Queen Anne, 1880-1910 (Part 1)
Elaborate Victorians captured imaginations, hearts of Americans
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| This elaborate Queen Anne style house in Eureka, California was a winner in the Paint Quality Institute's "Prettiest Painted Places in America," contest last year. -- PQI photo |
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Other parts of this story: Part2: More Queen Anne houses ~~ Part3: Restoring a Queen Anne house
The Queen Anne style, rich and varied in ornamentation and form, was wildlypopular after its introduction in America at the 1876 Exposition inPhiladelphia. Taking its name from the reign of an eighteenth century EnglishQueen, the style was brought to America by the British government, whichdisplayed several of the houses at the exposition.
If any one phrase can describe the elaborate style it's "the morefanciful, the better."
Queen Anne style houses are composed of a number of parts, including towers,dormers, bay windows, and corbelled chimneys. Wall surfaces such as coursedshingles, clapboards, and inset panels of sawn wooden ornament are combined withirregular roof lines and decorative wrap-around porches. Windows may includesmall square or diamond panes, and the more typically 2/2 double-hung sash.
Closely related is the Queen Anne Farmhouse, which has the basic form andsimplicity of the Vernacular Farmhouse, but with the addition of Queen Anneexterior elements. Typically 1 1/2-stories, this style uses Queen Anneornamentation in an understated and less complex manner. Decorative woodwork isnot as elaborate and used less frequently, but includes a combination ofshingles and clapboards on wall surfaces, and sawn or turned woodwork onporches.
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| Architectural features of a Queen Anne House
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| Architectural features of a Queen Anne Farmhouse
-- NPS illustrations |
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Queen Anne style houses were built throughout thecountry from roughly 1890 to 1910. The style caught on quickly, in part becausewoodworking mills could mass-produce turned porch posts, mouldings and othertrimmings.
Wood-frame houses are sided with imaginative combinations of wood shingleswith decoratively cut ends, clapboards, and vertical or horizontal boardsdividing wall surfaces. Spacious porches have elaborately turned posts andbalusters. Skirts below porch floors are made of latticework or vertical slatswith fanciful cut-out designs.
From an 1885 book, "Exterior Decoration," F.W. Devoe & Company,the style is lauded for its "opportunity for the greatest display of tastein coloring and exterior decoration."
The highly decorative style was soon nicknamed "bric-a-brack" and"gingerbread" for the elaborate and plentiful trim applied to nearlyevery exterior surface. In later years, white paint or false siding often maskedthe fanciful woodwork, but in their heyday, it was not uncommon for Queen Annehouses to be painted originally with five or six different colors to bring outall the different textures and trim.
Bay City, Michigan -- StateDepartment of Transportation (Cultural Resources)
The Queen Anne fervor even reached the military. The Presidio inSan Francisco, which served as a U.S. military post until 1994, is now aNational Historic Landmark District, with 473 historic buildings ranging fromelegant officers' quarters to air hangars.
Queen Annes were eclectic, often asymmetrical with wrap-around porches,turrets, angled roof brackets, and different combinations and applications ofexterior building materials. The cluster of large officers' quarters located atFunston and Presidio Boulevards represent the Presidio's version of the QueenAnne style with a cleaner, less ornate building than the colorful, civiliancounterparts found throughout the City of San Francisco.
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-- photos, National Park Service. |
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| Part 2: More Queen Anne houses -> | |
