I am super fascinated by the archaic features and fixtures of midcentury houses…. Things that have been superseded by something more modern, or which simply faded from fashion. Quick! We better get them on the blog fast, so’s we don’t forget them. Stuff like hudee rings, and push-button plumbing, and appliance centers, and today: Dovecotes in storybook ranches. No, these are not “birdhouses”. The are: Dovecotes. Vestigial ones, that is.
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These photos both come from Tiki Lisa’s flickr photostream. You can click directly on either photo or on the link just prior to see her whole set — it’s pretty fantastic, the houses in the neighborhood are all sweeties like these two.
Dovecotes: According to Wikipedia, dovecotes are used to house pigeons and doves which “were an important food source historically in Western Europe and were kept for their eggs, flesh, and dung.” The dung was for fertilizer. They add, “In some cultures, particularly Medieval Europe, the possession of a dovecote was a symbol of status and power and was consequently regulated by law.” Dovecotes could be free-standing or, as in the above mid-century examples, built into the ends of houses.
Here (below) is a dovecote from yee-old times:
This photo’s (above) caption says: “The doocot (dovecot) at the new stables, Eglinton Country Park, Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland.” (Public domain/Wikipedia). Below: Another photo from Tiki Lisa’s set:
So now to the “why”. I am not a PhD historian, but from my studies and general exposure, I speculate the following:
- In the 1920s and especially the 1930s, there was a “romantic revival” in housing styles in America that gave us Tudors and Spanish Revival and the like… Homes that harkened back to old Europe and included sentimental “romantic” features. This all kind of died down during the depths of the Depression and WWII.
- After WWII, housing began booming again. But, we evolved to new styles — and on the west coast, especially, to ranch houses.
- Now that you have the context, here is my hypothesis for why-dovecotes: I suspect that on the west cost, which has always been full of fruitcakes (just testing to see if you’re reading this; just kidding; I am a born Californian, so I can kid), I mean, which was beginning to lead in design innovation, the so-called “merchant builders” — who were responsible for building the gazillions of tract house subdivisions across America — adapted the basic mid century modest ranch house box design to add some “romantic” features, as they had done in the 20s and 30s. Only this time around, the one-story plan was amenable to Hansel & Gretel type houses — “storybook ranches” — also known as “cinderella ranches” — or even, “swiss chalet ranches.” The dovecotes were included, in this spirit, along with other flourishes that, when you analyze them, look pretty easy to execute… they were mostly decorative.
- Note, that Wikipedia also says that dovecotes went out of functional use late in the 1800s…but that there was a revival in the 20th century among pigeon fanciers. They don’t say when in the 2oth century, but if it was around the middle of the century, then perhaps this archaic style was back in the public consciousness.
Thanks to Tiki Lisa for permission to feature the photos and for documenting this very fascinating feature.
Carole says
Just saw a house with one of these on it the other day, and wasn’t sure what it was, but suspected it had something to do with doves or pigeons.
Sometimes I make a lucky guess and I’m right. lol
We have quite a flock of doves/pigeons in our area this year. One pair has nested in our neighbors pine tree for the past couple of years. There is a large flock down the road, which hubby and I suspect to be from a ‘raise and release’, which is a common practice with pheasants in our area as well.
Bonnie says
Our tract where we live is considered the Cinderella\Storybook Ranch Style home. The architecture was actually inspired by it’s neighbor Disneyland, located less than 10 miles down the road. It was pretty cool to learn that these homes are so sought after. We replaced our windows a couple of years ago, but we could not get the diamond pane like the orignal ones. We also had to replace our garage door because it was a hazard. But other than that, the house is pretty true to the era.
Amy Dietz says
There are decorative dovecotes in my early 1960’s midwest neighborhood. These are side-to-side split levels, though, not ranches. It’s just the fancier homes that have them, attached just above the garage.
pam kueber says
Wow, I’d sure love to see some pics of these, Amy. If you get a chance can you take a walk and shoot some pics and send them to me????
Diane Rush says
I too, am a dovecote devotee. I live in Rossmoor, California where the dovecote achieved a true art form. I plan to add a page to my historic architecture website featuring the beautiful original designs of Rossmoor’s 37 models available when the tract opened in 1957. Rossmoor was built by Ross Cortese and his architectural staff that included Cliff May and Earle Kaltenbach.
tammyCA says
My 1954 house has this feature…I’m in So Cal and there are a lot of storybook houses. I’m not sure what a Cinderella is, but one time in house hunting 10 yrs ago I did see a pink bathroom with Cinderella’s coach on the bath wall tile. I think these houses were called Cinderella as I heard my Realtor say that name. I happen to really love the storybook/chalet/hansel & gretel type houses & wish mine looked more so, but I still have the X window frames as I wouldn’t have them replaced when we did the rest of the house windows (these were not Xs).
Mattie says
Sacramento seems to be a hotbed of dovecotes! In addition to Parkway Estates, as Lauren says, they’re on most of the houses in Cottage Park and I’ve seen them scattered in other midcentury neighborhoods. They’re so common, it never occurred to me to photograph them for Flickr. Now I’ll have to get the camera and go for a walk!
Jen says
This is so cool! What a charming feature…I’ve never seen this on a home before, but I live in the Midwest, so perhaps it never really took off here?
I’d love to see it come back in style!
S.Garcia says
I live in Downey, California and there are TONS of these features on houses around here. Mine has it.
On a side note, my home style has been described as “Molly Pitcher” by my neighbors. When I Googled this term all I get is information about the American Revolutionary figure by the same name but nothing on this type of home style. Anyone have info on the Molly Pitcher style of home?
S.Garcia says
To add to my post, here is an old ad from a home similar to mine that makes mention to Molly Pitcher:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_downey_conservancy/2267412069/
pam kueber says
This is a fantastic reference, S.G. I’ll have to figure out how to research this. Thanks!
Kimmy Kupcakes says
There are many houses in my neighborhood with these dovecotes. I would even say more houses have them then don’t. I’ve been meaning to take a walk around our neighborhood and get pictures of all of the mid-century wonders in it to post on our blog. This is just one more thing I need to get pictures of. Our next day without rain, I’ll make sure to do this.
Tikimama says
Cool! I’m thrilled you could use my photos, Pam. I know I’ve got more to upload to Flickr, so I’ll let you know when I do. I like to document features like these dovecots, as well as garage doors, shutters, trim, window boxes, doors and such – details that seem like they wouldn’t be too difficult to recreate. I hope they can be a resource to someone!
J.D. says
I think in the California style, Disney probably, and Hollywoodland for sure influenced the evolution of the story-book ranches. I grew up in SoCal, Orange County at that, and can assure you that the surviving Mid-Century neighborhoods particularly around Disneyland are abundant in over-the-top story-book houses. An odd feature many have in Anaheim is the over exaggerated lines and materials of the Googie style, combined with the intricately jig-sawed chalet trims and tudor windows of the story-book motif.
The curious thing is many of these neighborhoods were built years prior to Disneyland, so to that end were more influenced by Hollywood romanticism, (which would of corse include Disney) initially, but without a doubt I believe the presence of Disneyland served a role to inspire folks to preserve such houses. Many of these neighborhoods and homes stand today nearly untouched architecturally as they did more than a half century ago. (However most are wearing drab modern “neutral” paints in place of their more vibrant MCM hues)
While they existed everywhere to some extent, for sure the most popular location for the story-book was in fantasy land itself, Sunny Southern California. And I think the most interesting application of the style was in Orange County, particularly around the Anaheim, Buena Park, and Garden Grove border areas. In these neighborhoods, “upgraded” homes are more the exception than the rule, at least for now. Good place for a preservation movement to start up for sure!