Tybee Raised Cottage

by Joan Carroll

Title

Tybee Raised Cottage

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Digital Art

Description

Early home designers may have been smarter than any of us can imagine. They worked with the environment to maximize comfort! This is the Fogarty-Hosti Cottage, the newest addition to the historic structures at the Tybee Island Light Station and Museum. It gives visitors an up-close look at the island's unique contribution to coastal architecture - the raised Tybee cottage. It provides "the rare opportunity for the general public to see firsthand the lifestyle and living conditions of people who lived on Tybee in the summertime," says Cullen Chambers. Raised Tybee cottages evolved in the early 1900s and were the seasonal homes of well-to-do residents of Savannah who fled to the island during the summer to escape the heat and humidity of the city. The popularity of this type of architecture was due to basic construction features that made the most of the coastal environment. The high pitch of the hipped roof played a role in cooling the interior spaces, as vents along the porch overhang and at the top of the roof allowed the hot air to escape. Deep porches worked in conjunction with oversize windows and doors to provide a form of natural air conditioning that would cool the air before it entered the house. The framing, walls and floor were generally made of heart pine wood. The boards were installed on the diagonal, which created a stronger structure. This may be why the home survived hurricanes. The raised design gave extra space under the house and allowed for the house to stay dry and above the flood plane. The higher the house, the easier it was to catch a cooling breeze, and the extra circulation also kept the wood dry and rot free.

FEATURED PHOTO, 500 Views group, 7/25/15

Uploaded

June 11th, 2015

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Viewed 2,709 Times  -  Last Visitor from Cambridge, MA on 04/24/2024 at 12:00 AM

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