The Queen Anne house often has a tower or turret, a wrap-around porch, and many other elaborate details.
The term "Victorian" is often applied to an older house with a distinctive architectural style built sometime roughly between the years of 1840 to 1900. However, many houses had a combination of a few of the following styles, as architects and carpenters would often borrow elements of different designs. These are just a few of the popular styles of the time.
Gothic Revival
The Gothic Revival style first appeared sometime around the beginning of the period, in the late 1830s. Gothic Revival houses had very steeply pitched roofs, pointed-arch windows and elaborate trim along roof edges. This style harkened back to the Old World's medieval castles and ancient cathedrals. Most of these houses were built in New England; however, elements of this style traveled around the country and were being incorporated into new houses as late as the 1940s.
Italianate
Italianate houses were inspired by the villas of northern Italy. These houses were fairly rectangular in shape and were built with a roof with a much lower pitch than its Gothic Revival predecessor, with many roofs being flat. There were generally elaborately carved eaves, and often a cupola or small tower was built in the front of the house. The houses were popular across the nation except in the deep south, as the popularity coincided with Reconstruction and a rough economy.
Queen Anne
The Queen Anne style is probably the one most commonly thought of as a typical "Victorian" house. These houses boomed in popularity from the 1880s through the end of the Victorian period. The Queen Anne is certainly the most elaborate of all Victorian styles, as the houses are characterized by their tall towers, bay windows, wrap-around porches, decorative trim and stained glass decorations. The houses were also painted in beautiful, dark, earthy colors---browns, dark reds and deep greens were common.
Stick
This style was popular right before the Queen Anne grew in popularity and is characterized by the small planks placed on top of the exterior walls, sometimes arranged in geometric patterns. They are also referred to as the more elaborate Gothic Revival cousins, as they have a similar resemblance with their steeply pitched roofs and tall proportions. It's often thought of as a transitional architectural design between the Gothic Revival and the Queen Anne.
Folk Victorian
Folk Victorian houses are combination of a few of the other architectural styles popular during the era, although they often resemble their more elaborate Queen Anne cousins. Because these houses were built by the middle class, they had a mix of different elements---perhaps decorations popular in the Stick style, or an Italianate tower--but the result still produced a charming house. These houses are far more common, as most people were not in the upper reaches of society. Many of these houses still exist in small towns all over the U.S.
Related posts
Victorian Gothic homes reflected earlier architectural traditions through an inventive, adventurous spirit. Their grand scale design and focus on elaborate details, highlighted the era's expanding...
Victorian houses are homes in the architectural styles of the Victorian Era. Victorian architecture was popular during the years of Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901. Before the time of Que...
About Victorian HousesWhile many homes built in the late 19th century are simply called "Victorian," there are actually several different styles of architecture that fall under the broad...
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"...
Whether it's High Italianate, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque or the Vernacular architecture of the Great Plains, homes from the Victorian Era are among the most popular--and sometimes, the m...
