What Style Is It? style Turrets, arches, stucco…just what is it that makes one style Gothic and another Art Deco?
People build private homes and public buildings that reflect the local climate and building materials; their ethnic, educational and occupational backgrounds; their wealth; and the skills of local artisans. The combination of these influences has varied over the years to produce strikingly different architectural styles.
The Victorian Era
A series of Victorian styles, those which arose during were popular and were especially influential in public the long reign of Queen Victoria in England, appeared in architecture. Eau Claire and the Midwest in the late nineteenth century. Gothic, Romanesque Revival, Greek Revival, Between the Wars
Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne styles are all The period between World Wars saw the emergence of represented in Eau Claire. the International, Art Deco and Art Moderne styles, representing a conscious break with the various revival Turn of the Century movements of the time and aiming for clean, simple lines After the turn of the century some distinctly American and a “Machine Age” esthetic. In the Midwest, the styles began to emerge, including the Romanesque of bungalow style enjoyed great popularity during this Henry Hobson Richardson, the Prairie School of Frank period. Gothic, Tudor, Colonial, Georgian and Classical Lloyd Wright and later the bungalow style. These styles styles were in use as well. Again, these revivals were less are characterized by simpler architectural details and a fanciful and simpler than their early Victorian horizontal look. At the same time the Revival styles, counterparts. more historically accurate than during Victorian times,
Quick Reference To Architectural Styles
Until about 1900, American architecture was heavily influenced by European designs. Usually originating on the East coast, styles moved westward, often arriving several decades later in the Midwest. The dates in this chronology correspond to the appearance of these styles in Eau Claire.
I House/Upright and Wing (1860-1880) Romanesque Revival/ Common house forms consisting of two story main block Richardson Romanesque (1890-1930) with a gable roof; Upright and Wing has an attached one or Heavy, plain stonework; broad roof planes; deep-set one-and-a-half story wing; I House is one room wide, two windows; large, round arched openings; simple massing. rooms deep and two or three stories high. Beaux Arts/Classical Revival (1900-1920) Greek Revival (1870s) Large stone buildings; classical columns, often two stories Low-pitched roofs; simple massing; Greek columns high; projecting facades with pediments; tall parapet or attic running the full height of the building; transom and story; enriched moldings; low-pitched roof (usually not sidelights around main door. visible).
Italianate (1870-1880) Prairie School (1900-1920) Tall, square structures; low-pitched hipped roof; wide Brick or stucco house; low-pitched roof with deep eaves with large brackets; cupolas; quoins (corner blocks); overhand; large low chimneys’ casement windows grouped long porches; window hoods and bays. in horizontal bands; dark wood horizontal bands.
Victorian Cottage (1870-1890) Tudor Revival (1900-1925) Small one or one-and-a-half story houses with a simple Irregular massing; steep roof; half-timbered brick or stucco plan and few stylistic details; picturesque appearance. walls; bargeboards in gables; Tudor-arched openings (flat, pointed arches). Queen Anne (1870-1900) Asymmetrical house shape; steep-pitched roof; towers; tall Collegiate Gothic (1920-1930) chimneys; projecting bays; encircling verandas; varied wall Large, simple brick building; stone trim; double-hung textures; porches of many sizes and shapes. windows; many Gothic details at main entrance, such as pointed arched openings, stone moldings; traceried Gothic Revival/Carpenter Gothic (1870-1920) windows, turrets. Typical of school and college buildings. Steep-pitched roof; wall dormers; polygonal chimney pots; hood molds over windows; pointed arches; gingerbread Commercial Gothic (1910-1930) trim along eaves and gable edges. Basic commercial structure with street facades of terra cotta tile work of Gothic pointed arches and tracery. Patterned Second Empire (1880-1890) after the Gothic skyscrapers of the 1920s and 1930s in New Tall, symmetrical house, often with tower; mansard roof; York, Chicago and other large cities. arched openings; window hoods; quoins; bracketed eaves. Bungalow Style (1910-1940) Stick Style (1880s) One story house; gently-pitched gable roof with lower gable Tall, often asymmetrical house; steep roofs, clapboard over small porch; exposed rafters; cobblestone or brick walls with half-timbered patterns, bracketed eaves. chimney.
Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival (1890-1930) Art Deco-Moderne (1925-1945) Symmetrical facades; hipped or gambrel roof; dormer; Simple massing; horizontal window bands; Moderne has a classical cornice at the eaves; projecting central bay or streamlined horizontal look, while Art Deco is more porch with columns and pediment; many-paned, double vertical. hung windows.