INVESTIGATION

“The shotgun house, one room wide, two or more rooms deep with a forward facing gable and a front gallery, originated in West Africa and was transported by blacks to the West Indies.”(Martin, Lester) From there it was carried to New Orleans in the eighteenth century where it became an often used slave quarter or later a tenant house on the plantations of the Red and Ouachita deltas. “Conversely, one can detect an almost apologetic attitude regarding living quarters of people whose labor produced the wealth required to erect great houses. Every plantation of any magnitude had a number of small residential structures on the property… With the saw mill boom during the latter part of the nineteenth century, every little mill town threw up a collection of low cost housing for the employees, usually of the “shotgun” type… With the growth of bigger towns, Shreveport, Monroe, and Alexandria; coveys of small houses were erected as rental property. More of these cities are still in existence than on the plantations or in the mill towns. The occupants were, and continue to be, African American... There are instances when the simple “shotgun” dwelling is the home of someone whose means are not sufficient to provide a finer house. Be it ever so humble, many of these residents take pride in their abode.”(Estes, Lee)

Martin, Lester. Folk and Styled Architecture in North Louisiana: Vol. 2, The River Parishes. 1989

Estes, Lee. Fading Textures. 2000.

I love the iconic vernacular of the shotgun house just as much as I love the irony that engulfs it. Throughout the history of Louisiana there has always been the shotgun house laying there quietly in the background. It has seen the state’s trials and tribulations through the eyes of all the classes of society; it has been tainted and stained and yet has remained pure.

I feel that the spirit of the shotgun house represents the spirit of the client!

I feel like it is my duty to give Mrs. Archie, the community, and Habitat for Humanity a house that is pure!

I feel like drawing…