Coastal Builders

Architectural Styles: Federal Through Victorian
Immediately after the Revolutionary War, despite independence, American architecture did not stray far from British influence. Federal design, based on British interpretation of Roman classical orders, was marked by graceful, symmetrical brick facades. Exterior decoration was simplified and refined.

As major archeological excavations began in Greece in the late 1700s, Americans became attracted to Greek designs, and the democratic ideals for which they stood. The Greek Revival style was formal and symmetrical, generally featuring a columned portico supporting a triangular pediment as on a Greek temple. This became the style for newly erected government buildings, but aspects of the style were even found on modest country homes, where builders turned the gable end of the house to the street, added pilasters to the corners, and painted the building white.

By the mid 1800s Americans were ready for a change from symmetry. The Industrial Revolution and the resulting technological advances made it possible to build houses more economically and with more curves, arches, fretwork and even spires. Enter the Victorian Era, a period of time in which architecture went through many transformations.

First came the Gothic Revival style, having steeply pitched roofs with cross gables and windows patterned in Medieval shapes. A distinct feature of this style was a gable trim piece cut in an intricate pattern with a scroll saw. At about the same time, the Italianate style came into vogue, emphasizing informal Italian farmhouses. The roofs were low-pitched with wide overhangs, and the tall, narrow windows frequently sported a hooded crown. Usually a central cupola with curved mansard roof stood above the rest of the house.

The Second Empire style was similar to Italianate, but was influenced by the French fashions of the day. Dual-pitched, hipped mansard roofs graced all sides of the house, replete with dormer windows, and decorative iron railings at the highest point of the roof line. Homes built in the Stick style were often simple box shapes, but the defining characteristic was wooden boards attached to the exterior wall in horizontal, vertical or diagonal patterns. Shingles were applied in various designs within the spaces created by the stickwork.

The Queen Anne style represented the peak of the Victorian Era in the late 1800s. Building designs became more elaborate, featuring patterned shingles, brackets, finials and curlicue cutouts. Delicately turned spindles were common design elements, often called “gingerbread”. Toward the turn of the century, even as the Victorian style was losing its appeal, the Shingle style was briefly popular. Borrowing the wide porches and asymmetrical forms of Queen Anne, but foregoing fancy woodwork, the Shingle style covered the complicated exterior entirely in shingles.