| OCR Text |
Show I Extended Hall-Parlor Houses [XZ] Types XXVI,XXVII,XXVIII. There is one group of houses in the valley that has no clear traditional antecedent and appears to be the unique product of local design. These "extended hall-parlor'' houses are large, measuring between 36 to 40 feet in length and between 18 and 19 feet in depth, and consist of a square room (X) flanked by a larger rectanglular unit (Z). There are at least 18 of these houses totaling about three percent of the total survey. From the outside they resemble in scale and massing the central passage types and without close inspection the two house forms may be easily confused. The extended hall-parlor house is new but not unexplainable for it could be generated within the folk building competence by simply creating a new geometric XZ string. this was done. life itself. The question remains, however, why The answer, it seems, lies in the nature of Mormon town The central passage has been shown to function as an architectural neutral zone, a space within the house that is not lived in and through which outsiders must pass to reach the inhabited rooms of the house. 32 In this capacity, the passage serves to separate private from public space and to insulate the individual family from the surrounding community. The architectural evidence in the valley overwhemingly suggests that such protection was not considered necessary. Ninety-five percent of the surveyed houses here may be entered directly from the street and particular houses, like the temple form and pair house which traditionally had some kind of entrance hall, are found without them. 33 The perceived safety of the nucleated town structure and the unity of purpose among the Saints precluded the need 196 |
