Many houses had low-pitched gabled (side or center) or shallow hipped roofs with chimneys at the ends of the rectangle. Some Federal houses, however, had flat roofs with a railing around it.

 

There was often a deck with a railing on top, shown in the illustration. However, the central hall plan was normally retained. The house was two rooms deep, and sometimes extra wings were added.

 

There might be a portico using either Ionic columns with scroll tops or pilasters over the front door. The entry door area might also include an ornate surround. The door in the illustration is Palladian with sidelights.

 

Each floor had five (or three or seven) narrow windows. Brick homes used stone lintels over the windows, which were double-hung with six panes in each wooden sash. In other instances, they used twelve or eight panes in each sash. Windows were always horizontally and vertically symmetrical.

 

Northeastern homes were usually of clapboard, while Southerners used brick. Sometimes three sides were of brick and flatboards were used on the front. Brick was almost always used in urban areas, where fireproofing became mandatory.

 

Since there were few colors of paint available, the most popular were yellow, ochre, or white. Outbuildings and sometimes the sides of a house that the public didn't see were often red, which was the economy color for paint. (Is that why barns are historically red?)

 

Dormer windows were sometimes used in attic areas. Many homes had arched Palladian windows on the upper floor above the central front door, which had sidelights and a semi-elliptical or semicircular fanlight (entablature).

 

Decorative moldings were often used to emphasize cornices. The illustration above shows dentil molding on the cornice below the roof line.