Italianate (1840s – 1885)
Italianate became the most popular housing style in Victorian America. Italianate is also known as the Tuscan, the Lombard, or simply, the bracketed style.
History:
The Italianate style began in England with the picturesque movement of the 1840s. For the previous 200 years, English homes tended to be formal and classical in style. With the picturesque, movement, however, builders began to design fanciful recreations of Italian Renaissance villas. When the Italianate style moved to the United States, it was reinterpreted again to create a uniquely American style.
By the late 1860s, Italianate was the most popular house style in the United States. Historians say that Italianate became the favored style because the homes could be constructed with many different building materials, and the style could be adapted to modest budgets. In addition, new technologies of the Victorian era made it possible to quickly and affordably produce cast-iron and press-metal decorations.
Italianate remained the most popular house style in the USA until the 1870s. Italianate was also a common style for barns, town halls, and libraries. You will find Italianate buildings in nearly every part of the United States except for the deep South. There are fewer Italianate buildings in the southern states because the style reached its peak during the Civil War, a time when the south was economically devastated. After the 1870s, architectural fashion turned toward late Victorian styles such as Queen Anne.
Features:
Low-pitched or flat roof
Balanced, symmetrical rectangular shape
Tall appearance, with 2, 3, or 4 stories
Wide, overhanging eaves with brackets and cornices
Square cupola
Porch topped with balustraded balconies
Tall, narrow, double-paned windows with hood moldings
Side bay window
Heavily molded double doors
Roman or segmented arches above windows and doors
Next: Renaissance Revival Style
