Not quite sure? Read on to find out.
While chatting with an acquaintance one day, she mentioned that she and her husband bought a home recently. I asked what style her home was. She thought for a minute and finally admitted she didn't know.
She’s not alone, it seems many homeowners really have no clue what style their homes are.
Most new homes are a given style. Many old homes are a definite style--Queen Anne Victorians or Georgian, for example. These are “pure” examples, meaning they are styles that are easy to spot because they are not mixed with other styles. Some homes, usually built by the owners themselves, around the turn the century, are really no particular style. Many homeowners at this time in history were more concerned with basic shelter than style.
But most homes today fall somewhere in between, they are what some would call mongrels, or (and rightly so) architectural nightmares, but I prefer to call hybrids. These homes have bits and pieces of various elements of architectural styles. Some of these are rather tastefully done, some are more haphazard.
To identify your particular home’s style you need to know a little about the most popular styles and their basic features.
Colonial and Federal Homes
- “4 square," or box-like
- usually two-story
- few small square windows
- prominent chimneys
- simple Roof Lines.
- Williamsburg Colonials are often one or 1 1/2 story and have gabled windows.
Dutch Colonial
- similar to the Colonial
- easy to spot Gamble (barn shape) style roofs.
- may have a porch.
Georgian Colonial
- many variations and can be rather simple, but not as simple as the other Colonials
- or they can be grand.
- often red brick, but can be wood siding.
- often have pillars of some type,
- covered front steps
- gabled roof.
Our White House is an example of grand Georgian Colonial.
Colonial Revival
- interesting mixture of the Colonial style and the Queen Anne Victorian style.
- lack the Queen Anne tower
- includes the porch.
- less ornamental than Queen Anne.
- rectangular
- 1 1/2 or 2 story
- centered entry with a panel door
- gable roofs
- sometimes gabled dormer windows
- windows are in rows and symmetrical
This is a popular style of home plan today sometimes with interesting variations.
Tudor
- usually 2 story with the second story extending out over the first.
- asymmetrical
- very steeply pitched roofs.
- windows are generally long and narrow multi-paned windows often mullioned with in a diamond shaped pattern.
- arched windows are common as are arched doors and doorways.
- often stucco or brick with wood trim.
Victorian Homes
Queen Anne style
- ornate, often wraparound porches
- towers
- steeply pitched roof.
- almost random shape.
- two or three stories.
- elegant in appearance.
- multi-colored exterior “painted ladies."
The Shingle style Victorian
- large and rambling
- porches
- many windows
- two to three story
- sided with wood shingles.
- no elaborate gingerbread trim
- Craftsman design elements.
Prairie
Prairie style is very commonly seen in Wisconsin, with good reason, they were the brainchild of Frank Lloyd Wright who was a Wisconsin native.
- long and low
- opposite of the ornate, fussy Victorians as possible.
- often have stone design elements
- deep roof overhangs often with corbels.
Craftsman
Craftsman is hugely popular in Wisconsin and was “the" small home for many years in America. These homes are often called Bungalows
- low pitched gable roofs
- porches with half walls
- one or 1 1/2 stories.
- interiors have a very handcrafted look with many build-ins and beams.
After the Craftsman came a long period of homes with no real style, often called ranch homes. We are now, however, seeing a resurgence of good design. Some of the older styles are enjoying a comeback like the Georgian and Williamsburg Colonials, Colonial Revival and even the Queen Anne. The Shingle and the Craftsman is back. There are a few new styles like Country. The Farmhouse, a type of Victorian, is very popular.
Most of our homes are a mixture of design elements of various architectural styles. Usually, though, there is one strong feature that tips the balance to one style or another. Find that main feature and you can probably define the style of the your home.
Interested in Green Bay Historical Architecture? Green Bay has many interesting examples of architecture from days gone by. Check out some of these websites:
http://www.ci.green-bay.wi.us/HistoricPreservation/HistSpotlite2010.html
http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/wi/brown/state.html
And for some of Green Bay's best new architecture check out these websites:
Martinson Architects
http://homes.martinsonarch.com/Residential.aspx
Design Associates of Green Bay
http://www.distinctivedesigngreenbay.com/photogallery2.nxg
Discover the possibilities for your new home's style
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