While looking at images of old houses from the early colonial period I noticed the houses in New England have a distinct look that's not found in houses in England.
I noticed old english homes looked like this while old houses in New England look like this.
I know wood was preferred in the colonies but didn't anyone built houses exactly like the ones in England? Did wood homes built in England look like the ones built in the colonies? If not, what are the reasons for the differences?
The two examples here might not be the best choices to compare. They are both old, but not by the same amount.
Your English example is Mill Street in Warwick where the buildings are in the half-timbered Tudor style. Mill street runs between the castle and the river which why these houses survived the Great Warwick fire of 1694. I'm having trouble finding dates for these particular houses, but the most prominent half-timbered building in Warwick is Lord Leycester Hospital that was build in stages with major construction phases in 1450 through 1571.
Your American Selection is the Boardman House in Saugus Mass. It was originally built in 1696 but the whole backside was replaced in 1723. From the looks of it, the clapboard siding was entirely replaced as well.
These two are tricky to use for comparison on account the century and a half difference in age. In England the half-timbered construction style faded away as the squarish Georgian Style came in and bricks became cheaper than large oak beams. Many of the American buildings of the time followed the same trend.
Also there is also a tighter connection between New England and East Anglia where clapboard siding was more common. It might be interesting to compare Boston Massachusetts to Boston Lincolnshire.
Wood was much more plentiful in the colonies than in England, and since one builds with what one has, the houses look different. Also, there was more space to build out instead of up, and the climate was different, so houses took on different shapes in response.
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