Victorian "painted ladies" are Victorian-era homes that are painted in three or more colors.
If you like the look of Victorian houses, you can create it with a "Victorian look" in your home. Victorian houses ranged from simple farm homes to elaborate Queen Anne-style houses with wraparound porches and gingerbread scrollwork on the eaves. Even a simple coat of paint can call to mind a Victorian look in homes. Here are some ideas for Victorian house plans to get you started.
Function
Homes in Victorian times were designed with comfort in mind. Because there was no central air conditioning or heat, summers could be hot and winters cold. Many homes were designed with high ceilings to draw the heat away. The cupola or tower, which is characteristic of Queen Anne architecture, was designed to draw heat away from living areas and upward into the tops of the tower. Deep porches provided shade for the interior of the homes and a place for families to retreat from the heat that could collect indoors. Homes were designed with facing doors and windows for better air circulation. Kitchens were frequently kept in separate buildings so that the heat would not transfer to the rest of the home. Rooms were built around centralized fireplaces to distribute heat more evenly throughout the home in the winter. Using some of these features in your building will give your home a Victorian look.
Features
With the coming of the industrial age and advances in building technology, along with the availability of home plans that were published in books, many Victorian home builders took a mix-and-match approach to building a home. Victorian homes were often a mishmash of features from several styles, including Gothic revival, Queen Anne, stick, mansard, Italianate, folk, Romanesque and shingle. For example, a Victorian home may have had gingerbread trim from Gothic revival, wraparound porches from the Queen Anne style and visible trusses reminiscent of medieval buildings from the stick style of architecture.
Paint
The lavish style of Victorian homes did not stop with the design. Victorians painted their houses in color schemes that were anything but uniform. They often left the base colors of their home painted in muted pastels, but would paint shutters, scrollwork, porch railings and other ornamental accents in dramatically contrasting colors to call attention to them. Homes painted in three or more vibrant colors during this time were known as "painted ladies." Color schemes for Victorian houses include slate blue, sea green, mauve, rose pink, brilliant green and tan.
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