The new plans’ Change of form preceded and unintentionally results in new lifestyles. The adoption of specialized rooms fragmented earlier living arrangements and effectively ended the communal post-medieval household. Hall passageways, private rooms, and locking doors established the setting fundamental to the emergence of attitudes concerning individual personal privacy and popularized perceptions fundamental to contemporary lifestyles.

Introduction by Roderic H. Blackburn. Color plates by Geoffrey Gross.