Understanding Cape Cod Architecture

Americans have alchoices loved a good Cape Cod home. In 1938 when Life magazine asked families to choose their ideal place to live, the Cape Cod design was among those few selected, even when compared to an original modern home by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The design visionary may have had great ideas and some very attractive sketches, but he didnt have hundreds of years of building tradition and a classic form recognized by everyone. Cape Cod designs are just as popular today, and will likely continue as one of the nations most enduring building styles.
The Cape Cod style dates back to the earliest period in American and Atlantic Canadian colonial history. These first homes in the 1600s were un-adorned and practical, built for year-round comfort in the windy, cold Eastern Seaboard climate. Scarce natural resources for building also helped keep these homes simple and small, with little deviation in design, and typically rock or plaster exterior walls.
Early Cape Cod homes had a narrow rectangular shape, with a steep pitched roof to keep winter snow from accumulating. Rarely built with upper floor dormers, these homes tended to have a stark, impenetrable look, which became fashionable during the Gothic Revival period of the early 19th century. Cape Cod windows were generally double paned with wooden shutters, and placed symmetrically on either side of a central door, as well as in the gable on either side of the house. The first Cape Cods, also known as Colonial Capes, were usually one or two rooms deep at the most and just a single story with a large attic, contrasting with many 18th and 19th century styles that featured large two and three story designs. Colonial Cape floor plans tended to max out at 1-2,000 sq ft, and were typically furnished with all hardwood floors.
Cape Cod architecture was less common in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as other styles predominated, but it enjoyed a widespread revival in the 1920s, when builders in other parts of the nation started using the style. The family awarded a new Cape Cod style home in the 1938 Life Magazine project chose to build in Edina, Minnesota, far from the coastal Massachusetts region for which the style is named. Colonial Revival Capes introduced a variety of new features to the classic form, including upper-floor dormers for extra light, bay and picture windows, front entrance pilasters, and more modern floor plans that sometimes included a kitchen extension at the back of the house. But revivalists were careful to remember the Cape Cods original appeal rooted in classic design, practicality, and affordability, and designed their new homes as traditionally as possible.

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Understanding Queen Anne Architecture

Queen Anne style homes are often easy to spot, but hard to define. Its partially that elusivity combined with distinctness that makes the style so attractive to buyers and preservationists across the nation. Queen Anne homes are often referred to as the most ornate buildings of the Victorian era, and combine a variety of aesthetics and building methods from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
One of the reasons Queen Anne architecture looks so different from other styles is that it was generally only used on houses. While other styles like Gothic Revival and Federal were being adapted for commercial buildings, churches, and public institutions, Queen Anne architecture was specifically made for upscale houses and mansions, using the latest materials and methods of the machine age. Another developmental difference between Queen Anne and other styles is that it didnt tend to draw on past eras, but instead produced a new building school that helped set the stage for 20th century homes.
The defining characteristics of the Queen Anne style are many and not alchoices consistent, but there are a few key elements. In general, Queen Anne homes use high-pitched, irregular roofs, spindles and lookouts, decorative structure elements such as columns, and covered balconies. Many Queen Anne homes also employ stained glass, turrets, half timbering in the gables similar to the Tudor style, and patterned masonry. Different sub-styles of the Queen Anne movement include Spindled, Free Classic, Half-Timbered, and Patterned Masonry.
While generally very attractive, Queen Anne homes are often derided as being excessive, or "ginger-bread" like. Its true that Queen Anne architecture was the product of a rapidly changing era, and many of the homes included features never seen before, so the criticism holds some weight.
The name for the Queen Anne style is often attributed to an 1852 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray entitled "The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., A Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Queen Anne," which was popular for decades in the English speaking world. By contrast, stylish and modern furnishings from the historical reign of Englands Queen Anne, came to be classified in a style known as "William and Mary."

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Understanding Gothic Revival Architecture

Some architectural styles should never change. Thats likely what many builders thought in the early 1800s when Gothic architecture was re-discovered. With its tall, looming lines and intricate facades, the style was as relevant and attractive then as it was in its original period between the 12th and 16th century. Many Gothic Revival structures throughout the united states have been carefully preserved, and new examples are alchoices celebrated.
Gothic and Gothic Revival architecture is alchoices easy to identify. Buildings of this style often have high pitched roofs or spires, tall, narrow windows coming to a point at the top, exposed wood structural beams, and cross hatched decorative patterns. Because of its defining characteristics many people have the misconception that all gothic buildings are tall and narrow. In fact, some of the best examples of the style are squared or rectangular structures such as the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and the Saint Clotilde Basilica in Paris - the Gothic tradition in these buildings is as apparent as anywhere else. Gothic skyscrapers built in the late 19th and early 20th century, particularly in New York City, may be responsible for the styles most common interpretation. The Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburg, is another beautiful example of tall, narrow Gothic architecture.
Gothic architecture is widely accepted to have begun in the 12th century with the Basilique Saint-Denis in Paris, where nearly all of the countrys monarchs were buried. The style quickly spread across Europe, and was developed over several centuries, with the last high profile example being the Chapel at Westminister, built by Henry VII in the early 16th century.
Gothic architecture never died out completely, but resurfaced less frequently between the 16th and 19th centuries, while post renaissance styles were popularized. The literature of the 19th century helped as much as anything to revive interest in the middle ages, as authors like Horace Walpole began to celebrate the period in their works.
The Gothic Revival was in full swing by the early 19th century, and came to America in the 1830s. While the style re-emerged largely unchanged, it was now being applied to smaller structures like homes and commercial buildings, as well as in traditional settings. Gothic revival architecture remained popular in the U.S. until the 1870s, although, again, it never vanished completely. Aspects of the Art Nouveau style of the 1930s can be traced to Gothic and Gothic Revival architecture, and occasionally a gifted architect is able to channel the original style in all its unmistakable stark beauty.

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Understanding Shingle Architecture

Shingle architecture helped define the look of many of Americas most popular waterfront communities in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Reminiscent of the Queen Anne style, this building form helped residents make the most of lake and ocean real estate with a variety of ornamental features to enhance view, and construction materials that worked well in wet, coastal climates.
As the name suggests, Shingle architecture relies heavily on the use of shingles on roofs and exterior walls. As a result, shingle style homes looked naturally more ornate than most homes, and required less ornamentation. The shingle skin of these homes also provided extra insulation, and kept the homes dryer and warmer during wet winter months. Stone counteractions on many of these homes also helped extend their life span for many generations of residents.
The exterior style of shingle homes was also defined by large, asymmetrical shapes, and generally horizontal profiles. Unpractical on small city properties, the style worked well on large coastal estates - many of the most famous examples of shingle architecture were built on the New England seashore. Shingle style homes tended to rely less on form than their Queen Anne predecessors, although they employed many of the same shapes. Features like gambrel roofing, polygon towers, and multiple eaves helped evoke the Queen Anne style while allowing for progression of the form. Since Shingle architecture is less clearly defined in shape, its sometimes more difficult to identify at a glance, except for the telltale shingle roof and siding.
Although Shingle architecture became fairly widespread around the turn of the 20th century under New York architects like William Rutherford Mead, Stanford White, and Charles Follen McKim, the style never attained the same popularity as Queen Anne architecture.
The interior style of Shingle homes was often characterized by the use of natural light. Shingle home floor plans were generally more open, and room to room transitions were often more informal than Queen Ann style homes, primarily because of their larger size. In this choice, Shingle homes were often more accommodating to guests and large families.
Home buyers and sellers in the northeast and great lakes region will likely come across the Shingle style at some point, and a basic understanding of the form could prove a great advantage over other investors.

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