Victorian Architectural Style

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"Victorian" refers to life in the reign of Queen Victoria, who was on the throne of England from 1837 to 1901. Victorian also refers to a particular way of building houses--one that is irregular, very busy and ornate, and draws on various styles that predate it. Inside, the invention of electric heat reduced the necessity of huge central chimneys, and freed up the floor plan to suit the homeowner's whim. Although builders and homeowners combined design elements with abandon, there are distinct styles within Victorian architecture including Gothic, Queen Anne, Italianate and Shingle.
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Gothic Victorian
The perfect backdrop for Gothic-scale romance, the invention of the high-speed mechanical scroll saw ushered in the era of the "Carpenter Gothic" in the 1830s. Patterned on the stone-carved trim of medieval Gothic architecture, "gingerbread" decoration was made of cheaper--and easier to work with--wood. The style found its way to dark brownstones in urban areas, to large country villas, and, eventually, to small cottages designed for the American middle class. Victorian Gothic homes had steep gables, arched windows with diamond panes, and the occasional tower with peaked roof. The effect was romantic and dramatic.
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Queen Anne Victorian
Popular from the 1870s to the turn of the century, Queen Anne style was more practical than Gothic, emphasizing human scale and domestic comfort. It was the most decorative of Victorian styles, with flat exteriors enlivened with bay windows and towers. It also featured unusual roof lines, and molded brick, terra-cotta, and ornamental plaster.

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Inside, the floor plan of a Queen Anne revolved around a "great" hall with snug nooks and a massive fireplace.
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Shingle Victorian
Henry Hobson Richardson of Boston is credited with initiating the Shingle style in the 1880s. Shingles--stretched smooth over roof lines and corners--cover the entire surface of the home, giving it a unified look in direct contrast to the mayhem of other Victorian design styles. Underneath the shingles are imposing, unique structures, including dormers, recessed balconies, and side towers with bell or conical roofs. Inside, large rooms and porches group loosely around a "great hall," dominated by a grand staircase of Tara proportions. Although it spread across the country, the Shingle style was most popular for rambling seaside estates on the New England shore.
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Italianate Victorian

A proud imitator of the villas built in Italy, Italianate houses are two or three stories, and rectangular, almost square. Smaller Italianates have flat roofs, sometimes with a cupola on top, the larger pronounced brackets that hold up an elaborate cornice. Regardless of scale, all Italianates have very wide eaves usually supported by heavy brackets, tall windows, and scrollwork. Another fun "signature" of the style: a central single-bay porch or long porches. The Italianate style emerged in the 1830s, and was popular well into the 1870s. In the mid-1800s, the style was adapted to the urban row house, and is still seen today in the brownstone row houses of New York.

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