| Styles of Homes: Romantic Period 1820–1880. Gothic Revival 1840–1880. |
| Overview |
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| Style |
Material |
Orientations of structure |
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Rustic or
refined
(varies by
area) |
Wood |
Vertical |
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| Key features |
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Gothic arches; vertical siding; decorated verge boards; sash
windows, often shaped with a pointed arch; windows also
narrow and tall with drip molding along the top and sides to
keep water away.
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| Architectural Features |
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| Entrance Door |
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- Elaborate panel door
- Pointed arches or Gothic motifs
- Arched panels and other decorative motifs
- Occasional lites on the sides
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| Shutters |
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- Not commonly used on this style, but simpler variations may use louvre or panel shutters.
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| Garage Door |
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- Vertical orientation of surface material
- Flush face surface material
- Blended trim boards
- Pointed arch windows or 2/2 win- dows
- Decorative carvings to simulate the decorated verge boards on the gables
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| Style Summary |
Alexander Jackson Davis was the first American architect to
champion Gothic domestic buildings; his 1837 book, ‘Rural
Residences’, was dominated by Gothic examples. This was also
the first house plan book published in this country. Previous
publications had shown details, parts, pieces, and occasional
elevations of houses, but Davis’s was the first to show three-dimensional views complete with floor plans. Andrew Jackson Downing expanded these ideas into pattern books published in 1842 and 1850.
Surviving Gothic Revival houses are most abundant in the
northeastern states, where fashionable architects originally
popularized the style. They are less common in the South, as
the Civil War and Reconstruction all but halted building until
the waning days of Gothic influence.
Excerpted from A Field Guide to American Houses, Virginia and
Lee McAlester, Alfred Knopf, New York, © 2000. |
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