Originally built for low-income families, Iowa’s iconic Moffitt houses tend to be small, cosy and irregular in form. Built from 1916 to the mid-1930s, they’re considered to be some of America’s first ‘eco-homes’, as the materials used in their construction often consisted of salvaged parts collected from demolition sites.

Though he had no formal training, architect Howard F. Moffitt built somewhere between 100 and 200 of these quirky homes in Iowa City and Coralville, supposedly inspired by a combination of photos he had seen in magazines, consultations with friends and his own imagination.

Home style: dream houses in every US state