As I was walking back from a home on the Georgia Trust’s Fall Ramble, I noticed a small sign that said “Madison’s First Duplex.” In a town known for its palatial older homes, I was a bit surprised to see the recognition for a type of home reserved mostly for the middle class. Duplexes in the United States began to appear on the East Coast in the late 1800s, but their growth took off in the 1920s.

This Craftsman duplex was built in 1920 and was also known as the Ridgeway-Tumell Cottage. As someone who used to live in a Craftsman duplex, this was my favorite place I lived.