Comments on: What does a star on the side of a house mean?

Question: What does a star on the side of a house mean?

i love cheese — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:45:25 -0800

Is there any meaning associated with stars on the sides of houses? On Virginia's Eastern shore, I saw a bunch of houses with 5-sided stars like this one on their sides. Most were black, but some were more muted colors. Do they mean anything?

These weren't flags, like those hung by Blue (or Gold) Star Mothers. I haven't seen any similar stars around DC or its environs (but I may not have noticed).

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:50:31 -0800

I've seen them around our neighborhood (Upstate NY). I think they're just a folk art decoration.

By: candyland

candyland — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:56:06 -0800

Barnstars
History of the Barn Star in North America

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:56:23 -0800

from this site:

"Absolutely the rage - great for Americana decor, country decor or any home decor!"

By: thinkingwoman

thinkingwoman — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:56:48 -0800

i'm so glad someone asked this. i've been wanting to know forever.

(i always suspected it was something to do with the pennsylvania dutch or amish or something, like hex signs and the like. but i'm just a good ole' southern girl, and these things are very mysterious to me.)

By: fogonlittlecatfeet

fogonlittlecatfeet — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:57:50 -0800

I have seen them for sale all over the place here in Florida.. In my Ballard Home Design Catalog at Kirklands, Bed Bath and Beyond and Pier One.
I think they are just a popular item right now.

By: Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:00:57 -0800

My father-in-law is a home builder and we were having lunch in south St. Louis once when I noticed them on the sides brick of houses there. I think he said they were a decorative cap for the iron rebar used to support multiple stories in older brick homes.

By: SpecialK

SpecialK — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:02:02 -0800

In Texas, they're meant to signify the lone star -- it signifies the Republic of Texas back when it was a nation separate from the rest of the United States. It's a decent replacement for flying a state flag.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:03:25 -0800

The decorative ones are referred to as Barn Stars and seem to be mostly decorative though some say they bring good luck.

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:04:24 -0800

I was tempted to post the same thing as SpecialK - the exact same star has a much different meaning in the Lone Star State than it must have in Pennsylvania.

By: LionIndex

LionIndex — Wed, 28 May 2008 07:25:24 -0800

I think he said they were a decorative cap for the iron rebar used to support multiple stories in older brick homes.

Kind of. They usually are plates attached to bolts or something else that goes through the wall to support the floor framing for levels above the ground floor. For example, the bolt might go through a board on the interior side of the wall. Floor joists would then be attached to that board (called a ledger) rather than having to insert them into pockets left in the masonry and firecutting the ends of the joists.

So, what's firecutting? If they were to just insert the joist ends into the wall, they'd have to cut a triangle off the end of the joist so that if there were a fire that burned out the middle of the joist, the remaining joist wouldn't act as a lever and lift up the masonry wall sitting on top of it. When the joist is firecut, it just falls out of the wall pocket when it loses support from the other end.

By: onepapertiger

onepapertiger — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:20:25 -0800

I heard that in the DC metro area, there was actually an earthquake (or maybe a hurricane) a long time ago and these stars were put in as an anchor to keep the walls from cracking.