Can someone ID this house?

[megeve]

Hi all, I am new to this forum and also new to old houses!

We are not sure what style is this house. Neo classical, Italianate or second empire?? All we know is, this house was built in 1876. Can some experts here help me ID this house? Thank you in advance!

[Old_House_Jim]

It kind of looks like a really early Colonial Revival/beau arts mix. But its a little early for beau arts. Is the build date correct ? The corners could be second empire, the roofline is not. And then there's that tower ... Queen Anne all the way.

So many old houses from the last quarter of the nineteenth century are mixes of styles. Its almost rare to find a clean pure example.

[Sombreuil_Mongrel]

All of the detailing is classical and ponderously heavy. The picture is too grainy and limited to judge what the walls are made of, but it appears that the intention is to simulate coursed smooth ashlar stone. I'd say based on this snippet of a snapshot that it is a type of west-coast (san fran or Norcal) Baroque Revival/Italian Palazzo style.
(Not all turrets are automatically Queen Anne, they date back as far a Spanish Baroque style, mid 16th century, in that form.)
Casey

[Texas_Ranger]

Where is that? The whole thing looks strikingly European (look at the windows!) and the file name is German. My best guess is Austrian or German (maybe Swiss lowlands) "Gründerzeit", ties in nicely with the construction date. Walls are most likely stucco over brick. At least the bottom left window seems to be a replacement, not a really bad one though.

Neo-classic style (Neoklassizismus) had gone a bit out of fashion by that time I think.

[housecrazy sarah]

Does the house have a mansard roof? (it's hard to tell from the single photo) Also, is that a turret on the right? Please post more pics from different angles! I am intrigued!

Right now I am leaning toward Second Empire.

[Texas_Ranger]

One thing I just realised... the picture is obviously a screenshot from Google Streetview or a similar site! Note the stitching errors along the roof line!

Explains why Google Reverse Image Search didn't give me any results for the picture...

[Sombreuil_Mongrel]

One thing I just realised... the picture is obviously a screenshot from Google Streetview or a similar site! Note the stitching errors along the roof line!

Explains why Google Reverse Image Search didn't give me any results for the picture...

What tippled you off, the "gle" at the lower left corner?
Casey

[Texas_Ranger]

One thing I just realised... the picture is obviously a screenshot from Google Streetview or a similar site! Note the stitching errors along the roof line!

Explains why Google Reverse Image Search didn't give me any results for the picture...

What tippled you off, the "gle" at the lower left corner?
Casey

Oops, missed that one
I suddenly noticed the really poor stitching near the top of the 3rd floor, that's what tipped me off - the top part of the picture is clearly different. Rules out Austria at least, no Google here (we have a local version though). I'm still willing to bet on Continental Europe minus France and Austria. Spain doesn't exactly seem likely either, as does Southern Italy. Best guess is Germany.

[megeve]

Thanks all for chiming in!

Wow, Texas_Ranger, you amazed me with your online detective work! But you are also scaring me that some real computer geek might be able to locate this place so easily! My bad for using google, lol! Not so much for my safety but for the owner. So I am just going to say that this townhouse is in Germany - here again TR, you scored!

Sorry, I don't have any more pics of the house. We have developed an interest in old houses in the last few years and have started just recently to look around. We were given this address by our real estate agent and I google it, thats where I got the pic of the house and was intrigued as to what style to characterize it. We have seen a few late 19th and early 20th century houses, all very beautiful but need terribly lots of work to put them into 'living comfortably in them' stage.

Housecrazy-Sarah, no this house doesn't has a mansard roof! And yes that is a turret on the right. This house intrigues us too and it seems to to be in the best condition than the others. However, the interior might tell us a different story!

[Texas_Ranger]

Yes, reverse image search is a bit scary... basically it's able to trace most pictures ever posted on the internet (it doesn't catch all of them though).

Most of my guesswork was based on the house itself though... I grew up in Austria with relatives in Germany, so I'm very familiar with that style. Could be right next door to where I'm sitting now without sticking out at all.

I'm terribly bad at identifying formal styles though... but I'd stick with Gründerzeit or maybe late neo-classic.

The outside sure looks well-kept and fairly tastefully restored (emphasis on fairly). I shudder thinking about the potential price tag though... depending on location and lot size this could be anywhere up to the 2-digit million range (talking Euro here).

If you really want to dig into this have a look at the fachwerk.de forums... in spite of their name they also talk to people who don't have timberframed houses