I saw the first quirky orange stone house nearly 20 years ago when driving my now adult daughter to a summer camp in rural, southern Missouri. Just off historic Route 66, there wasn’t just one, but within the hour I counted more than a dozen unusual structures along the way. While the orange-red slabs of limestone were cut or broken into irregular shapes, what struck me was the extremely wide, white mortar between the stones. This was something that I had never seen and, though I was not able to photograph them that day, the memory of them was etched in my mind. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that the locals affectionately called these homes “giraffe” houses. This made perfect sense, as the orange rock with its thick white infill of mortar created a pattern very reminiscent to the hide of an African giraffe.
Giraffe houses are generally thought to have first appeared around 1910, but their acceptance grew during the 1930s by Missouri agricultural extension bulletins, which described how to build a house from indigenous stone. Often used as a veneer over standard frame houses, the thick slabs could be structural as well. But, these makers of slab stone houses used their own sense of design, with starburst patterns and other creative choices of surface decoration to personalize their building process. Consider these builders part of a long tradition of “make-doer’s” in the Missouri Ozark hills.
By the mid-twentieth century, Giraffe house building was a thing of the past. Thankfully, many still stand today — a testament to creativity, hard work and a little ingenuity. Born of a folk tradition, these houses represent just a slice of the rich, indigenous American architecture deserving of remembrance today.
All photographs © by John Foster
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.01_525.jpg)
Detail of building wall, Missouri Ozarks
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.02_525.jpg)
Rocks seem to have been chosen for their variety of color and fossilized striations.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.03_525.jpg)
Local houses take on the quality of the the hide of giraffes.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.04_525.jpg)
Thick wide mortar is part of the style of these early slab stone home builders.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.05_525.jpg)
Southern Missouri house near Van Buren.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.06_525.jpg)
Whether this house was intended to look this bad is up for discussion.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.07_525.jpg)
This detail is a geologist’s delight.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.08_525.jpg)
Abstractions are plentiful when photographing this style of home.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.09_525.jpg)
Stone courthouse for Carter County, Missouri.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.10_525.jpg)
Back wall at Carter County Courthouse.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.11_525.jpg)
Early 20th century stone motel now used as apartments.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.12_525.jpg)
Detail.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.13_525.jpg)
This dark brown rock creates a dramatic wall.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.14_525.jpg)
Another view of old motel.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.15_525.jpg)
Funeral home (Missouri)
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.16_525.jpg)
Detail.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.17_525.jpg)
Abandoned stone motel off Route 66.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.18_525.jpg)
Detail of Route 66 motel.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.19_525.jpg)
Detail of Route 66 motel.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.20_525.jpg)
Detail of Route 66 motel showing sunburst pattern.
![Giraffe Houses of the Ozarks](/media/images/10.06.13.21_525.jpg)
Close up of stone work.
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10.12.13
10:41