There are two types of structures which seem to me to make sense in the climate of the tropical south.
The first kind is the most common. You see the “Cracker House”, or “Maylay House” type repeated in hot humid climates around the world. This is an elevated wooden structure with wide overhangs, open verandas, and good air circulation. An added feature in Florida is that if you build the first floor ten or so feet high, there are few mosquitoes. I think this is the first choice.
The second type is best represented by the French Colonial palaces of the aristocracy in Louisiana. These are solid brick masonry structures with thick walls that are thermally in contact with the soil and also wick moisture from the soil. This offers a little evaporative cooling, but more often adds to the shoe rotting humidity. The average temperature of Florida’s climate hovers around a perfect 70 degrees. 3-6 foot thick walls allow the interior of the home to keep close to the average by moderating the summer’s heat with the winter’s cold. The seasonal temperature variations soak through about 3 feet of masonry in a season. The downside is moldy shoes, belts, clothes , and furniture. I thought this was the best till I priced a modest 900 square foot structure at over one million dollars in bricks alone. You see this type also expressed in some coral and coquina block houses at the immediate and breezy coast. I have never seen this type of architecture in the hotter, more humid, and oppressingly windless interior where I live.
I guess I forgot the third type of structure. It has some of the better features of the first two types, but is also actually affordable and possible for the average person. It is a modern architecture with solar panels, gardens, strategically planted trees, and an air conditioner for temperature and humidity management. I think these days, all considered, that a concrete block or brick home(being structural not decorative), with a galvanized steel framed and clad roof, and large screened airy overhangs, is in fact the cheapest, most durable, and most sustainable healthy home for the tropical Deep South. Untreated and un-dehumidified wood is food for molds, termites, and other wood destroying organisms around here.
I apologize for the run-on sentences, I’m not an English grammar major. I have lived in Florida since 1978. I’ve been paying attention to architectural styles. The third type is my chosen.
