Master builders and carpenters like Williams, guided by patrons like D.H. Bare who also helped underwrite the Methodist church, determined the look of Roaring Spring's architecture rather than professional architects. The builders, in most cases, were not design innovators but craftsmen who adapted plans from myriad national sources such as catalogs, pattern books, magazines, mail-order services, lumberyard fliers, and trade literature. While pattern books had been available to American builders as early as the 18th century, mail-order design services became nationally common by the 1880s. Along with the influence of the railroad and mass-circulation magazines, all of these homogenizing influences contributed to the decline of regional vernacular architecture and the spread of nationally accepted styles. Significantly, many of these sources targeted conservative markets, promoting traditional designs that appealed to small-town America. As one example of this phenomenon, many of the houses in Roaring Spring built around the start of the 20th century appear to be older Victorian types, such as many Gothic Revivals models of the era which are really double-pile Georgian types in plan. Presumably, this conservative impulse was of small concern to the first owners who paid little attention to "high style" design trends. What most homeowners looked for in a house was comfort, serviceability, and an acceptable level of appeal conforming with their community's taste.