ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Shingle style

Okay kiddo, I'll explain the shingle style to you just like you're five!

So, imagine you're looking at a big, fancy house. It's probably really old and has a lot of character. The shingle style is a way of designing houses that became popular a long time ago, around the 1880s. A man named Andrew Jackson Downing came up with the idea of using shingles, which are flat pieces of wood or other materials, to cover the outside of the house instead of bricks or stones.

Now, when you look at a shingle-style house, you might notice that it has a lot of little details that make it look interesting. For example, the roof might have different angles and shapes instead of just being a straight triangle. There might be a big porch or balcony on the front of the house, with lots of columns or pillars holding it up. And the windows might have all sorts of cool designs around them, like little patterns or fancy frames.

But one of the most important things about the shingle style is that it's all about blending in with nature. That's why you'll often see these houses in places like Cape Cod or other places near the coast, where there are lots of trees and greenery. The shingles on the outside of the house help it look like a natural part of the environment, almost like it's a big treehouse or cabin.

So that's the shingle style, in a nutshell! It's a way of designing big, fancy houses that have lots of cool details and are meant to blend in with nature. Next time you see a big, beautiful house like that, you'll know what to call it!