American Architecture 1860-1920© Patrick Larum
May 25, 1999
A quick guide to architectural styles and periods.
Stick Style to Classical Revival The series continues with an exploration of American architecture as a new century begins, approximately 1860 to 1920. While the era is infused with an exciting mix of eclectic styles, this guide will help provide a concise means to identify the major attributes of each style and period.
Stick Style
1860-1890
Derived from the Carpenter Gothic style, the Stick Style embodies the idea that architecture should be truthful. Primarily seen in residences, a Stick Style building expressed its inner structure through the use of exterior ornament such as trim boards. These trim boards were often applied to gable ends and upper floors in order to symbolize the structural skeleton.
- wood construction
- vertical, horizontal, or diagonal boards applied over clapboard siding
- building forms expressing angularity, asymmetry, and verticality
- roof composed of steep, intersecting gables
- large veranda or covered porch
- simple corner posts, rafters, brackets, and railings
Queen Anne
1880-1900
The Queen Anne style can be summarized in one word: eclecticism. The rich, picturesque style is characterized by an asymmetrical silhouette shaped by turrets, towers, gables, and bays. Ideally suited to sprawling, free-standing residences, the Queen Anne style can also be seen in the urban row houses of the late 1800's.
- rambling, asymmetrical silhouette
- corner towers or turrets
- steeply gabled or hipped roof with dormers
- large chimneys
- verandas and balconies
- contrasting materials and colors
- second-story overhangs
- half-timbering or stylized decoration at gable ends
Shingle Style
1880-1900
An uniquely American style, the Shingle Style grew from the Queen Anne style. Popular in New England, the Shingle Style was less ornate and more horizontal than the typical Queen Anne house. Shingle Style houses were often rambling two or three story structures almost exclusively covered with wooden shingles at all exterior surfaces.
- unpainted wood shingles entirely covering the exterior
- prominent roofs, either with steeply pitched or long slopes
- rugged stone or field rubble used as contrasting material
- integrated turrets and verandas
- little or no overhangs at eaves of roofs
- limited ornament
Richardsonian Romanesque
1870-1900
Interpreting Romanesque architecture into a distinctly different style, architect H.H. Richardson created a style which abandoned the vertical silhouettes and smooth stone facings of earlier times. Richardsonian Romanesque was characterized by a massive appearance featuring roughly textured horizontal forms. The style was widely popular during the late 1800's for churches, university buildings, railway stations, and courthouses.
- massiveness stone construction
- broad round arches
- tower or towers
- squat columns
- deeply set windows
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