Incognito Architecture 

Please help me to unravel the Ethnicity of this building.

First, locate the roof peak in the upper left corner of photo below. Looks like our trained eye might detect a story here. We can imagine a roof line from an earlier time down to the façade.

We’re standing there in our work-worn denim shorts with jimmy bar in one hand, hammer hanging from our tool belt and rumpled work-socks self-consciously showing above the laces of our scuffy work boots. We could be male or female; either way we’re confident, macho and out to show what this place might have looked like two centuries ago…and might look like once again.

We have just removed the cornice, most likely added in the late 1800's, which was built up from a roof line which runs parallel to the street.

Next, we follow the facade down to the bay window and remove it also. Then, as long as we seem to be on a roll, we also remove the store front. Finally, we remove the three feet wide addition between the two buildings to restore the pedestrian walkway that was original to the house when it was built ca. 1815. It’s beginning to look like Federal style with three windows across the second floor. And with the store front removed at the street level we can imagine a front door at the left or right side with two windows occupying the remaining façade.

Now, we have only to restore those original windows, doorway, front stoop and cellar windows and we are back to an original masonry version of the Side Hall Federal house as it might have looked in the attached line sketch - before improvements.

I’d say we’ve done a days’ work, yes?