MEMORIES OF THE GREAT WAR

Tudor Style was one of the dominant architectural styles in middle-class American suburbs during the 1920's. Many scholars say America's participation in World War I set the stage for the popularity of Tudor cottages after 1918. These photographs show the picturesque aspect of the ancient vernacular timber-framed cottages with their casement windows and thatched roofs. American "doughboys" would have passed through many such villages in England and France during The Great War.

Of course, modern Americans of 1920 didn't want homes built with timber frame structures, wattle-and-daub walls, claustrophobic little casement windows, and vermin-infested thatched roofs. They wanted to keep the same up-to-date floorplans that were already popular in the suburbs and they wanted their homes built with modern materials and technology. But they wanted the style of their homes to invoke  idealized rustic cottages of the Middle Ages.

Photographs From: The English Countryside, published 1935 by F. J. Ward, London