ABSTRACT
Calling something vernacular architecture not only labels it but implies a contrast with something else, something that is not vernacular. What is the basis for that contrast? Folklorist Henry Glassie (1975) and historical archaeologists James Deetz (1993, 1996) and Matthew Johnson (1992, 1996) have compared local or regional styles, sometimes associated with particular ethnic groups, with “great” or “polite” styles that are more cosmopolitan in nature, often associated with elites, and easily recognizable as distinct from local or folk traditions. Glassie and Deetz used vernacular architecture as a way of understanding the diversity of architectural styles and forms within Euro-American and AfricanAmerican regional traditions in North America, while Johnson (1996, 2007) studied the changing shape of social relations, the interpenetration of cultural values and daily life in England, and the rise of capitalism through his work on houses.
