As part of your new home construction, it is crucial that you consider all available options and select one that best meets the needs of your family.
Your windows, doors, and cladding materials should complement both your budget and environment. Their style should complement each other as well.
Greek Revival
Attracting inspiration from ancient Greek temples, this architectural style became widely popular in the US during the first half of the 19th century. This may have been driven by both an intellectual preoccupation with Greek culture as well as new awareness of actual temples brought about through illustrated illustrations or by discovering Elgin Marbles.
Greek Revival buildings feature columns — typically Doric (round), but sometimes Ionic and Corinthian — to support an entablature with frieze, architrave and pediment. Columns were also commonly seen supporting porticos – front porches.
Greek Revival architecture became popular across much of the U.S. between 1825 and 1860 and remains popular today among renovators and builders who create period-style Greek Revival homes.
Mediterranean
Mediterranean-inspired homes reflect influences from Italy, Portugal and Spain; often featuring decorative stonework, arched windows with wrought iron accents, rough stucco walls with clay tile roofs and spindle gates. Popularized in North America by Florida architect Addison Mizner as well as Californians Bertram Goodhue Paul Williams and Sumner Spaulding during the 1920s.
Mediterranean homes tend to be symmetrical and feature two-story front facades made of natural stone or stucco, both of which perform better in warmer climates as they absorb and release heat throughout the day. Stucco also helps keep interior temperatures down; furthermore, its larger fenestrations add further balance and maintain symmetry.
Modern
Modern architecture was the undisputed dominant style in 20th-century cities worldwide and remains influential today. It emerged through a combination of engineering advancements, new building materials and artistic ideologies that broke free from previous historical styles.
Clean lines, flat roofs and open plan interiors define this architectural style as well as expansive windows to maximize natural lighting. Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe helped establish this movement with designs that combine organic forms with geometric shapes.
When considering homes with large expanses of glass, be sure to ask about heating and cooling costs as large quantities can drastically increase energy bills.
Gothic Revival
People often associate Gothic architecture with churches or historical landmarks; however, its influence can also be found in residential homes.
Gothic Revival architecture provides an alternative to the neoclassical styles prevalent during the eighteenth century, drawing its inspiration from medieval designs. Characterized by steeply pitched gable roofs, asymmetrical floor plans, and pointed arches.
Builders utilized decorative trim around windows, doors, and porches of houses constructed in this period to give these structures their distinct appearance. Carpenter Gothic became increasingly popular from 1840-1861 throughout Western states such as California; architects such as Alexander Jackson Davis and Andrew Jackson Downing even published influential pattern books such as Cottage Residences and The Architecture of Country Houses as pioneers of this style.
Italianate
Italianate architecture brought an interesting new aesthetic to America from 1840s until Civil War; overshadowing Gothic Revival as America’s favorite romantic style in terms of popularity.
Italianate houses feature a symmetrical rectangular form with two or three stories and wide eaves that are supported by brackets, as well as an arched front entryway with arched balconies and arcaded balconies. Other distinguishing characteristics may include square cupolas or belvederes, loggias with arcaded balconies, classic triangular pediments above doors and windows, rusticated quoins on masonry buildings and rusticated quoins for further character.
Beaux Arts
Beaux Arts architects sought to reflect this industrial development in their buildings while simultaneously fostering civic pride and social progress through civic pride-promoting architecture, such as train stations, libraries, and museums where foot traffic regulation was an important consideration. Their buildings are typically grand yet eclectic without appearing chaotic or irregular; often used in large public projects like train stations or libraries with foot traffic considerations in mind.
Beaux Arts architecture combines formal symmetry with decorative French Renaissance and Italian Baroque elements for an opulent and grandiose style, which stands as a statement of wealth and power. Beaux Arts buildings can be found worldwide.
