Handbook of Anacortes House Styles

This handbook documents house styles you will find in Anacortes.  We identify several examples of each style so that you can see several local variations.  There are not many better ways to enjoy an afternoon that walking around Anacortes to see them!  A bonus in doing this is that you likely will develop a sense of when and how Anacortes neighborhoods developed.  Styles tend to reflect the economics of a period and what people were doing.

  1. Vernacular Houses - Pyramid and Hipped Roof Variation
    1. Often called the workingman’s four-square, these houses reflect frontier values: they were simple and inexpensive to build, efficient, and lacked elaborate ornamentation.
  2. Queen Anne Houses
    1. Many Queen Anne houses were constructed as great mansions for wealthy industrial tycoons. However, the examples in Anacortes are smaller and more restrained, but they still exhibit the primary characteristics of the style.
  3. Craftsman Houses
    1. Craftsman houses were inspired primarily by the work of Greene and Greene, tCraftsman houses were inspired primarily by the work of Greene and Greene, two brothers practicing in California about 1900. It’s derived from the English and American Arts and Crafts movement of the time, a response to the highly decorative Victorian styles.
  4. Modern Style Houses
    1. Modern style houses share a number of features. Generally they have low-pitched gabled or hipped roofs, minimal front porches, and few decorative features.