Symbolic Meanings of House Styles

Abstract

For Post-Modern architects and others with an interest in architecture that communicates desirable meanings to the public, empirical study of the meaning inferred from styles can be helpful. This research examined the connotative meanings laypersons infer from various home-styles, the variability of those meanings with sociodemographic characteristics and region, and whether architects share or know public meanings. Adiverse sample of 118 adults in Columbus, Ohio, and 102 adults in Los Angeles rated six styles of homes in terms of desirability, and the friendliness and status of assumed residents. In total, 65 architects in Columbus answered the same questions and tried to guess how the Columbus public responded. Laypersons in Columbus and L.A. displayed remarkably similar patterns of response. Significant effects of style revealed that both groups rated Farm and Tudor as most desirable, Mediterranean and Saltbox and least desirable, Farm as most friendly, Colonial as unfriendly, Colonial and Tudor as highest in status, and Saltbox and Mediterranean as lowest in status. Differences in meaning emerged in relation to sociodemographic characteristics, and the architects responded differently from and misgauged the public responses.