| Italianate was one of the most popular Victorian-era housing styles from the mid- to late-1800s. Homes in this style ranged from modest two-story town houses to ornate mansions of sea captains and other wealthy entrepreneurs. Inspired by villas of Italy -- or at least pictures of them, since few American architects traveled abroad -- the style is defined most by the use of single or paired decorative brackets under wide cornices. The homes were typically two to three stories in height, with flat or hip roofs, bay windows with inset wooden panels, corner boards and two over two double-hung windows. The windows often had curved or molded window caps. |
-- Venango Economic Development Corporation |
Italianate House Details
-- Drawing from the National Park Service | |
-- Photo by the Paint Quality Institute |
-- Photo by Brian McGee |
Homes and commercial buildings in Italianate style were built throughout the country. In New England, they often were homes to ship's captains. One fine example of such a house is the Southard House in Richmond, Maine.
The Historic American Building Survey describes the mansion, built in 1855 by prominent Richmond shipbuilder Thomas J. Southard, as "designed in the manner of the Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan...(with) heavily bracketed cupola and broadly overhanging eaves, 2 stories high, rectangular with a hipped roof, tall cupola and one and a half story el on the east side."
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Inside, the home is was grand as the outside. When the house was documented for the HABS in 1971, many of the original features were still present, despite the buildings use for many years as a nursing home.
(Click on any photo for a larger view.) |
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-- All photos of Southard House from the HABS files. |
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Many Italianates were much more modest than the Southard House, of course. Elements of the style were also widely used in commercial brick buildings at the time.
This row house, in Washington, D.C., is typical of commercial Italianate buildings, with simple curved window caps and brackets.
This story is part of an occasional series by The Old House Web on housing styles in America. Click here to see other stories on housing styles.
