Meaning of a star on a house?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnstar

Barnstars are mainly decoration, but had their roots in older German communities. Now they seem to be for decoration or for luck. You see them everywhere on the East Coast!

Answer 2

I myself am trying to get this question answered as I have just moved to PA and the house I'm currently living in has one of these stars. So far through my research I've learned that either a lot of people do not know or the people who do know are not on the internet to answer our question. However, what I've read so far from several other forums is that these stars were/are an Amish good luck charm to ward off evil. The only other answer I've found is that it's military related. The color of the star represents a family member that has served or serving, been wounded or killed in a war. As for now, this is the best I've come up with. Let the research continue!

Answer 3

I've been out data collecting homes this year (2009) and have noticed many homes with "decorative" stars on them. They are five point stars and dimensional. I've asked around and no one seems to know if there is any significance to them other than mere decorations.

That's extremely hard for me to believe. I've been working all over Montgomery County (Dayton, OH area) and down in Scioto County (Portsmouth, OH area) and they are EVERYWHERE. I've seen them on $1,000,000 homes and on 12x60 mobile homes located in a very secluded hollow (with trash and deer bones strewn all about).

Here are some of the answers I've found over the internet by googling the question...

1) The star has a military significance (my first thought... as relating to the star in the window deal... blue star.. gold star.. different colors signify household member in Iraq or Afghanistan, or lost in combat, wounded, etc. etc...

2) Purely decorative with no significance (just hard for me to believe)

3) Signifies a Christian home

4) In Pennsylvania, denotes something about German-Amish tradition

5) In Texas, shows pride in ones state

6) A pagan home celebrating winter solstice

7) Barn stars... supposedly marks or covers the ends of beams in a barn

So apparently there is no singular purpose for this very distinct star. It's not like there is a wide variance in the star. I have seen smaller ones and sometimes the star is blue, but the VAST MAJORITY of them are rust reddish brown in color and appear identical as if from the same manufacturer.

Answer 4

Trendiness. It's just popular with people who like country/colonial styles. Answer: In many superstitious societies stars on barns were used as a "hex sign" to keep witches out of their barns, and presumably from doing bad things to their cows.

Answer 5

I believe the stars you are talking about are actually support structures. If so, they occur in areas at high risk to hurricanes -often those near the ocean. They are actually put there as decoration to hide the bolts that protrude from the building to attach crosswise support beams to the house. These are to create a solid center for the building to be flexible around in the high winds of a hurricane.

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These stars are usually found on older structures. Basically it serves as a washer to spread the load over a larger area. It is placed at the end of a rod, often to tie a wood floor system to the outside masonry wall. In this case they will appear at the level of the second floor. If there are more than two floors, there may be another set at the third floor level. The star shape is merely a means to make it look better than a flat plate.

Answer 6

the original meaning from a star being displayed on a house that a child of the house was serving in the military/ out at war

Answer 7

nothing its just a design nothing its just a design

Answer 8

It could be an Amish barn star.