10-The Saltbox House

Renovated saltbox house, fourth generation 

So, this year we are spending 8 days in a saltbox house in Twillingate, Newfoundland. The regional architecture has been well documented in the movie “The Shipping News” where one of those saltbox houses had to be anchored to survive heavy storms. Eventually the anchor fails to keep the house in place…

Historical saltbox

Why is the house called a ‘saltbox’? Because it looks a bit like a saltbox (see photo). Salt was very important to colonial Americans for food preservation. In order for salt to not clump up it needed to be kept dry and thus was put into those saltboxes which, in turn, were hung close to the hearth of the house so it would remain dry. (Source: Historic House Blog at http://historichouseblog.com/2009/01/11/why-do-they-call-it-a-salt-box/) 

Most Newfoundland houses are built of wood which is a function of the environment since lumber was and is easily available and could be built quickly. Brick and stone houses required money, skilled work plus a quarry for the stone. Since most wooden houses don’t hold up well against harsh environmental conditions and it is relatively easy to build a new house, it is rare to see a 100-year old house still standing. For that reason it is rather difficult for a cultural geographer to come up with a house typology that might work across the board—but certain house elements—particularly the floor plan--have proven to be relatively persistent.

Much of the information on these houses is derived from Mannion, ed. The Peopling of Newfoundland: essays in historical geography, Social and Economic Papers series; No. 8 (St. John's, NL: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland,1977). It is interesting to note that the saltbox houses of Newfoundland seem to have evolved about 100 years later than the identical houses in New England. Here as well as there the long, low pitched roof was to partially deflect the effects of snow and rain.

Mannion, ed. The Peopling of Newfoundland: essays in historical geography, Social and Economic Papers series; No. 8 (St. John's, NL: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland,1977)

The first generation house was a single-story house with a loft and a peaked roof. Children generally slept in the loft which often had one or two gable windows. The second generation is a saltbox house with a full second story. The front door was only used for formal occasions. Usually the house was raised by one floor at the time when the roof needed repairs or when two generations lived under the same roof.

The third generation evolved from the saltbox house showing a full two-story structure and a flat-roofed two-story addition, an economical increase of living space. The junction of the flat roof and the peaked roof was difficult to keep watertight with shingles, so flexible felt was used on the flat roof and shingles on the peaked roof. The fourth-generation house eliminated the problems of the third-generation by using a more steeply pitched roof. Basically, the fourth-generation house was re-roofed; size-wise it was somewhat smaller. Inside, a central hall was introduced.

The study the results of which  I used as guidance on saltbox architecture was carried out in the Trinity--Bonavista area some 40 years ago but one can conclude that most of the coastal areas will showcase similar architecture (the saltbox house itself is derived from English cottages) as long as the settlers were predominantly English/Irish. In Twillingate one can see some of the old house structures but most houses have been renovated; at the very least they received some new, fresh siding. Thus it is difficult to find original first through fourth generation saltbox-style houses but in many cases the style was not entirely discarded, some of the style development remains visible. I am posting some photos here where elements of first to fourth generation houses are visible.

Elements of second generation house visible even
though there is an extra story.

Elements of the third generation clearly visible.

Elements of the third generation visible and added on.