I have many pet peeves, but one of them reared it's ugly head the other day. I was looking through some listings for a client that wants an older "character home." I was reading some remarks by an agent who referred to the house as a craftsman. It was a cabin style home, call it a cottage if you were feeling generous.
While I am not an expert in architecture, I do think an agent should know the basics of home architecture. Feeling inspired, I headed out to take some pictures of our local Historic homes. The rain stopped just long enough for me to get a couple of shots off.
The Dutch Colonial home is an American style that came from "Deutsch" settlers in Pennsylvania.
Barn. If you feel like you are looking at a barn, then you are most likely looking at a Dutch colonial. 
The barn like roof is called a gambrel roof. The eaves flare over the porches
The early versions of these homes were single rooms; additions were added to each end. The chimney is usually located on one or both ends of the home. Dormers (the punched out windows in the roof) are very common in these homes, especially with shed like overhangs. You will often see a double doorway (divided horizontally) centrally located as well.
I am always fascinated by why certain aspects of homes developed. The divided doorway actually served a purpose. The home owners would leave the bottom half of the good closed, and the top open.
This prevented those pesky farm animals from entering your house, and say...eating your couch, or leaving special presents for you on the floor. 
There are not a lot of Dutch Colonials in Salem (compared to some of the other architectural styles), but the Historic District and the Bush Park neighborhood have some well maintained examples of these types of homes.
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