America’s House of the Moment

Colonial revival has come in and out of fashion since the 1880s. We turn to it during periods of heightened nationalism, like in the 1920s when the federal government sharply curtailed immigration. At these moments, Americans look nostalgically at the colonial style of pre-revolutionary America and reimagine it for a new era.

Americans embraced modern architecture, building homes with larger rooms and cleaner lines, in postwar America. They were also falling in love with their cars. Cue the split level ranch, a style that so thoroughly embraces car culture that it manages to bring the beloved automobile into the house.

The McMansion first appeared in American suburbs in the 1980s, filling subdivisions with supersize, poorly constructed, convoluted homes. The style had its heyday in the early 2000s, at a time when banks were doling out subprime mortgages, fueling an overheated housing market that collapsed in 2008, bringing an end to the McMansion.

The modern farmhouse has captured the nation’s attention as the country grapples with rising populism amid deepening political divisions. It offers Americans an opportunity to embrace a romanticized, even fantastical, agrarian past with its cozy porches, quaint gables and wood beams. But step inside and the finishes offer all the creature comforts of a modern life.