House at 1400 Canterbury Street

This one-story wood-frame cottage at 1400 Canterbury Street in East Austin dates to 1897. It follows a T plan under a steeply pitched roof and rests on brick piers. Walls are covered in drop siding, and the windows are two-over-two double-hung sash, some with simple hoods. The front porch keeps its original turned columns, and each gable has fish-scale shingles, a small rectangular window and rake returns. A finely detailed brick chimney flue rises at the ridge. A small rear addition from the 1950s remains, and a second rear addition was removed between 1980 and 1984. Part of the house has been enclosed, which slightly obscures the original plan. The cottage was listed as an excellent, almost completely unaltered example of a once-common vernacular house form. It appears to have been built as rental property, like a nearby shotgun house on the same street, and its good condition and abundant ornament suggest unusual care in construction. It remains in residential use.