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A Modern House for a New England Main Street

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Almost every New England town with colonial roots has a manicured Main Street, or some thoroughfare that is meticulously cared for in attempt to preserve and display its history through its architecture. Buildings range in age from as old as the town to as new as yesterday. However, in most cases, Main Street is not a true reflection of the complete history of a town. After a certain point in time, it was no longer acceptable to build in a manner reflective of the current conditions. If a new building was to be erected, only eclectic adaptations of past styles were deemed suitable, to achieve scenographic coherence. Resultantly, any significant truth to Main Street's architecture ceased to develop. A true reflection of the actual societal institution as manifested through the architecture of the town was lost. It is this loss that I refer to as "truth". This thesis is about finding, and restoring, truth through the design of a new house on Main Street in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Glastonbury is a town full of colonial history, with more than 150 houses built before 1800, many of which exist on Main Street. The design for this house is not a direct condemnation of historic eclecticism; rather, it is an attempt to demonstrate how a house can be designed to reflect the true connection between time and place in the institution of "the house". The design acknowledges history through proportion, form, and scale, and it admits contemporary values through abstraction of details, use of materials, and organization of space. The product is a statement about how to design a house that comprehensively and truthfully reflects the spirit of its setting.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2019

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Pfeffer, Erich John
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Rott, Hans Christian
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Pittman, V. Hunter
  • Thompson, Steven R.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:22623
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/95509

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Pfeffer, Erich John. A Modern House for a New England Main Street. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/95509