Video:History of American Home Design

Transcript:History of American Home Design

Hi, I'm Cooper Pierce with Jones Pierce Architects, here to talk about a brief history of American home design for About.com.

Neo-Classical American Architecture

All of our government buildings are of a classical nature. You had sort of the neo-classical style. People started emulating the Greeks. That's why you see the pediments and columns or the marble or limestone facades. It might be a brick home with the columns and it could be out of either limestone or wood.

American Victorian Houses

Late 19^th century - early 20^th century American homes went through an evolution of styles. You had, at the start of the 20^th century, late 1800's - early 1900's, you had Victorian styles. And within the Victorian era you had the Queen Anne, you had the simple Victorian that you saw, or can see across rural America where homes had steep pitched roofs. They had wood siding, and if you're in the rural areas probably very simple clean detailing of the porch columns and railings. As you moved more into the towns you saw more decorated and ornate homes of the Victorian era. The Victorian era is mainly indicative of having the wood siding and being painted white, which represented the purity, the goals and moral character of the Victorian period.

Brief Romanesque Period

Then after that you had more of a romantic period. You had H.H. Richardson who really brought forth the Romanesque, where you had the heavy stone but sort of short squatty columns. You might see some houses using this style out of brick but it was always masonry.

More Modern American Home Design

Then it sort of evolved into the Arts and Crafts. In Europe and here, you had Art Nouveau, most known in Paris and France, but out of that came the Prairie style. Then you go out to California and you have the Greene Brothers, Greene and Greene, doing what evolved into the American bungalow and the Craftsman style.

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