I was going to use this house as an example of an architecture one doesn’t see much in northwest Ohio, or at least not in the environs of Piqua, Upper Sandusky, Urbana and places in between. Greek Revival style houses are relatively common in southwest Michigan, but this is the only one I saw in ten days of bicycling in this part of Ohio. It’s located in Loramie Township, about six miles south-southeast of Fort Loramie.

But upon looking at the photo, I’m wondering if this house should be classified as belonging to the Federal Style instead. In southwest Michigan, Federal style houses are relatively rare, and usually indicate a really old house for our area. This house has the pediment, entablature, and roof pitch that make me think Greek Revival. But the long axis is parallel to the road and the main door is on the long side, which is characteristic of the Federal Style. Usually Greek Revival farmhouses have the gable end facing the road, and have a door on the side of the house with the gable end.

Most of the guides to styles that I find online deal with characteristics of the more elaborate homes built by wealthy people. What I’m looking for is a guide to old farmhouses. But I haven’t been able to find such a thing. Here is a guide that’s very helpful, though: “Buffalo as an Architectural Museum.”

Someone has put the date 1854 on the front of this house, which would make it rather late for the Federal style. But as the above-linked web site says, “Note that there are no universally accepted classifications and dates.” Builders and owners could build houses however they wished. There was no rule that said Federal Style could not be built after 1830.

The date is very plausible. The above map snippet from the Shelby County atlas of 1883 shows the location, near the tip of the red arrow. The 1883 county history says a Peter Wright, originally from Pennsylvania, came to Section 3 of Loramie Township in 1848.

He was a relative latecomer and there is nothing to connect him to the 1812-1832 period (or earlier) that most interests me. But the house is a prominent feature of the local landscape, so I hope that’s a sufficient excuse for giving it some attention.

This view is from the west. If I had studied the 1883 map more closely before riding here, I would have noticed that the road follows the old canal, probably off near the tree-line to the left. While riding there I wasn’t completely oblivious to the fact that there had been a canal in this area, but at the time I had only a vague idea at the time as to where it went. Just a bit further down the road is a road that goes off to the north (left). It runs next to a cemetery. I stopped briefly at the cemetery, but should have gone past it to see if any sign of the old canal bed and tow path remains. But I didn’t. So I have a good excuse for another bike ride along this road someday.

Here is a view of the west of the house taken a month earlier, to show that the short side of the house has windows, too, in case that makes a difference to the classification.