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Having encountered the design in the Caribbean, the free people of color who came to New Orleans from Saint-Domingue built many shotguns for themselves and others in the early nineteenth century. By the 1830s, the dwellings were also being utilized for factory, farm, and railroad workers. For some working poor, the house type afforded the chance at a decent home, even ownership, close to where the house builder made his or her living. Their narrow, front-to-back design, with doors aligned in a row, aids air circulation during the summer. The houses often do not have windows on side walls, as their close proximity to neighbouring houses does not allow for ventilation or light from the side. Such close proximity does, however, maximize socializing, with residents often sitting on front porches and chatting with neighbours and people passing by on the street.
Shotgun House Plans
Generally, shotgun houses are set near the street with no front yard, though some can accommodate a small one. There’s a myth that shotgun houses were built to avoid property taxes on road frontage. In reality, there’s no hard evidence that frontage tax was ever really a thing. Shotgun houses can also be found in places like Atlanta, Nashville, Raleigh, Louisville, and other cities. Though they can also be found elsewhere in the country, it’s fair to say that true shotgun houses are found predominantly in the South.
What's this about a double-barrel shotgun house?
Later variations of shotgun homes include “double barrel shotguns,” which are single buildings made up of two identical shotgun houses sharing a center wall, but set in reverse layouts. Two-story shotguns are unheard of, but some have a camelback addition—or a partial second story on the back of the house. Despite their size, the rooms in shotgun houses are surprisingly large, usually around 14 square feet (1.3 square meters). A modified version of the shotgun house, the double shotgun, was later developed for larger families and can serve as a duplex for more than one family. These homes bear the same style as the traditional shotgun house, except that the double shotgun is essentially two single shotgun homes fused together side by side. They share a single roof and doors that connect the adjoining parallel rooms.
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Brackets that hold the roof aloft are usually carved intricately, after European tastes in the Victorian or Greek Revival fashions. Vent covers are intricately designed and the front windows and doors are adorned with shutters. While exact style and layout may may vary from house to house, most shotgun-style homes have distinctive properties that set them apart from other homes. According to O'Connor, a shotgun house is typically a single-story, narrow home that is one room wide—usually 12 feet or less—and three to four rooms deep. For many years it was widely assumed that the long narrow design had been developed in New Orleans in the 19th century so that houses could be built on narrow plots of land. However, preservationists who cherished the shotguns historical significance and architectural impact began restoration projects in major cities.
“He waved, and I waved back,” Mellencamp said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “That's how 'Pink Houses' started.”.[33][34] In Bruce Springsteen's song "We Take Care of Our Own", from the album Wrecking Ball, he refers to shotgun houses, singing "We take care of our own, from the shotgun shack to the Super Dome". Springsteen also references "shotgun shack" in "Reason to Believe" from his 1982 album Nebraska, with the line, "In a whitewashed shotgun shack, an old man passes away / they take his body to the graveyard, and over him, they pray." Fans of the Kentucky Derby can end their quest for the perfect accommodations near the race track by taking up shelter at this Germantown residence.
Historically, the rooms were ordered front to back from the living room, dining room, bedroom, and kitchen. Initially, there was no indoor bathroom; it was later added behind the last bedroom or off the kitchen. Early shotgun houses had flat roofs, but later constructions had pitched roofs with a gable and an extending overhang. Decorative brackets support the overhangs, and ornate vents often graced the underside.
Homebuyers tend to gravitate toward open concept living and dining spaces; they like bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. The sequential, interconnected rooms of original shotgun houses aren’t as appealing to everybody. Thanks to their streamlined, functional layout and low square footage, shotgun-style houses are a historic and charming alternative to tiny homes, making them a great choice for people who want to reduce their footprint. Aside from its historical significance, the shotgun is gaining popularity with the tiny house movement growth. Home buyers are captivated by its simple charm and potential for innovative decor accents.
Inhabitants of shotgun houses also live in close contact with each other, since the lack of hallways requires residents to pass through each other’s rooms. Shotgun house, narrow house prevalent in African American communities in New Orleans and other areas of the southern United States, although the term has come to be used for such houses regardless of location. Shotgun houses generally consist of a gabled front porch and two or more rooms laid out in a straight line. Shotgun houses may have derived their name from that room format, as it was sometimes said that a bullet shot from the front door would pass through the house without hitting anything and exit through the back door. They represent a unique African American contribution to architecture in the United States.
After the Haitian rebellion that began in 1791 and culminated in Haiti’s independence in 1804, many Haitians relocated to the southern United States, either freely or as slaves brought by plantation owners fleeing Haiti. In Louisiana and other southern states, the cailles evolved into shotgun houses made from wood, rather than stucco, but retained the narrow structure and gabled entrances. Shotgun houses first appeared in the early 19th century and peaked in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century.
Be that as it may, the 1,600-square-foot stunner was built only last year, and boasts the modern amenities to prove it. Indoors, an inviting living room opens onto a modern kitchen, complete with sleek stainless steel appliances—the perfect place to cook up Bayou cuisine. The sea-green exterior of this 1900s-era shotgun home in New Orleans’ Bywater North neighborhood is proof of the home’s playful personality. Brand-new tile bathroom floors work with the original refinished hardwood floors to refresh the home while preserving its historical appeal.
The placement separates the house into two distinct living spaces, and you can close the doors to increase privacy. Though designed to be compact and efficient, shotgun houses have distinct design features that allow for instant identification. Aside from the layout, there are specific facades well known to the shotgun house design. In New Orleans, neighborhood and historic preservation organizations often set specific building standards for shotgun house construction.
Some allow modern materials that resemble the traditional ones, while others insist on authentic lumber. There may even be codes regarding the homeowner’s choice of exterior paint colors. The shotgun house is a narrow single-story dwelling originating in New Orleans in the early 19th century. The long, narrow design came by way of West African and Haitian immigrants ideal for the small plots of land. Additionally, the high ceilings and straight passageways were conducive to warm, humid climates. In some cities, shotgun houses were torn down to make way for high-rise apartments or commercial buildings.
"The shotgun style of consecutive rooms with aligned doors allows for excellent airflow," O'Connor says. These one-room-wide single-story homes are situated close to their neighbors, so they don't have side windows. Oftentimes these small homes have been painted in bright colors, and their welcoming front porches have been decked out with gingerbread trim. Apart from the historical significance, shotgun houses have started to gain popularity among tiny home enthusiasts.
O'Connor says these houses take advantage of narrow lots and were usually placed close to the street. Shotgun facades after the 1800s typically have a gabled roof, and many shotgun-style houses have gabled front porches as well. The living room in a shotgun house is typically entered from the front door, with one or two bedrooms set behind and the kitchen in the very rear. The original shotgun homes of the 1800s didn't have bathrooms, so many historic shotgun homes have bathroom additions in the back of the house. If you live in or have traveled through the American south, especially in New Orleans, you may have seen rows of colorful, charming homes sitting on narrow lots. These historic houses, known as shotgun-style homes, are just as functional as they are picturesque, with a simple, efficient layout that allows fresh air to flow through the entirety of the space.
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For example, a living room is often followed by a bedroom followed by a bathroom followed by the kitchen in the back. Oftentimes, shotgun homes were arranged so that all the interior doors lined up with the front and back doors, maximizing air circulation during hot Southern summers. Modern iterations will either have a bathroom added to the back of the house or the interior rejiggered to include this modern convenience. Above all, shotgun homes are a master class in spatial efficiency, with a focus on function and reverence for historical details that have stood the test of time.
In urban areas, shotgun houses were constructed close together due to land scarcity. Narrow shotgun homes became a great way to house as many people as possible near the city center. The design followed the rivers North and West from New Orleans, then later traveled more widely via railroad. “Probably any town in which building of inexpensive houses was going on between around 1880 to 1920,” Edwards said. Shotgun houses might sound kind of boring -- a few rooms one story high in a single row, with no windows on their sides. Indeed, shotgun houses would be somewhat plain if not for the aforementioned custom of embellishing them with ornate fixtures.
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