STEP TWO
Styles started to move toward lighter ornamentation and symmetrical layouts while emphasizing handcrafted details and natural materials. This change is a reflection of a shift toward practicality and understated elegance.
Colonial/Georgian Revival
This style reimagines and modernizes elements of early American colonial architecture, characterized by symmetrical facades, classical columns, multi-pane windows, and decorative entryways.
Fig. Colonial Revival Style House
| Era | 1890-1940 |
|---|---|
| Form | Symmetrical, rectangular layouts with evenly spaced windows and a central entry. |
| Storeys | 2 |
| Façade | Symmetrical facades, often with five-bay (five windows across) arrangements. Brick, clapboard, or stone exteriors, depending on the region. Classical entryways, often featuring a decorative pediment, sidelights, or transoms. |
| Roof | Medium-pitched gable or hip roofs, typically without overhanging eaves. May feature dormers or cupolas in later Colonial Revival interpretations. Decorative cornices or dentil moldings along the roofline. |
| Windows | Multi-pane double-hung windows. 6-over-6 or 12-over-12. Frequently paired with shutters in Colonial Revival versions. Decorative fanlights or Palladian windows above the entryway in grander designs. |
| Details | Entry doors are central and formal, often framed with columns or pilasters. Classical columns or pilasters supporting a porch, inspired by Greek and Roman architecture. Chimneys are prominent, often symmetrically placed. Elaborate, decorated downspouts. |
Bungalow and Craftsman
These styles reference architectural principles of the Arts and Crafts movement. Designed to emphasize simplicity, craftsmanship, and the use of natural materials. Low-pitched roofs with wide eaves, exposed rafters, tapered columns, expansive covered porches, open floor plans. Sometimes colourfully painted.
Fig. Bungalow Style House
| Era | 1900-1930 |
|---|---|
| Form | Low, horizontal forms with compact layouts; often rectangular or L-shaped. Prominent dormer. |
| Storeys | 1-1.5. Occasionally 2. |
| Façade | Natural materials like wood, stone, or brick. Asymmetrical yet balanced designs. Prominent front porches (sometimes closed in) with thick, tapered columns or piers. |
| Roof | Low-pitched gable or hip roofs with wide, overhanging eaves. Exposed rafters or decorative brackets under the eaves. |
| Windows | Double-hung or casement windows, often grouped in pairs or triplets. Multi-pane upper sashes over single-pane lower sashes (commonly 3-over-1 or 4-over-1). |
| Details | Entrance in the veranda. Natural wood door. Stone or brick accents, at piers, chimneys, lintels. |
Period Revivals
Encompasses a range of styles that recreate and adapt historical European and American architectural traditions, such as Tudor, Spanish Colonial, and French Provincial, often emphasizing romanticized details.
Fig. Period Revival (Tudor) Style House
| Era | 1890s–1940s (with later revivals continuing into the present) |
|---|---|
| Form | Varies depending on the historical style, but often asymmetrical with steeply pitched roofs or grand, classical facades. |
| Storeys | 1.5-2.5 |
| Façade | Authentic-looking historical detailing drawn from past architectural traditions. Materials vary by style, including: Tudor Revival: Brick, stucco, and decorative half-timbering. Spanish Colonial Revival: Stucco walls, red clay roof tiles, arched openings. French Provincial Revival: Stone or brick facades with steeply pitched roofs. |
| Roof | Steeply pitched, end gable or cross gable. |
| Windows | Arched or casement windows (Spanish, French, Tudor styles). Sometimes with shutters or ironwork. Diamond lattice. |
| Details | Heavy unpainted wood entry door, often rounded and under separate gable. Ornate chimneys with stone or brick detailing. Handcrafted elements such as wrought iron balconies, stone carvings, or decorative woodwork. Formal landscaping with hedges, courtyards, and terraces. |
Edwardian
Named after King Edward VII, this is a transitional style, characterized by simpler, lighter designs, large windows, and restrained decorative details, often blending elements of Queen Anne, Georgian Revival, and Arts and Crafts styles.
Fig. Edwardian Style House
| Era | 1900-1920 |
|---|---|
| Form | Straight lines, square or rectangular. |
| Storeys | 2-3 |
| Façade | Smooth brick with modest ornamentation. Symmetrical layouts with large window openings. |
| Roof | Combination of hip and gable roofs. Heavy cornices. |
| Windows | Sash windows with rectangular panes, often 1-over-1. Arched or mulled triplet windows commonly seen in upper levels. |
| Details | Classic detailing, such as keystones, voussoirs, and plain stone lintels. Doors are often placed within porticos or verandas. |
Prairie
Characterized by its emphasis on horizontal lines, integration with the natural landscape, and open, flowing interior spaces. Popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School. This style is a clear departure from ornate revival styles in favour of simplicity and functionality.
Fig. Prairie Style House
| Era | 1900-1930 |
|---|---|
| Form | Low, horizontal, and asymmetrical designs to reflect the flatness of the prairie landscape. |
| Storeys | 1-2 |
| Façade | Stucco, brick, or horizontal wood siding. Emphasis on horizontal lines, often with extended rooflines and bands of windows. Minimal ornamentation, with clean, geometric detailing. Symmetrical. Large window openings. |
| Roof | Low-pitched, often hipped roofs with wide, overhanging boxed eaves. Eaves frequently emphasize horizontality and may be supported by exposed beams or brackets. |
| Windows | Rows of casement or ribbon windows, often with geometric patterns in the glass. Grouped or banded to enhance the horizontal aesthetic. |
| Details | Strong connection between interior and exterior spaces, often through terraces, porches, or garden integration including built in planter boxes. Natural materials like wood, stone, and brick to harmonize with the environment. |
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-This guide provides a brief, highly graphical overview of Canada's architectural heritage, highlighting the defining characteristics of various building styles and types across different historical periods. We love older Parks Canada publications.
Parks Canada. Buildings of Canada: A Guide to Styles and Types. 1980, https://www.historicplaces.ca/media/7173/buildingsofcanada.pdf.
-This guide, commissioned by an East coast municipality, is quite comprehensive. It provides more detailed information on the architectural styles that are common in Canada.
Town of Sackville. Heritage Architecture Style Guide. 10 Mar. 2014, https://sackville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Heritage_Architecture_Style_Guide_Final_10March2014.pdf.
-This book provides a comprehensive overview of major architectural styles and building terminology in Ontario from the late 18th century to relatively modern times.
Blumenson, John J.-G. Ontario Architecture: A Guide to Styles and Building Terms, 1784 to the Present. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1990.
-A concise introduction to considering the architectural character of your home is provided in the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Cultural Resources - Preservation Guides. The National Park Service preservation guides are a great resource in general and well worth exploring.
-This book outlines what to look for, what to do and what not to do when working on important building details.
Cusato, Marianne, and Ben Pentreath. Get Your House Right: Architectural Elements to Use & Avoid. Sterling, 2007.
-This book provides an excellent detailed guide to American residential architecture (basically the same as Canadian architecture).
McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture. Knopf, 2015.
-This book provides detailed information on building elements.
Benjamin, Asher. The American Builder's Companion. Illustrated ed., Feb. 26, 2009, Dover Publications.
-This book provides detailed information on building elements indicating scale and proportion.
Radford, William A., Bernard L. Johnson, and Charles P. Rawson. Radford's Portfolio of Details of Building Construction: A Remarkable and Unique Collection of Full-Page Plates, Accurately Drawn and Reproduced to Exact Scale. Complete Details for Every Style of Interior Trim, Including Special Built-In Features. Illustrated ed., Dover Publications, Aug. 31, 2012.
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