There are lots of beautiful shotgun houses in New Orleans. According to wikipedia (God), the shotgun style can be traced back to the Haitian and African roots of freed slaves who came to live in the city in large numbers in the ealy 1830s. The Dahomey Fon people (of Benin and Southern Nigeria) use the name "to-gun", meaning "place of assembly", to desribe this style of house... this may be the origin of the name "shot-gun". According to this same article, 15% of the housing in Port-au-Prince is [was] shotgun style. In light of the recent tragedy in P-au-P it's sad to think that New Orleans was once created in the image of Haiti, and now remains a reflection of a city that no longer exists.
Another more dry but practical theory is that the taxation structure in New Orleans made the shotgun house the best way to build the largest space for the least amount of taxes (only the front lot of the house was taxed).
Also, "Superstition holds that ghosts and spirits are attracted to shotgun houses because they may pass straight through them, and that some houses were built with doors intentionally misaligned to deter these spirits".
Double shotgun. The wall that seperates the porch (not something you typically see, maybe the result of a neighborly spat?) delineates the two houses. Big windows = cool breezes
The assymetrical quality of the single shotgun houses is very charming...it suggests lack (the other door and window that would complete the symmetry), while being perfectly self-sufficient. This particular one is my dream house.
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