What architectural style is this?

August 3, 2008 10:28 PM

What is this style of architecture called? Here is a second picture.

Got any clues? I'm not a big architecture buff, but I'm curious about this one because it's so plain-looking.

posted by cmchap to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Definitely Italianate, also called Tuscan. Became popular in america during the Victorian era. Many American farm housed had third storied added and rooflines changed to the low racketed style.

Italianate houses have many of these 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

By the late 1800's, Italianate was the most popular architecture design in America
posted by Acacia at 10:42 PM on August 3, 2008

I can confirm Acacia's answer. Here's an image from wikipedia's Italianate page that looks almost exactly like your picture. It's called Blandwood (!) Mansion.
posted by philomathoholic at 10:53 PM on August 3, 2008

Yep. Italianate.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 10:54 PM on August 3, 2008

Nthing Italianate - albeit a modern take?
posted by lottie at 11:08 PM on August 3, 2008

Nthing Italianate - albeit a modern take?

Actually, it looks to me more like a Victorian-era take on Italian--note the finials on the roof brackets, and the massing of the house. It's basically a Victorian house (I'm using "Victorian" loosely here) with Italian details.

Definitely Italianate, also called Tuscan.

Not necessarily. The design of this house, and others I've see from the same era, evokes more the palazzo design common to city centers in renaissance Florence or Rome. "Tuscan" is more of a villa type of architecture and is typically more low-slung and rustic looking, with squat columns. This place is more of a block. Tuscan and Italianate are not quite interchangeable terms.
posted by LionIndex at 11:35 PM on August 3, 2008

Italianate, definitely. We have a ton of Italianate Victorian architecture around here (SF/Oakland), and some of the hallmarks are: a square cupola or tower; narrow paired windows with arched tops (including on the tower); windows with elaborated crowns; low pitched roof with widely overhanging eves, supported by decorative brackets- pretty much what Acacia said, though I've never heard anyone call it "Tuscan".
posted by oneirodynia at 6:09 PM on August 4, 2008