We’ve traced the subdivision development of the Northridge area.  Now, a closer look at one street.  This is the end of Ridge Avenue,  Stop 3 on the interurban.  We’ll look at some of the early housing here.

 

Stop Three was the location of two early pre-WWI plats, Neff Park and the small Fieldston plat

 

 

Fieldston was also called the Harshman plat as it was part of the large Harshman property extending to the west toward the Stillwater River.  Ridge Avenue as of the 1930s and a modern aerial.  The exact location of Stop 3 is unknown (@ Ridge, but either to the north or south of the intersection)

 

 

It’s pretty clear the southern side of the street was different due to the larger lot sizes.  In some cases  there are two houses per lot.  In others the full lot remains intact.  This map also shows some speculation on how Dixie Drive expanded to claim the interurban ROW and frontage road

 

 

One of the assumptions is that since this was right at a train stop there would be older housing on this block.  Apparently this is the case, as most of the housing appears to be pre-Depression (based on style).

 

 

Now a gallery of houses.  This was an early house on the block, perhaps predating subdivision.  It’s in that urban farmhouse style common in old Dayton, but nice trim work.  And it’s brick.

 

 

 

Foursquare and bungalow.  Though this is walking distance to the train stop there are no sidewalks.  Most of the Northridge plats lack sidewalks curbs and gutters.  Very basic subdivisions.

 

 

Some of the bungalows are pretty nice, somewhat Craftsmanesque.  Housing from the Progressive Era?  Second pix shows a typical situation in the Northridge plats, mix of prewar and postwar development.

 

 

 

(nice privet hedge).

 

And here’s an example of a dollhouse.  Northridge has a scattering of “California Dollhouses”.  The style was identified by architectural historian David Gebard in his essay “Life in the Dollhouse” (in the book Bay Area Houses).  Exaggerated forms, plays with scale, and a certain storybook quality characterize the dollhouse.

 

 

Ridge Avenue scene illustrating three common Dayton housing typologies.

 

 

In the foreground the L or T shaped “urban farmhouse” style that developed in 19th century Dayton (and elsewhere), in the middle an early postwar houseform typically found on prewar plats.  This typology was apparently developed to take advantage of the deeper lots with narrow frontage found in dead 1920s subdivisions.  And, in the background, the popular foursquare; one of the most ubiquitous houseforms in Dayton in the early 20th century.

 

Next a few more posts from Neff Park and maybe other Northridge plats.

 

Northridge: The Runt of Dayton.

 

Loving the threads, Jeffery. Great work as always!!!!!

Great work as always, Jeffery.

 

Have you written anything about the "urban farmhouse" style you mentioned in the last image? I see it quite often in NW Ohio, and notice that form predominates until just over the Indiana border, particularly how the roof line angles to below the upper story window. Two story houses west of Ohio tend to have fuller attics, it seems, with a higher roof line the ends above the second story. Is that part of the structural form? How far east does this urban farmhouse style predominate, would you say?

 

 

Have you written anything about the "urban farmhouse" style you mentioned in the last image?

 

Sure have.

 

Here is a theory on how the Dayton versions evolved, using houses in the Oregon district as an example. except I call them "Urban I-Houses" in the post, not urban farmhouses.  This is probably one of the best posts I've made here at UO:

 

The Folk Process in Dayton's Oregon

 

It's pretty long and you might want to scroll past the historical geography stuff at the top of the post. 

 

I should also say the ones on Ridge are a lot newer and a much later version of what's in the Oregon  The changes came in the 1880s and 1890s..you can see this changeover in neighborhoods like Newcom Plain (post has some compare and contrast stuff)

 

How far east does this urban farmhouse style predominate, would you say?

 

There's versions of it in Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Jeffery. The folk process thread is one of your best.