<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Air conditioning rendered the layout less attractive, but the dogtrot style house was a popular design during a time when shade and ventilation were the only way to stay cool during sweltering summers.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Now, with the returning interest to environmental conservation, there seems to be a renewed interest in these and other ageless designs,” said Maureen Miller, local interior and building designer.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The dogtrot was a log or rough-cut lumber house, which may have been first constructed in the Appalachian Mountains. Two separate living spaces, sometimes called pens, were connected by an open breezeway under a common gabled-end roof. Often the sleeping area was on one side of the covered porch-like area and the cooking area on the other. These two areas opened to the center galley, breezeway or porch and featured windows for cross ventilation.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The house oriented in the long direction of east-west provide the smaller depth for south-north breezes, and less heat gain on the smaller east and west sides for morning and afternoon sun,” said Edward J. Cazayou, a Breaux Bridge environmental designer.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Earlier versions probably had dirt floors at the center, a good place for the highly valued family milk cow. Later versions built in the South were constructed off the ground with piers and often had porches across the front, as well as down the center. Sometimes the pitch of the roof provided room for a sleeping loft. The dogtrot got its name because dogs could freely travel to and fro across the open breezeway, and probably like the people who lived in the house, enjoyed the shade during the hottest part of the day.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Famed novelist Herman Melville quipped the separated two-room plan reflected ‘some architect affiliated with a quarrelsome family,” according to white paper published online by Fricker Historic Preservation Services.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Local architect Jeff Kudla said his firm has not built a modern-day dogtrot. However, he has looked at the design from time to time with clients who had an interest in the layout.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The house with the porch in the middle is an interesting typology,” Kudla said. “It seems perfect for a hunting/fishing camp where some want to stay up late and play cards and share lies and others want to sleep. You could place the public areas on one side and the sleeping areas on the other. In this case, the porch makes a good separation between the two so the noise does not carry. Maybe one day we will get one of these built however, the invention of the air conditioner has done a pretty good job at addressing the reason for this design adaptation.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">New dogtrots are being designed using prefabricated modular components which come in kits, may be metal rather than wood and can feature breezeways that can be closed with screens, sliding barn doors, garage type doors and other closures when needed.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Historical Concepts, an architectural firm in Atlanta, Georgia, is committed to producing original works of architecture informed by the classical tradition and lessons of historic precedent, according to its principal Terry Pylant. The firm is responsible for the design of a large traditional Creole-style home that is being currently being framed in Walnut Grove, Lake Charles’ first traditional neighborhood development.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Pylant believes the double pen dogtrot can work for today. The firm has built many structures in Spring Island, South Carolina with dogtrot/shotgun roots. The Gaskin Residence is one example.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The client had an imagination,” Pylant said. “They use the area for outdoor entertaining. We screened it and added a fireplace. Sliding barn doors cover the opening when it’s needed.” It’s the main gathering space for the home and it works wonderfully.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Michael McClure is an architect professor at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette and associate dean of the College of the Arts.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He is fascinated with the design, he said. Unlike Melville, he sees the open area as perfect for a culture that enjoys its outdoor spaces for socializing.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">A team of UL students won the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon for their modern-day dogtrot. The BeauSoleil Home is a solar-powered 800-foot dogtrot on display at the college.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Many examples of dogtrots have been lost in Southwest Louisiana. Some have been enclosed. The Jackson House, a dogtrot style house was moved from Ragley to DeQuincy and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 has fallen into disrepair.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Will the dogtrot make a comeback? Homes of the future are influenced by homes of the past. For some, building the perfect double pen dogtrot for today’s needs continues to be a fetching concept.</span><p>The public can tour this refurbished dogtrot home at CM Farms in Dry Creek. (Rita LeBleu / American Press)</p>