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| Gingerbread House |
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| Conch Houses |
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| An Eclectic View I so admire gingerbread houses, whether they be in Martha's Vineyard, Key West, New Orleans or any city that is adorned with this jewelry layer of ornate woodwork. The ultimate accessory lending charm and interest to any structure! Although I have been to Key West several times before this tiny little city always offers up new avenues of discovery. There is always something new to grasp and if I've seen it before my poor memory lends me the ability to enjoy it all over again. Enjoying the city sights with good friends a very special blessing! Strolling the streets with my friend Judy, cameras in hand we meandered about capturing all that struck our fancy! Hope you enjoy some of the eclectic structures that I captured! A bit of conch house trivia: A conch house is a style of architecture that developed in Key West, Florida in the 19th century and that was also used in Miami, and rarely elsewhere in Florida, into the early 20th century. The introduction of the conch house style is attributed to immigrants from the Bahamas. The conch house, like other Florida vernacular architecture styles, is built of wood, and set on posts or piers, which allows air to circulate under the floor. Conch houses are rectangular, of one or two floors, and usually have a porch across the full width of the front of the house (both floors if the house has two floors). Other characteristics are horizontal weatherboarding or clapboarding, low gabled or hip roofs, and double-hung sash windows. Roofs may be metal or shingled. Conch house designs were often influenced by Classical Revival or Neoclassical architecture. Other than carved brackets and/or rafter ends on porches, conch houses generally lack ornamentation.~ Wikipedia~ |
