The following projects are quaint examples of minimal traditional architecture in Las Vegas between 1958 and 1962. This house type usually assumes three different subtypes: gable-and-wing roof, side-gabled roof, and a variation of hipped-roof and front-gabled houses. These home types allow for some simple variation in the roof line with simple composition and a simple variation of materials. Ultimately, these unassuming homes contain very minimal stylistic details, with carefully placed windows and doors, plain shutters, a small porch, a chimney, and platform steps if desired.
During the Great Depression, the FHA was created to insure long-term, low-interest mortgages on small homes the average American could afford. The FHA not only provided insurance that covered a bank mortgage loan, it also prepared publications for the effective design of these small homes. A variety of publications featured minimal traditional homes between 1935 and 1950, often including descriptions of the FHA loan programs available to home buyers.
During the early 1940's, concentrations of minimal traditional homes were built across the US in areas where WWII production plants created a need for employee housing. Approximately 2.3 million war and defense homes, the majority minimal traditional, were built between 1940-1945. When the war ended, the post-war housing boom sought this housing type for its rapid construction in large suburban track developments, necessary to fulfill the wartime GI bill promising every returning serviceman an opportunity to purchase a home. Approx. 5.1 million homes were built between 1946 and 1949, the majority of them in the minimal traditional style.
By the 1950's the minimal traditional home was replaced by the Ranch style home due to post-war financial prosperity. American homeowners were able to afford construction of larger homes and no longer depend on FHA regulations for home ownership.
Hugh Taylor adopted this style of architecture during the 1950's and 1960's. The archive depicts an extensive number of drawings, both custom and track developments, for clients throughout the Las Vegas valley in the minimal traditional style. This house type ranges in size from 1000 to 1400 sq. ft. Taylor includes a few quaint details, such as diamond-shaped glass panes, shutters, window trims, paneled front door, and built-in planters.
Reference:
McAlester, Virginia, and A. Lee McAlester. "A Field Guide to American Houses: the Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture." New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2019.
Rayle, Greta J, and Helena Ruter. Rep. World War II Era Residential Housing in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada (1940-1945). City of Las Vegas, 2015. https://shpo.nv.gov/uploads/documents/World_War_II_Era_Housing_in_Las_Vegas,_Rayle_and_ Ruter,_2015.pdf
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Please visit our online archives to explore the vast collections of architectural drawings from over 1,000 projects across the Las Vegas Valley designed by Hugh Taylor.
Hugh Taylor Online Archives
Nevada Preservation Foundation
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