Also called the shotgun Shack (The Talking Heads once made a reference), this housing style was popular from 1860’s – 1920’s, beginning in New Orleans but spreading through the deep south and as far as Chicago. Originally built for the middle class, Shotgun houses quickly became associated with poverty in America.
No more than 12′ wide, the shotgun house was a quaint product designed to make the maximum use of space in cramped subdivisions. They were typically elevated several feet above the ground to compensate for frequent flooding, and were so narrow that hallways were unfeasible. They were almost all wood frame & wood shingle construction, and many of them had no windows on their sides.
Thousands of these homes have been renovated thanks to urban gentrification projects; Chip & Joanna Gaines did one in Waco!
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