Architectural Styles and Identification

Ron Senesac Kokomo Area Career Center

Kokomo, Indiana March – April 2010

Art Deco

Art Deco style originally started in Europe in the late 1800s, and became popular in America after the 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs. Its American heyday lasted 20 years, from the 1920s to the 1940s. Art Deco buildings are always very streamlined-looking, using geometric shapes heavily. They often have either stucco or poured concrete walls, plenty of glass, and steel casement windows.

Bungalow

Bungalows got their start in America in the 1910s through the 1930s. They were originally sold through the Sears and Roebuck catalog during the Craftsman movement, when people could order simple, easy-to-build floor plans and home building supplies. Bungalows are typically low profile, with a broad front porch, gabled roof, and a ridgepole that is perpendicular to the street.

Cape Cod

The Cape Cod style, most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, is actually a revival of early British, New England, and Virginian homes from the colonial period. Most Cape Cod homes are 1.5 story rectangular boxes with wide clapboard siding, a gabled roof, large chimneys, and use large, multi-paned windows. Many also have large central brick fireplaces inside.

English

English architecture does not really have a specific, distinctive style, as it is more of a conglomeration of many different styles. Roman, Medieval, Tudor, Stuart, Georgian, and Victorian styles all are considered English styles, or have influenced them. Often English homes have peaked roofs with gables, and have either a cottage-like or very formal look.

Federal

The Federal style is named after the American Federal period, and was popular between 1780 and 1820. They closely resemble Georgian-style homes, which preceded them, but Federal homes have more decorative touches, such as fan lights and sidelights around the entry door. Federal homes are very boxy in design, with large multi-paned windows.

Greek Revival

The Greek Revival style developed between 1825 and 1860 as a result of excavations in areas of ancient Greece that unearthed beautiful structures. They have a front-facing gabled roof, a deep entablature, columns, and some form of triglyph.

I-Style

I-Style homes were popular in the 1820s through the 1880s. They were mainly used in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. I-Style homes are generally two-story, one room deep, two room wide homes with a side-facing gabled roof. They are very plain; often the only decoration on them is some small scrollwork on the standard, full- length front porch. Many have ells, or one-story additions.

Neo-Eclectic

The Neo-Eclectic style was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in response to the 1970s energy crisis. The homes were designed to be a montage of many previous styles, with most having two or more stories, high vaulted ceilings, fake dormers, and often colored with earth tones and with a rustic flair on the interior of the home.

Normandy

The Norman style of architecture is closely related to both French and English styles and usually also had a slight bit of Romanesque influence. Norman architecture is often built to resemble a castle, as this was the most common place that the original Norman architecture was used.

Ranch

Ranch homes were first built in the late 1920’s, and were most popular between the 1940s and 1970s. They have a large, open floor plan, and are all only one s story and often have high square footage. Inside, hallways connect generous, open rooms, helping to maintain the easy flow of the floor plan. They have a very informal, relaxed feel.

Saltbox

Saltbox architecture was popular in the late 1800s, and was based on the New England Colonial Style. Saltbox homes were named as such because they resembled containers used for storing salt. They are small homes with a very steeply sloped roof, often that drops from 2.5 stories in the front to only one story in the rear. This shortened area was sometimes used as an enclosed shed.

Shed

Shed style architecture was developed in the US in the 1960s. These homes are often very heavy on the rustic elements, including wide wooden siding. They also have multi-directional roofs with narrow overhangs, and have deeply recessed doors. The majority are one to two stories tall.

Southern Colonial

Southern Colonial-style architecture developed as a throwback to the earlier Cape Cod style homes. They became very popular in the late 1700s. Defining characteristics of these homes include large porches with columns, rows of multiple-pane windows along the first and second floors, and a very square, symmetrical shape with a centered entry door.

Spanish

The Spanish style developed between the 1910s and 1930s in the Southern and Western United States. This was the first time that American architects had looked to Spain for inspiration. Spanish style homes generally have a gently-sloping clay tile roof (usually red), large arches flanked by square columns, rounded windows, and either stucco or brick walls.

Tudor

Tudor architecture became very popular in America in the early 1900s through the 1930s. It’s also called Elizabethan style or Half- Timbered, due to its obvious English influences. These homes are known for their steep, complicated, many-gabled roofs, the characteristic decorative timbering on the stucco façade of the home, and small, leaded glass windows.

Victorian Victorian architecture became prominent in the mid-1800s. Victorian is actually not a style, but refers to an era. There are many different subsets of Victorian architecture, but most have an abundance of decorative scrollwork (usually painted white), a many-gabled roof, and two stories. A large amount are brightly painted, making the white trim stand out, especially if the home has a columned front porch.

Sources

• http://www.angelfire.com/mn/thursdaynighthikes/summit_arch6.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/