American House Styles Research

Colonial

A. Cape Cod

Features

1.  The windows are surrounded by shutters usually the color of the front door. 

2.  The colors are usually white/gray or simple natural colors. 

3. Many rectangular windows. 

4. The entryway is often very simple with a couple steps up to the front door. 

5. They are all normally two stories high with the chimney(s) on the side of the houses. 

B. Cape Ann

Features

1. 2-3 stories high

2. Front porch around the house with fences

3. Porches on second or third levels

4. Generally white or gray with simple colored shingles

5. Very Broad entryway with a roof over the door. 

C. Saltbox

Features

1. Red or dark color

2. Chimney right in the middle of the house

3. Very simple entry way with a couple of steps to the door and no porch

4. Box shaped 

5. One really long slanted roof towards the rear of the house. 

D. Garrison

Features

1. Shades of blue, white, or gray.

2. Shingles normally match a shade of the house color. 

3. Not much of a porch, just a simple entryway. 

4. 2-3 stories high.

5. Many windows on all sides of the house. 

Shaker

Features

1. Triangular roof

2. Rectangle/box shaped

3. Chimneys on the side of the house

4. Made for groups of people

5. Shakers typically used red, blue, warm yellow and blue-green to color everything from walls to textiles. 

Georgian 

Features

1. Popular between 1720-1820
2. Uses strict symmetric arrangement throughout the house
3. Have portico in the middle of the roof with a window
4. Roofing is mostly side gabled.  
5. Chimneys on both sides of the home

Greek Revival 

Features

1. Popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's
2. Low pitched gable and hip roofs 
3. Columns and pilasters are extremely common
4. The entrances had a simple post-beam construction
5. Usually painted white

Gothic Revival 

Features

1.Began in the 1740's but popularity grew in the early 1900's

2. Steeply pitched roof, cross gabled roof

3. Pointed arch windows

4. Asymmetrical and unpredictable floor plans

5. Grouped chimneys

Federal 

Features

1. Simple square or rectangular box
2. 2-3 stories high and 2-3 rooms deep
3. Houses showcase geometrical concepts, very symmetrical
4. Built/popular in the 1800's, evolved from the Georgian style houses
5. Chimneys on the sides of the house

Italianate

Features

1.  Modeled after mid evil farmhouses  
2. A lot of the houses had flat roofs
3. Most common feature is the square tower with a bracketed cornice 
4. L or T shaped floor plans
5. Long, narrow windows

Second Empire

Features

1. Simple box form, square or rectangle
2. Highly symmetrical 
3. Towers were a very common feature
4. Central featured windows often placed over in entrance in pairs
5. A central projecting pavilion highlights the entrance

Victorian

Features

1. Often had bright colors
2. Took ideas from Gothic architecture
3. Wood or stone exterior
4. Towers were very common
5. Steep, multi-faceted roof or mansard roof

French Revival






Features

1. Brick exterior 
2. Wide eaves with large brackets 
3. Cube shaped
4. Roof topped with balustrade 
5. Balanced, symmetrical proportions  

Farmhouse

Features

1. Formal and informal spaces
2. Located in rural locations
3. Originally designed by early colonial families in the 1700's
4. Simple rectangular floor plan, sometimes in a t-shaped
5. The exterior is usually white or gray

Tudor

Features

1. Steeply pitched roof
2. Prominent cross gables
3. Small window panes
4. Decorative half-timbering
5. Elaborate masonry chimneys

Shingle

Features

1. Popular between 1874-1910
2. Cross gables, and irregular roof plan
3. Asymmetrical floor plan
4. Have eaves on several levels
5. Continuous wood shingles on siding and roof

Craftsman 

Features

1. Popular between 1868-1928
2. Low pitched roof
3. Deep eaves with exposed rafters 
4. Large, covered front porches with massive, battered columns
5. Usually 1-1.5 stories 

Bungalow

Features

1. Most of the loving space in on the ground floor
2. Living room is at the center
3. Low-pitched roof and horizontal shape
4. One and a half stories
5. Often has a large front porch that creates an outdoor room

Prairie Style

Features

1. Low-pitched roof
2. Have a central chimney
3. Open floor plan
4. Overhanging eaves
5. Clerestory windows

American Foursquare

Features

1. Simple box shaped
2. Two and a half stories high
3. Large central dormer
4. Full width porch with wide stairs
5. Brick, stone, stucco, concrete block, or wood siding exterior

Period

Features:

1. Batten doors
2. Asymmetrical door and window openings
3. Second floor wall overhang
4. Side-gabled entrance
5. Central chimney on the north end

Ranch 

'

Features:

1. Usually Single story
2. Rectangular L-shaped or U-shaped
3. Deep-set eaves 
4. Simple floor plans 
5. Long, narrow and low to the ground with large windows

Split Level 

Features:

1. Popular from 1945-1980
2. The front door opens to a landing in most cases
3. Sometimes they have 3-4 sets of stairs and 3 levels
4. Living areas are separated from private areas by just a few steps, rather then a single, long staircase
5. They are just a simple ranch house raised a few levels