Neoclassic Period

When our country was born, North America was a wild and scary place. The colonial had only a flintlock rifle and an axe to tame the wilds; the roads were dark passages through the wilderness and the danger was very real. What they needed was heroism, loyalty, patriotism and duty.

The painting at right shows these important values, which the colonials shared with the Romans. Neoclassic people also admired the Greeks for their rational, clear thought, another needed commodity in times of peril.

Th e Neo - Cl a ssic s

We call these people Neoclassical because classic means Greek and Roman and neo means new. It is no coincidence that they began designing the buildings of our capital to resemble Greek or Roman buildings

RomanticsOnly one generation later, our nation was many times larger. Everything seemed very settled—boring. Railroad and telegraph now crisscrossed the nation. Steamboats traveled all navigable rivers. People longed for those wild and exciting days.

Don’t be confused by modern misuse of the word Romantic! Romantic doesn’t mean getting all lovey-dovey; Romantic means the natural, the mysterious, the uninhibited, the bizarre!

These different outlooks influenced everything, even their gardens. See in the garden at left how the Neo-Classic mind tries to impose order on nature? It was part of their outlook in life to conquer the wilderness, to gain domination over nature.

The Romantics, on the other hand, felt smothered by civilization. They sought out and rejoiced in nature’s wildness, loving its unrestrained and unrepressed ways.

Notice that the design of the Colonial home on the left reflects their values. The building’s face is equally divided and symmetrically balanced. The right-angles portray a rigid order. The columns remind one of the Classics.

The Romantics loved the uninhibited. Notice how the design of the Victorian house on the right shows less restraint to such values as balance. The hard right-angles are reduced; the overall effect is more natural.

Neoclassic ArchitectureLook for homes with the pillars inspired by Greek and Roman architecture; symmetrical faces; buildings that show clear, clean lines of form; they are always symmetrical and balanced.

Thomas Jefferson’s home Monitcello

Romantic ArchitectureLook for asymmetrical structure, fantastic and imaginative, dark and mysterious, bizarre, or exotic. Think about the structure of homes we consider “Victorian”.

The Dark and Mysterious Fonthill Abbey designed by Watt.