Here's How Colonial-Revival Style Homes Shaped American Architecture (2024)

FAQs

What is the Colonial Revival style of architecture? ›

The most consistent Colonial Revival elements found in these buildings are building symmetry; hipped roofs that often intersected one another; the use of a single, decorative fan or Palladian windows located high-up in the gabled or pedimented (triangular end) of the roof; double-hung windows with decorative features ...

Building styles in the 13 colonies were influenced by techniques and styles from England, as well as traditions brought by settlers from other parts of Europe. In New England, 17th-century colonial houses were built primarily from wood, following styles found in the southeastern counties of England.

A fine example of Colonial Revival architecture executed in brick and stone is the Woodrow Wilson house at 2340 S. St. NW in Washington, DC. This home was designed by architect Waddy Wood and built in 1915.

Generally, the Colonial Revival style took certain design elements - front façade symmetry, front entrance fanlights and sidelights, pedimented doorways, porches and dormers - and applied them to larger scale buildings.

Colonial architecture is a hybrid architectural style that arose as colonists combined architectural styles from their country of origin with design characteristics of the settled country.

American Colonial and Colonial-Revival architecture share the same roots. Homes built in both styles tend to have a rectangular footprint and a traditional approach to design, whereas Colonial-Revival style introduces elements and features not seen in the plainer American Colonial style.

So the colonial experience was one of absorbing British models of government, the economy, and religion. Over the course of about 150 years, American colonists practiced these rudimentary forms of self-government that eventually led to their decision to revolt against British rule.

As Europeans moved beyond exploration and into colonization of the Americas, they brought changes to virtually every aspect of the land and its people, from trade and hunting to warfare and personal property. European goods, ideas, and diseases shaped the changing continent.

American Colonial homes are generally characterized by a square or rectangular facade, a central entrance and windows symmetrically placed on either side of the entrance. They are typically made of wood, stone or brick and will generally have uniformly sized doors and windows with shutters.

Like the rest of the nation, the American Colonial Revival movement gained momentum in Los Angeles during the late nineteenth century, and was used in the design of a variety of building types.

What is the most common colonial style house? ›

A few of the most popular types of colonial architecture include French, Dutch, Spanish, and British, the latter of which is the style most commonly constructed in the United States. Colonial homes usually have a simple, minimalist rectangular shape and other distinctive features.

Colonial Revival makes extensive use of Georgian design features like Palladian windows, pediments, and porches with classical columns. These buildings can be distinguished from their 18th and early 19th century prototypes by their larger scale and often unusual placement of classical design elements.

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The earliest examples of colonial architecture in the US date back to 1626 and were simple one-story buildings with gabled roofs and few rooms, says Craig Intinarelli of Kroeger Intinarelli Architects in Katonah, New York. “These first domestic structures were almost medieval due to their transient nature,” he adds.

1880–1910, a period when Queen Anne-style architecture was dominant in the United States. From 1910–1930, the Colonial Revival movement was ascendant, with about 40% of U.S. homes built in the Colonial Revival style.

Architectural revivalism is the use of elements that echo the style of a previous architectural era that have or had fallen into disuse or abeyance between their heyday and period of revival.

The style is a liberal interpretation of British, New England, and Virginia originals from the Colonial period of the 1600's and 1700's. The style was fueled by the complete restoration of Colonial Williamsburg in the late 1920's by the John Rockefeller Foundation.

Tall, steeply pitched roofs without a dominant front-facing cross gable, the occasional gabled tower, eaves commonly flared upward at roof-wall junction and brick, and stone or stucco wall cladding (sometimes with decorative half timbering) are the typical identifying features of a French Revival style building.