• Georgian (1698-1720)



Identifying features:

Square, symmetrical shape
Hipped roof
Main entrances emphasized with columns, pilasters, and broken pediment
Decorative crown over front door
Decorative flattened columns (pilasters) on each side of door
Paired chimneys
Windows with double-hung sashes, typically with six to twelve small panes per sash
Cornice emphasized by decorative moldings, most commonly with tooth-like dentils

"More so than ever in the colonial period, buildings were now not only frameworks in which to live and work, they were also provocative projections of what Americans wanted to be." -- David P. Handlin, American Architecture, 1985

When the Great Fire of London destroyed that city in 1666, architect Sir Christopher Wren was the man of the hour chosen to rebuild it. Soon the city of London was transformed from a city that was positively medieval to a prosperous urban center -- resplendent with Renaissance-style brick townhouses set in tidy continuous rows.

This new urban-style house was derived from the Italian architecture of the 1500s, especially that of Andrea Palladio (1508-80) who freely adapted Roman classical forms. With its rigid symmetry, balanced proportion, and classical detailing, the new Georgian mode of architecture (named after the several King Georges who ruled Britan throughout much of the 18th century) represented a final break from the thatched roof, peaked-gable style of medieval architecture. Some 40 years later the Georgian Style finally migrated -- by way of architectural books and builder's guides -- to the Thirteen Colonies. Soon this classic style was embraced as the official "look at me" house of New England's rising prosperous mercantile class.

The Georgian house is a formal, dignified and spacious but simple, one-or two-story box. It's usually two rooms deep, with doors and windows in strict symmetry. While the Georgian style started out with lavish surface ornamentation (like its British cousins) it eventually developed a simpler façade.

The Revolutionary War brought a halt to construction projects and effectively ended the Georgian Style in America, although conservative builders continued to use it into the 1800s. The style was revived at the time of the 1876 Centennial, when architects were moved by patriotic fervor to look to the American past for models.