Shotgun House Street

Shotgun House Street is an original illustration set in Lower Mississippi City, USA. It lies in the subtropics, where the climate is humid subtropical — hot summers, no dry season.

Very narrow houses stand one room wide, their front and rear doors aligned straight through. Each has a small covered porch spanning the whole facade and a raised timber floor on short masonry piers. Tall shuttered windows run down the sides.

Why are all the doors lined up front to back?

Aligning the doors lets air draw straight through the house, which is the only cooling available before mechanical means. The porch shades the front wall and doubles as living space; the piers lift the floor above damp ground and let air move underneath. Every element is answering heat plus humidity — and the narrow lots are answering frontage-based taxation.

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