I thought it would be interesting to compare some of the houses that I saw at Old World Wisconsin with the Damon house in Wauwatosa. While at Old World Wisconsin, I was particularly drawn to the Koepsell farmhouse in the German area. I found the timber and brick method of construction to be not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also very efficient in terms of materials and structure. 
The biggest difference that comes to mind when thinking about these two houses is the amount of refinement that the Damon house had over the Koepsell farmhouse. Both houses were constructed in the mid 1800’s in relatively the same geographical location, but they look like they came from two different time periods. The Koepsell house held on to it German routes while the Damon house showed a few traits of Greek Revival. The custom trim work and faux columns hinted at some Greek inspiration. It adopted more a New England Colonial style in terms of the roofline and fenestration. Im not saying that the Damon house is a superior building by any standard. I just found it interesting that a time when some houses payed attention architectural ornamentation and details, others were focused purely on function. I guess the same could be said about some structures today, but not to the extremes that these two houses were. According to David Handlin, who wrote American Architecture, the lack of ornamentation on the Koepesell house could be based on several factors. These factors would include financial status, location relative to other members of the community, lack of central government and lack of trained architects.
Greek revival was a style was a style that became popular country wide in the mid to late 1800’s. (Walker 108) The Kilbourntown house,built in 1844 by Benjamin Church, is a great example of the Greek revival style. Walking up to house, one of the first and most obvious things that you notice is the four doric columns that line the front porch. The columns along with the extended pediment are some key ingredients that make this type of architecture Greek Revival. While looking at this house I was a little puzzled by the roof. While it looks mainly like a southern plantation style house, it also has element of a New England greek revival town house. Seeing as how the house was built from a parts kit from New York, it only makes sense that there would be some east coat influence within the architecture.
While in the house there were several things that caught my attention. The first thing I noticed when I went through the door was the ceiling height. In today’s world we have become accustomed to 8ft ceiling heights. It was a little weird to walk into a room and have the ceiling be 11ft. It seemed to give the house more a more open feel without increasing the square footage of the floor plan. Another detail that caught my attention was the trim work around the door frames. The jog that was created seemed to highlight the skill of the craftsmen that created it. In turn, it also reflected the wealth that Benjamin Church had. It also reminded me of art deco or arts and crafts but little more refined and cleaner. 
On the out side of the house there were small windows in the frieze that were similar to scroll work that would be seen in same place on a New England Greek revival townhouse. Normally Im not a huge fan of any type of revival architecture, but I enjoyed this house. There was not an exuberant amount of ornamentation. I did not find the details of the frieze, cornice, and pediment too distracting. They may not have essential for the structure of the house but they highlighted the skill of the craftsmen and also allowed the owner, Benjamin Church, a chance to showcase his financial status.
I had always assumed the first forms of architecture in North America had come over with the settlers from Europe. I discovered however, that the natives that lived here were not only skilled in the ways that they constructed their shelters but they had been doing so since 300 A.D. Before this trip to the museum I was able to name only two type of shelters that were constructed by the natives. I didn't even really consider those shelters types of architecture. After the trip however I was able to break down the different types of shelters into 9 distinct types. These would be the earth lodge, pueblo, pole and thatch, tipi, longhouse, wigwam, hogan, plank house, and igloo. (Walker) Within those 9 types there was different variations on each shelter based on the location.
The shelter that I focused on the most was the Long House. This structure had the beginnings of gabled roofed houses that we see today. The structure was made of logs and bark that were bound together by some form of lashing. I found this aspect of the shelter to be particularly interesting. The idea of creating a structure and not using any form of fasteners amazed me. It made me realize that the real strength of the shelter came from the design and the not the materials that were used to construct it. The natives were smart enough to realize that the load of the roof would be supported if the weight was distributed evenly over more vertical supports. They also gave some consideration as to how they would arrange the shingles. The natives also constructed the structure to allow for expansion as the size of the family grew. (Walker 30) The idea of community may have been what caught me off guard the most. I discovered that within one of these long houses as many as 40 families would live together. Even though there was animal skin dividers set up, there was almost no privacy.
I thought it would be interesting to compare some of the houses that I saw at Old World Wisconsin with the Damon house in Wauwatosa. While at Old World Wisconsin, I was particularly drawn to the Koepsell farmhouse in the German area. I found the timber and brick method of construction to be not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also very efficient in terms of materials and structure. 
The biggest difference that comes to mind when thinking about these two houses is the amount of refinement that the Damon house had over the Koepsell farmhouse. Both houses were constructed in the mid 1800’s in relatively the same geographical location, but they look like they came from two different time periods. The Koepsell house held on to it German routes while the Damon house showed a few traits of Greek Revival. The custom trim work and faux columns hinted at some Greek inspiration. It adopted more a New England Colonial style in terms of the roofline and fenestration. Im not saying that the Damon house is a superior building by any standard. I just found it interesting that a time when some houses payed attention architectural ornamentation and details, others were focused purely on function. I guess the same could be said about some structures today, but not to the extremes that these two houses were. According to David Handlin, who wrote American Architecture, the lack of ornamentation on the Koepesell house could be based on several factors. These factors would include financial status, location relative to other members of the community, lack of central government and lack of trained architects.
