I DISCOVER AMERICA Gavrilov-Yam Secondary school №6 Rumina Kate Class 11 ”A”

I have learnt about the U.S.A. in the 7-9 grades during 3 years. We learnt about life in America. I learnt about different cites, people, habits, traditions, museums in the U.S.A. It was very interesting for me to know about the houses in America.

AMERICAN HOMES American homes are some of the biggest and best in the world. Many have a garage for one or two cars, a big, modern kitchen, a living room, and a playroom for children. Seventy percent of Americans buy the house they live in. But thirty percent cannot buy a house or an apartment. The poorest people live in “public housing” apartments.

AMERICAN HOMES

NATIVE AMERICAN HOMES In the old days, the Native Americans on the Plains followed the buffalo. They had to move their homes quickly and easily. The women made the tepees. In the Northwest of the United States, they built big wooden houses for seven or eight families. The houses had “totem poles” outside. Modern Americans like the pueblo style. After all, it’s the oldest real American style, and one of the loveliest too.

PIONEERS IN THE MIDWEST Before 1800, the Midwest of America was Indian country. The first European Americans, the “pioneers,” were thought people. The pioneers cup pieces of grass and earth and built houses with them. These “sod houses” were very uncomfortable. The pioneers could cut them down and make small wooden houses, called “log cabins.” Log cabins were warm and dry inside.

COLONIAL STYLES IN THE NORTHEAST Europeans built houses in the styles of their home countries in America. The largest number of new Americans were English. So the first towns of Virginia and New England copied English towns. The houses were square, and they had beautiful long windows. Americans still love this “colonial” style house. In many American homes, you will also see beautiful old patterns of flowers and birds on new wallpaper, and on chair and sofa covers.

COLONIAL STYLES IN THE NORTHEAST

CALIFORNIA LIFESTYLES New lifestyles, new kinds of medicine, new religions, new house styles – so many new things came from California. Look at bungalows, for example. A bungalow is a simple house of one store with a yard around it. Bungalows first became popular in southern California around Thousands of them were built very quickly. The style traveled all over the U.S., and for a long time, all bungalows were called “California bungalows.”

Then have a look at the Spanish style of house. It's popular in many places now. They are cool and comfortable. Inside, there are tiles on the floor, and heavy wooden doors.

FARMHOUSES Sometimes, in the middle of this great, empty country, you will see a farmhouse. Some farmhouses are old, and some are new, and they are often very different. In the Midwest, the farmhouses are made of wood. You can see old dinner bells in some farmhouses today. The Southwest is cattle country. In Texas and New Mexico, the cattle farmers lived on ranches. The first farmers in America were poor. But they worked hard, and slowly some of them grew richer.

FARMHOUSES

I´d like to visit America. I want to see colonial styles in the Northeast and I prefer to live in the Spanish style of house in the California, because they are cool and comfortable, have swimming pool in their own backyard. American homes are comfortable.