The Spanish Renaissance historic house plans expansion with the first Spanish settlements in Mexico and the Caribbean. In the United States, the Spanish colonial style is best exhibited in St. Augustine, Florida, which is the oldest city founded in the U.S., having been founded in 1565. The houses were common in this city outdoor decks with a whitewash of lime mortar, usually two stories high, including outdoor patios cool breezes of hot air in the climate of Florida. This style also developed in the American Southwest and California, as Spanish priests established missions along the Pacific coast between 1769 and 1823.The spread of French colonial style in parts of North America colonized by the French, beginning in 1608 with Quebec, and in 1718 with New Orleans, Louisiana. Other settlements spread along the valley of the Mississippi to Missouri. Early French colonial style houses called poteaux-en-Terre, and are made of heavy cedar logs set upright in the ground. They are surrounded by galleries (porches) to sit outdoors in the hot summer. In 1770 the French colonial style became poteaux briquettes-business-that is, small bricks laid between the posts, which characterizes the houses in the historic district of New Orleans. In areas where flooding was common, raised-house style developed, with houses built on top of brick walls erected for the protection of water during floods. In times of drought these basements was cold, and were used for storage and cooking.
