Vernacular Architecture of Nappanee

By Brad Miller, community preservation specialist, at Indiana Landmarks

While driving through a historic town, it is easy to get distracted by the ornate details of a Queen Anne house or the unending layers of a clay-tile roof, and not recognize the real character-defining buildings of a community. Nappanee has numerous landmark buildings that certainly catch the curious eye of the passerby, but a quick double-take and trip beyond Main and Market Streets opens up a much deeper look at the vernacular architecture of a community that emerged with the arrival of the railroad.

Most of the buildings in Nappanee and towns alike would not have been designed by an architect, but rather built by craftsmen following a stock design or relying on their experience of what a building should look like and how it should function. The resulting vernacular architecture does not always get the same attention as high-styles of architecture, even though most buildings in the United States would fall under this category. While it is easiest to define vernacular as common, simple, or everyday architecture, it is better to see it as universal and functional architecture. It is tried and true.   

A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia and Lee McAlester

A popular vernacular housing style residents constructed in Nappanee in the latter half of the nineteenth century, was that of the gable-front and wing. The name explains it all: the house consisted of an either one or two-story gabled front with a wing that extends from the back. Bedrooms were typically located on both floors in the front, while the kitchen and parlor were located in the back wing or an extended ell to rear. The practical design and wood-frame construction provided a reliable house form and easily obtainable materials that followed the expansion westward with the railroads. The layout also created a natural corner for a front porch and the opportunity for a property owner to individualize their homes with decorative wooden millwork.

A single gable-front wing house may keep the stories of the many families that called it home, but it does not visually conjure up images of the past. When we step back and see the forest for the trees, however, these houses scattered across the Eastside Historic District, greater Nappanee, and the country, become a story that connects us all to a shared heritage. A history of “every day” homes, where the working class people that kept the wheels of Nappanee turning, raised their families and fostered a greater sense of community that residents strive to continue today.