The long and narrow rectangular shape of these small, single-story residences led to their stylistic description as shotgun houses. The building style originated in Africa, immigrated to the West Indies, then entered the United States by way of New Orleans.

Two classically proportioned shotguns are found at 19 and 21 W North Avenue where they provided ancillary boarding space as outbuildings for a neighboring building at 17 W North Avenue. Residents of the rooming houses were often employed in the building trades during the boom years of the 1920s.