1. Look at the photograph of a saltbox house on the
What is a Saltbox House?
page of this web site. Are there any saltbox houses where you live now?
Ask some of the older people in your community if they remember a time
when there were more saltbox houses. If they do, ask them what happened to
those houses. Sometimes, houses are rebuilt into a completely different type of
house as newer house types come into style.
2. If you can find pictures of your community from the past, see if you
see any saltbox houses.
Things to Do If You Live Anywhere (including Newfoundland and Labrador)
3. How many different kinds of houses can you find in your community? Ask people who live in the houses if there is a name for the type of house they live in.
When were different types of houses built? Were certain types more popular at different times?
Can anyone tell you why one type of house is more popular than another?
Who made the houses? Did the people who were going to live in the house make them, or were there trades people, carpenters for example, who made the houses for them? Did this change over time?
Did people pick the shape of the house just because they liked the way it looked, or was there a practical reason why they thought this type of house better?
Have houses gotten bigger or smaller in your community over the years?
At the same time, did families get bigger or smaller?
How did the way that houses are heated change?
Why did people change the size of the houses they lived in?
Are all the houses in your community made of the same building materials?
If the materials used to build houses changed, try to find out when this changed.
Why did people change the materials that they used to make their houses?
To Find Out More
The article "Architecture" in the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
contains information about historical house types in the province and many
photographs.