The Carports of Middleton

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, carport, an open-sided automobile shelter by the side of a building, is a coinage whose common usage dates back to 1939. In fact, the term was first used by Frank Lloyd Wright when he incorporated this design element for the first of his Usonian homes, the Jacobs House in Madison, Wisconsin.

Without any particular reason for doing so, I’ve always associated carports with the suburban home architecture of 1940s and 1950s Southern California, where the climate is appropriately warm and dry. Carports in Wisconsin, especially when taking our most recent winter into consideration, seem such an anomaly.

For whatever reasons, a particularly neighborhood in Middleton, Wisconsin, has a number of examples of this type of construction.

Carport roofline adds major dimension to overall structure

Very typical construction

Thoughtful design

The "peek-a-boo" version

Corner lot with an especially inviting side view