New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide For Use with Historic Resources Survey & V-CRIS Prepared by Melina Bezirdjian and Lena Sweeten McDonald National & State Register Program Virginia Department of Historic Resources New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide For Use with Historic Resources Survey & V-CRIS © 2014 Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources 2801 Kensington Avenue Richmond, VA 23221 www.dhr.virginia.gov This publication is available in print or online as an interactive PDF. — 2 — Contents Introduction 4 List of Styles 6 Historic and Architectural Overview 7 How to Use This Style Guide with V-CRIS 14 National Register Eligibility and the New Dominion Virginia Period 22 Style Information Sheets 24 Bibliography 57 — 3 — New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide Introduction he New Dominion Virginia Style Guide is a key component of the New Dominion Virginia initiative launched in 2014 by the TDepartment of Historic Resources (DHR) to focus on Virginia’s recent history and architecture from 1946 to 1991. Our goals are to develop frameworks for evaluating historic resources associated with this period, to facilitate architectural survey, and to assist property owners, local governments, historical societies, and individuals and organizations with an interest in preserving the architectural and cultural landscape of a pivotal period in the Commonwealth. The majority of the United States’ built environment was completed after World War II (WWII). As these post-WWII buildings and structures pass or approach the fifty year mark and reach historic age, the DHR is presented with the challenge of understand- ing, preserving and interpreting the architecture and engineering of the recent past. This New Dominion Virginia Style Guide aims to help professionals and laymen define and document the numerous types and styles of post-World War II architectural resources that surround us. Because so much of the New Dominion period’s architecture is based on or influenced by the state’s colonial heritage, we have also included a description of Colonial Revival; although this style emerged in 1880, derivations remained popular through the twentieth century. In addition to images and a bulleted list of character-defining features, each style is given a brief history to provide context. For further research, you will find a bibliography of books, articles, and historic sources at the end of this guide. We have compiled this index of architectural styles based on terminology used by the Virginia Cultural Resources Information System (V-CRIS) database (public portal available at https://vcris.dhr.virginia.gov/vcris/Mapviewer/). Some styles were researched through published material such as Leland Roth’s American Architecture and Virginia McAlester’s A Field Guide to American Houses (2nd edition). We are also indebted to the Recent Past Revealed website (http://recentpastnation.org/) for their guide to newer, less ubiquitous styles such as Neo-Expressionism. Because architecture is a visual medium, the New Dominion Virginia Style Guide relies heavily on photographs which exemplify or illustrate relevant styles. Photographers of copyrighted images have been credited within image captions. Images taken from sources within the public domain, such as National Register nomination forms, have been similarly credited. We are also grateful to Anne Bruder as well as the firm Mead and Hunt for allowing the use of their images from the National Cooperative Highway Re- search Report 723. Although all buildings pictured are located within Virginia, descriptions and dates are based on national trends. We hope that the New Dominion Virginia Style Guide will enrich your understanding and appreciation of Virginia’s post-WWII built resources. Additionally, this guide complements the Classic Commonwealth: Virginia Architecture from the Colonial Era to 1940 style guide that DHR plans to issue in 2014. Questions can be directed to DHR staff (please see our staff directory at http:// www.dhr.virginia.gov/homepage_features/staff2.html). Melina Bezirdjian, National Register Coordinator and Data Enhancement Specialist — 4 — New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide Acknowledgments This guide is the product of a team effort by staff members at the Department of Historic Resources be- ginning with the support and encouragement of DHR Director Julie Langan. Melina Bezirdjian, with DHR’s register program, conducted research, took photographs, and designed and prepared the information sheets for each style. Lena Sweeten McDonald, DHR’s register program historian, prepared the overview and guidance materials that make up the overview section of this guide, as well as compiled the bibliography. DHR architectural historians reviewed and commented on drafts of the style guide. In that regard, partic- ular thanks at DHR goes to Calder Loth, Marc Wagner, Megan Melinat, and Chris Novelli for lending their expertise about architecture from the post-WWII period. — 5 — New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide List of Styles he following list presents architectural styles in general chronological order as they appeared in Virginia. TEach style has 2-3 information sheets with photographs of representative examples, an overview of its origins, and a bullet list of defining characteristics.. Colonial Revival (1880-Present) Split Level (1955-1975) Cape Cod Cottage (1920-1950) Raised Ranch (1958-1975) Moderne (1925-1940) Split Foyer (1958-1978) International Style (1932-1960) Brutalism (1955-1980) Minimal Traditional (1935-1950) Neo-Expressionism (1955-Present) Corporate Commercial (1945-Present) Mission 66 (1956-1966) Miesian (1945-1990) New Formalism (1960-Present) Wrightian (1950-Present) Postmodernism (1965-Present) Contemporary (1950-1980) Neo-Eclecticism (1965-Present) Ranch (1950-1970) Transitional (1985-Present) — 6 — New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide Historic and Architectural Overview he New Dominion Virginia period begins in 1946 in the immediate aftermath of World War II and the Tbeginnings of the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as global antag- onists. The Cold War encompassed a prolonged period of often tense international relations in which the United States assumed and never relinquished the mantle of global leadership. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked a dramatic end to this pivotal period in America’s and Virginia’s history. Due to the extensive presence of military installations and Federal government agencies in Virginia, the Cold War and its consequences proved to have far-reaching effects on every aspect of life in the Commonwealth. Conse- quently, the time frame of the Cold War, 1946-1991, also marks the beginning and end of the New Domin- ion Virginia period. Architectural styles included in this guide primarily were popular during this time frame and some continue to be in use to the present. In the decades following World War II, the growth of government at the Federal, State, and local levels was pervasive throughout Virginia. In Northern Virginia, the presence of Federal government agencies and related businesses multiplied, while Richmond saw growth of State government, and county and city levels of government expanded to meet new functions and services. Virginia’s military installations in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and around Richmond also witnessed significant growth as defense spending increased exponentially during the Cold War. Such growth has affected adjacent rural areas as farmland has been lost in favor of housing and service facilities. A related phenomenon—the transportation route as development corridor—has occurred in the last half of the twentieth century. Although in previous periods some towns and villages were created or grew along the routes of internal improvements, such development remained fairly localized. Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 established the Interstate Highway System. The highway network, unparalleled in its scope and complexity, was a product of the Cold War in that it was designed to create a system of interregional highways to serve peacetime transportation as well as national defense needs. In Virginia, Interstates 64, 66, 81, 85, and 95 are part of today’s interstate highway system. More recently, not only have large communities sprung into being near Virginia’s interstates, but a corre- spondingly elaborate system of support facilities has been established within them, including schools, shop- ping centers, office parks, airports, services such as hotels, gas stations, and restaurants, and additional roads. These transportation and support facilities presently exert the most dramatic pressures on historic resources and the natural environment in Virginia. Such changes have been more a consequence than a cause of Virginia’s exploding population growth since — 7 — New Dominion Virginia, Architectural Style Guide 1945. By 1955, Virginia had more urban residents than rural dwellers, and since that time the state has ranked fourteenth in population among the states. By 1990, most Virginians, like most Americans, lived in suburbs defining the space between urban centers and rural regions. These developments indicate that Virginia entered a pivotal period of transformation after World War II, while continuing to build upon the Commonwealth’s rich history. In its broadest scope, the New Dominion Virginia period extends from 1946