Shotgun!

Finally! A few pictures of "shotgun houses!" We keep seeing them in the older areas, especially on our way to church in Plaquemine. But there's never enough time to stop, turn around and get pics, and on our way home we don't usually see them because they're on one way streets going the other direction. Today we were in downtown Baton Rouge and were able to find a few examples.

"Shotgun houses" are said to be called that because of their straight nature referring, not to the long barrel of a shotgun but to the ability of shells to shoot through from the front to the back. I'm not sure how that works, because the rooms are stacked and there isn't a long hallway. Typically a living room is first, then one or two bedrooms and finally a kitchen in the back.

As a sign of its New Orleans heritage, houses are usually raised 2-3 feet off the ground. There's a single door and window in the front of the house. Unless, of course, it's a double-barrel shotgun.--2 shotgun houses connected to each other and sharing a central wall. Then there would be two front doors and each house is about 12 feet wide and maybe 20-30 feet deep. The ceilings are relatively high so the warm air can rise and the lower part of the room tends to be cooler. Surprisingly, the lack of hallways allows for cross-ventilation in every room. I think I'll take central air, thank you!

So here are a few example of said houses. The gray one looks like it might have an addition on the side. It's almost a double wide!