A flounder house is a term used in some areas to describe a type of house with a roof with a single slope, rather than the double slope of

gabled roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its roof ridge, ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The roof pitch, p ...

. Some are oriented so that the shed roof runs perpendicular to the facade, in these tallest wall of the house lacks windows and doors. The house may align with a property edge, sit at the back of its lot, or align with other houses on its street. Others have a different number of apparent stories on the facade and the rear elevation, with the ridge line running parallel the facade. Though modern examples exist, most flounder houses date from the 18th or 19th century. They can be found in cities in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from the

Mississippi River Valley The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflue ...

to the East Coast. The flounder house's

namesake A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...

is the similarly asymmetrical

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuary, estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related speci ...

fish.

Origin

The motivation for building flounder houses is debated. Common folklore follow one of three themes: "a result of an early restrictive building ordinance, the original owner's plan for future expansion, or a desire to reduce

property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...

es." In fact, shed roofed buildings are often simply the cheapest to construct. Residents of various cities with shed-roofed houses believe that these houses are indigenous to their city.

Examples

Shed-roof houses can be found across the United States, including in

St Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

;

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

;

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

;

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

; Fredericksburg and

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

;

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

;

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of 2020, the city's population was 5,551. New Cast ...

; and

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The term "flounder", though, is not used in most of these locations. 277 flounder houses have been cataloged in St. Louis, Missouri as of July 2015. The Cassey House is a flounder house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1960, Alexandria, Virginia, may have had 75 flounder houses, dramatically fewer than the 1500 flounder houses estimated to have existed there in the 19th century. A parsonage built in 1787 claims the distinction of oldest flounder house in Alexandria.

Legacy

The Cultural Resources Office of St. Louis began a survey in 2015, in order to better preserve the city's flounder houses. Individuals have also taken interest in flounder houses, sometimes incorporating historical houses into modern renovations. In ''The Carlisle Chronicles,'' a 1986 mystery trilogy by Norma Johnston, the protagonists' family lives in a flounder house designed to avoid a glass tax.

References

{{Reflist American architectural styles House styles House types

Origin

Examples

Legacy

See also

References