Function Follows Form, How houses changed Lifestyles of the Hudson Valley Dutch 1700-1730.
During the eighteenth century, new concepts in domestic design were introduced and adopted. Modifications to elevation during the period suggested even a small house could reflect an owner's stylish aspirations. Increasing material wealth enabled many householders to enlarge their dwellings and introduce the concept of specialized and personalized rooms. Older vernacular houses were adapted and new structures were built. The new plans change of form preceded and unintentionally resulted in new lifestyles. The adoption of specialized rooms fragmented earlier living arrangements and effectively ended the communal post-medieval household. Hall passageways, private rooms, and locking doors established the setting fundamental to the emergence of attitudes concerning individual personal privacy and popularized perceptions fundamental to contemporary lifestyles. Harrison Meeske is the author of The Hudson Valley Dutch and Their Houses (Purple Mountain Press, 1998 and 2001). Lushly illustrated with 32 pages of large-format color plates by noted architectural photographer Geoffrey Gross.