Home Styles Defined, Part 1…

November 4, 2011

So many times when I’m reading my beloved home magazines, they describe a home using words like Georgian, Palladian, Greek Revival, and while sometimes I try to copy this here for you, I thought it might be fun to delve into what these styles really mean.

And it’s a historical tour to boot!

1600s – 1740 New England Colonial: The first British settlers in New England built simple timber-frame houses like the ones they had known in their home country.

1625 – mid-1800s Dutch Colonial: Settling along the Hudson River in the land that became New York State, Dutch colonists built brick and stone homes like those found in the Netherlands.

And today:

1600s – mid-1800s German Colonial: German Settlers in the American colonies used local materials to recreate building styles from their homeland.

1690s – 1830 Georgian Colonial House Style: Spacious and comfortable, Georgian Colonial architecture reflected the rising ambition of a new country.

1780 – 1840 Federal and Adam House Styles: Graceful details distinguish Federal homes from the pragmatic Georgian colonial style.

1800s Tidewater: Built in coastal areas of the American South, these homes were designed for wet, hot climates.

1700 – 1860 French Colonial: French colonists in the Mississippi Valley built houses especially suited to the hot wet climate of their new home.

1825 – 1860 Greek Revival: With details reminiscent of the Parthenon, stately, pillared Greek Revival homes reflect a passion for antiquity.

1840-1880 Gothic Revival House (Wood): Steep roofs and windows with pointed arches give these Victorian homes a Gothic flavor

1840 – 1885 Victorian Italianate House: Victorian Italianate homes usually have flat or low-pitched roofs and large brackets in the eaves.

1840 – 1915 Renaissance Revival House Style: A fascination for the architecture of Renaissance Europe and the villas of Andrea Palladio inspired elegant Renaissance Revival homes.

It’s the Breakers, in Newport, RI.

Up next week: more styles – it got crazy long to list them all here.

So what are your favorites so far?

I took the bulk of my photos and info from: http://architecture.about.com/od/housestyles/tp/housestylesindex.htm, but sometimes I found a new home photo when I didn’t like theirs.

 

 

 

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Category: Home Tours