"Appenzell architecture is unique...For several hundred years, Switzerland's noted embroidery has been centered in this area. To provide optimum conditions for work, the houses were designed with continuous strip windows alternating with solid spandrels of standardized wood panels. Modern architecture two hundred years ago! For further cohesion and brightness, all wood is painted a light color (natural wood finish is more usual in Switzerland). With their sharp gables facing south for maximum daylight, with a keenly proportioned wall module, and with cheerful paint enlivening the scene, the buildings create an unusual urban harmony.

"In (this) isolated farm building, expertise falls off, but basic design and orientation remain. The granary, stable, and house form one attached unit, with the weather wall blank."

— G. E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. p118.