What is Stucco in Spanish House Styles?
Traditional stucco is a cement mixture used for siding, usually on Mission or other Spanish style homes. The cement is combined with water and inert materials such as sand and lime. Usually, wooden walls are covered with tar paper and chicken wire or galvanized metal screening. This framework is then covered with the stucco mixture. Sometimes, the cement mix is applied directly to specially prepared masonry surfaces. Although stucco-sided homes became popular in twentieth century America, the concept of using cement mixtures in architecture goes back to ancient times. Wall frescoes by ancient Greeks and Romans were painted on fine-grained hard plaster surfaces made of marble dust, gypsum and glue. Stucco techniques were elaborated by the Italians during the Renaissance and spread through Europe. This marble dust compound could be molded into decorative shapes, polished to a sheen or painted. Many homes built after the 1950’s use a variety of synthetic materials which resemble stucco. M
