• The typical house was either 30x30 feet, or 30x36 feet, for deeper lots.

• Over the basement there were two and a half stories, with four (more or less equally-sized) rooms on each full floor.

• Under a hipped roof, the attic was quite livable due to at least one requisite dormer, with up to two more on the sides, but never on the rear.

• The porch spanned the entire, or nearly so, front of the house.

• The front door was offset, unless the four-room plan was nudged to the sides in favor of a central hall.

• Exterior walls were plain, with the only encouraged outdoor creativity released on the windows and porch.

From this typical but flexible starting point, architects had the freedom to do as they wished. Many Foursquares are trimmed with tiled roofs, cornice-line brackets, or other details drawn from Craftsman, Italian Renaissance, or Mission architecture. Later Foursquares often had the same type of interiors as Bungalows with open floor plans, lots of built-ins, and fireplaces.

Building materials (and whole houses) were mainly, inexpensive, and mass-produced by Sears Roebuck, Alladin, William Radford, and the Chicago Housewrecking Company, not to mention many local companies' own styles.

The Foursquare is what most people think of as "the all-American family home" on Main Street, U.S.A. When the Depression struck, construction of every sort stopped. By the time it began again, the "classic box house" had largely expired its design life.