AUGUSTA GALLERY
 of WEST VIRGINIA FOLKLIFE 

HOUSES

 

 

 

 

Jake Casto of Webster County stands at the house where he was raised. One room and a loft served a family of eleven.  (B3891I)

 
This "I house", in Braxton County, was the most popular type of dwelling in the last half of the nineteenth century. It has two rooms over two rooms with a central stairs. It’s name comes from the states where it was first identified and studied as a style of American folk architecture, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.  (B790A)

 
This is an excellent example of a "settler’s cabin." These were the first houses constructed by new settlers in the region. An old song perfectly describes it:

They build their houses of log walls,
But for windows, they have few at all;
A clapboard roof and an old slab door,
A sandstone chimley and a puncheon floor.

(B790S)

 
This early (1840) cabin has carved sunbursts on its mantle piece. This is an unusual decorative touch for this early period.

(FL1083B2)

 
This is a fine example of a two-story log dwelling in Randolph County. The central chimney is a characteristic of the type of house built by people of German descent.

(FL1189P)

 
A carved sunburst mantle piece on an early log house in Randolph County                                                                            (FL 491D)
The wood frame house at the right replaced the log constructed settler's cabin on the left as the family outgrew the original structure    FL 691F