In generalization about Southern style homes, you will often find smaller type window panes, pediment doorways, transom lighting highlights, use of over-looking gabled dormers, and gracious porches are some of the main features of this style of house plan. Southern home plans typically are built with a hip roof type and will usually include an attached garage, and in many cases the roof might include gabled offsets on the front elevation, and sometimes on the side. These elements can vary quite a bit depending on the local environmental conditions as well as the different types of weather patterns that are common where the home is constructed. However, mostly this style of home was created in response to the often hotter, as well as sometimes muggy and humid southern weather conditions that are prevalent during the regionally warmer summer months. Southern homes commonly incorporate components to exploit cool winds, for example, raised fundamental living levels, wrap-around patios, substantial operable screens, wide rooftop overhands and verandas all assist to use the environment to help keep the home cooler in the warmer months. Southern homes may liken to have nineteenth century style points of interest, and conventionally some bulky refer to this style as plantation style. Common construction materials are most often wood and brick, and incorporate some of the classical design features such as columns, pediments, as well as use of window shutters.
Southern style plans were the precursor to a few other styles, where use of the dormers over-looking the front of the house were features later found in the Cape Code style for example. And in some cases, people assume all Southern style designs are plantation style or colonial style , where that is not always the case. Although it can encompass some of the features found in those styles as well, the use of colonial style columns is what most comes to mind when people consider this style, but in reality its the use of features that allow for the home to remain cooler in the warmer months that are the most prominent features.