Living comfortably in Florida’s heat and humidity isn’t easy even under the best of circumstances, and for the state’s early settlers, conditions were hardly ideal. With little in the way of time or resources, they relied on local materials and ingenuity to build their homes. The result was the Florida Cracker architecture style. As simple as these homes may seem, they are equipped with a number of features that help residents cope with the local climate.
New arrivals up to the challenge of Florida’s climate
Florida Cracker architecture is a vernacular or traditional style that flourished in rural Florida from the 1860s to the 1930s. To survive Florida’s often inclement weather, early settlers used their limited means to build simple, log or wood-frame structures. These modest homes eventually became one of the state’s most distinctive architectural forms.
In Florida and Georgia, the term “cracker” refers to the descendants of early English settlers. Possibly derived from an insult for rowdy rowdies in Shakespeare’s era, the term’s origin has been variously linked to loud talking or the sound of cracking corn or a whip. Today, rural white people in Florida and Georgia still proudly or jokingly call themselves crackers.
While Florida may now be famous for its mild weather, the state’s dense swamplands, oppressive tropical heat, and frequent thunderstorms with heavy rain proved challenging for the first English settlers. They needed shelter quickly, but had little experience building in such a climate and were often too poor to purchase materials or hire help. Settlers were forced to use whatever materials and construction methods were at hand to get a roof over their heads as quickly as possible.
When a settler family wanted to build a home, they first looked for a piece of land that was at least slightly elevated to reduce the risk of flooding. Then they cleared that land of tall slash pines and pond pines as well as the cedar and cypress trees that are common in the area. This abundant freshly cut wood served as building material for the settlers.
Most built a primitive, one-room house with four walls, a door and several windows, a fireplace and chimney, and a covered porch. As the need and means for more space increased, some families built an additional structure next to the first one and connected the two with a covered open-air passage.
As building techniques and the experience of residents evolved, the Florida Cracker architectural style fell out of favor. The rising cost of lumber also made the style less appealing to those looking for a budget-friendly home. The growing popularity of air conditioning after World War II meant that the cooling features of these homes were no longer necessary. Initially crudely constructed, most of the original Cracker homes were quickly torn down and the style nearly disappeared, giving way to mobile homes and track homes. Those that remain are found primarily in northern Florida.
The Cracker style’s first resurgence in decades came in the early 1980s when Floridians turned their back on cookie-cutter building methods and sought homes with more personality and a deeper connection to local traditions. Today, many entire communities feature Florida Cracker style homes with modern amenities. While some older generations are shocked that someone would choose a building style that has long been associated with poverty, “cracker chic” has caught the attention of younger people.
Great amenities for comfort on a budget
The original Florida Cracker houses looked like nothing more than huts, but they were carefully designed to keep their residents comfortable at an affordable rate.
The houses were square or rectangular in shape to be quick and easy to build. Early versions were built from logs, which reduced the need to cut boards. The gaps between the logs also allowed for better air flow inside the house. Wood-framed versions were also built, although somewhat later. In some houses, a fireplace with a stone chimney at one end of the house provided a means for cooking and heating in the winter. Others used a separate kitchen at the rear of the house.
Most Cracker houses consisted of one room, known in American pioneer architecture as a single-pen house. To expand their living space as more children arrived, families would often build another structure several feet from the gable end of the first and raise the roof to create a “dog trot” or breezeway between the two. This turned their single-pen house into a double-pen house.
Using coquina rocks, oyster shell or clay bricks, or sometimes log pilings, builders created raised floors, which allowed for cooling air to flow in and reduced the risk of floodwaters penetrating the interior. The space underneath the house also provided shelter for hunting dogs and chickens.
Builders built lots of windows on opposite sides of the house to keep air flowing. Some people built a tall clerestory window or a small dome to let out the heat that had accumulated in the house. Then high, steep roofs were built on top of the houses, which easily blocked rain and allowed heat to escape from the main living space above. Pine or cypress roofing was the most common roofing material, but those who could afford it covered their roofs with tin for even more protection from the rain. Tin also reflected the sun’s heat away.
No Cracker-style home could be complete without a covered porch. In humid Florida, even a well-ventilated home could fill with stifling heat, so outdoor living space was a must. Porches and porches were built deep and wide to create deep shade under the porch roof. These often wrapped around the entire house to create shade and keep rain out of the house. Keeping the rain out was especially important as window glass was hard to find and Florida residents often had only mosquito netting or shutters to cover their windows.
While many Cracker-style homes were left unclad, others were clad with cedar clapboard or board-and-batten siding. Original homes were rarely painted, but for modern versions, white is the color of choice, primarily for its ability to radiate heat. Other light colors, such as pale yellow or blue, are also used.
With today’s air conditioning and mechanical ventilation, it may not be practical to build an exact replica of a Cracker house, but many of the style’s features are still useful. Covered porches, steep roofs, and clerestory windows all reduce the need Architects have been known to incorporate these energy-efficient features not only in modern Cracker-style homes, but also in Florida beach cottages and bungalows. Whether you’re dreaming of building a home in the classic Florida Cracker architectural style or you just want to see Cracker homes around Florida, knowing how the style’s features came to be will give you a good start.