Carriage House

A carriage house served to shelter horse drawn vehicles for carrying people, and also sometimes housed stalls and feed for horses. Large doors (either hinged or sliding) and few windows are characteristic features. A carriage house is difficult to distinguish from other shelters for animals and wagons. Some clues would be that a carriage house would not usually be as large as a barn, and it might sit on the same side of the road as the house and have a clear relationship to the dooryard; also, carriage houses not uncommonly had some ornamental architectural trim that would not always appear on a barn. Interiors would have large stalls and often a hayloft above. There is no known ethnic association of the carriage house. However, the very term "carriage house" suggests a dimension of prestige and status consciousness, and indeed carriage houses tend to be associated with wealthier estates.

Image of a carriage house from Tioga County that exhibits many of the most common features of its type.
Carriage house, Tioga County, c. 1900.
The building in the foreground has the characteristics of a carriage house:
large sliding doors on the eaves side (with a human door cut in), few windows,
small doors on the upper level suggesting a loft, and proximity to the road.

Carriage house, Delmar Township, Tioga County, c. 1890
Carriage house, Delmar Township, Tioga County, c. 1890.
(Site 117-DE-003)