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| THE NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA VICTORIAN REGION |
| Locations
Emlenton
Styles Adam
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STICK (Page 1)
In the 1860's and 1870's American builders developed
a uniquely American style of architecture, one that emphasized the architecture
of wood. Rather than attempt to emulate the masonry of Greek and
Roman buildings of antiquity, copy the style of fifteenth century Italian
villas finished in stone and concrete, pretend to be a quaint English cottage,
or create the illusion of a castle built of stones, American builders chose
to exploit the abundant resources of wood found in the United States in
new and innovative ways while paying no heed to historical precedents.
The American builders of the time chose to erect expensive houses which
emphasized the new, light, highly versatile wood frame structural system
recently developed - the balloon frame with its light 2x4 studs and 2x10
joists and rafters.
The Stick style was a masculine architecture of sharply drawn lines, lots of angularity and few curves. No longer limited by the great weight and assembly difficulties of masonry construction, the new Stick designs soared high into the sky with jagged, irregular roofs and plenty of American imagination. The steeply sloped roofs extended noticeably beyond the wall line like sharp knife edges and in some form emphasized the rafter construction. The horizontal sheathing and vertical cornerboards suggested a weave or lattice of “stickwork”. This stickwork was often complimented with inverted picket fence vertical cladding, ornamental bands of decorative wood arrangements at the floor levels, and decorative trusses at the gable ends. Sometimes, decorative horizontal and vertical boards were applied over the wall cladding. The exterior wall cladding and decoration of the Stick style house served to emphasize and celebrate the wood skeleton beneath. Jacob Cadwallader was from Eastern Pennsylvania
and was trained as a lawyer at Harvard. Upon graduation, he chose
to try life in the Oil Region of Venango County. He did very well
from the start as both a producer and refiner of oil. When the Bradford
field came in, Cadwallader did well again as an owner of Anchor Oil.
He also had considerable success in Warren County. Cadwallader lived
in Titusville. In 1870 he built a fine Stick residence at 609 N.
Perry.
This excellent example of Stick architecture clearly shows the soaring angularity the style is known for. The mass and plan are particularly complex and irregular. Vertical cornerboards, horizontal stick elements, and decorative wood arrangements about the floor levels all testify to the reality of a stick frame structure beneath the wall cladding. Note the simple form of the windows which call attention to the stud framing rather than disguise it. The underside of the roof eaves are sheathed parallel to the roof surface above and clearly suggest the presence of rafter framing. An old photo of this house shows decorative trusses were situated across the gable ends; the plain vergeboards are not original. The house has undergone other changes over the years.
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