West Virginia House: A Union of Two Vernaculars

Abstract

This project uses elements of two architectural vernaculars that were once common in West Virginia.

The agrarian vernacular includes I-houses and barns. The industrial vernacular includes buildings of the timber and coal industries—particularly coal tipples.

My project hopes to reflect the wrenching changes the coming of the Industrial Revolution brought to West Virginia in the decades following the Civil War.

The building is a house in rural Pocahontas County.