Colonial and Colonial Revival Architecture................Colonial and Colonial Revival FURNITURE............Styles of Architecture

Georgian / Georgian Revival in Buffalo, NY
1900-1940

Table of contents:

• Georgian Style 1714-1776 (England, U.S.)
  
  
• Georgian Revival 1900-1940 (U. S.)
  
  
• Examples of Georgian Revival Buildings
  
  
• Illustrated Georgian Revival Typical Features:

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Georgian Style 1714-1776 (England, U.S.)

In Europe, the dominant style of architecture during the 18th century is known as "Neoclassical."

In Great Britain, the parallel term is "Georgian," named after the reigns of the three King Georges from 1714 to 1820, but commonly not including George IV.

In Britain, in the first half of the 18th century, the ideals of Andrea Palladio (1508-80) were dominant. In the second half of the century, Roman precedents (inspired by archeological discoveries in Pompeii and Herculaneum) were popularized by Robert Adam (1728-1792).

• Adam's Portland Place, in London
• Adam's Charlotte Square, in Edinburgh.

In the U. S., Neoclassicism is referred to as "Colonial" (until the Revolution), and then "Federal."

In New England, the English Georgian style came to America by way of British pattern books (especially Giacomo Leoni's 1715 edition of Palladio's Works) and an ever-swelling wave of masons, carpenters, and joiners who emigrated from England. In New England, Colonial architecture is also referred to as "Georgian."

The first example of Georgian style in America was the Wren Building (begun in 1695) at the College of William and Mary, and soon after that the Governor's Palace and the Capitol in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Another excellent example of the style near Charleston, S. C., is Drayton Hall (1738-42).

• Wren Building(begun 1695)
• Governor's Palace, Williamsburg, Va. (1714)
• Capitol, Williamsburg, Va. (1705 design)
• Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, Va. (1715 design)
• George Wythe House, Williamsburg, Va. (mid-1750s design)
• Drayton Hall, Charleston, S. C. (1738-42)

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Georgian Revival 1900-1940 (U. S.)

"Georgian Revival" is sometimes referred to as "Colonial Revival" (1870-1920). The English Georgian style was the most prevalent type of Colonial buildings, but certainly not the only one. Two obvious exceptions are styles that were used by the Dutch and French.

Early examples of Colonial Revival were rarely historically correct copies but were instead free interpretations with details inspired by colonial precedents. During the first decade of this century, Colonial Revival fashion shifted toward carefully researched copies with more correct proportions and details. This was encouraged by new methods of printing that permitted wide dissemination of photographs in books and periodicals.

In 1898 The American Architect and Building News began an extensive series called "The Georgian Period: Being photographs and measured drawings of Colonial Work with text." This was joined in 1915 by the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, which was dominated by photographs of colonial buildings. These and similar ventures led to a wide understanding of the prototypes on which the Revival was based.

Colonial Revival houses built in the years between 1915 and 193 5 reflect these influences by more closely resembling early prototypes than did those built earlier or later.

The overall features of Georgian Revival may be described as symmetrical composition enriched with classical detail.

Identifying features:

• Paneled front door, usually centered and capped by an elaborate decorative crown (entablature) supported by decorative pilasters (flattened columns). The main door is the principal ornamental feature of the Georgian facade.
  
  
• Usually with a row of small rectangular panes of glass beneath the crown, either within the door or in a transom just above
  
  
• Cornice usually emphasized by decorative moldings, most commonly with tooth-like dentils
  
  
• Windows with double-hung sashes having many small panes (most commonly nine or twelve panes per sash) separated by thick wooden muntins;
  
  
• Windows aligned horizontally and vertically in symmetrical rows, never in adjacent pairs, usually five-ranked on front facade, less commonly three- or seven-ranked.
  
  
• Typical roofs are side-gabled, gambrel, or hipped.

Interiors

Floor plan: approximately square shape. The four rooms on the main floor -- two front and two back -- are of about equal size and flank a central stair hall that extends throughout he depth of the house.

• Dining Room - Ansley Wilcox Mansion / Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site

Examples of Georgian Revival buildings not used below:

• Philip Smith / College Club House
  
  
• Georgian Revival Style Architecture on Chapin Parkway
  
  
• 40 North Street (Bryant & Stratton Business Institute/Tapestry Charter School)
  
  
• George K. Birge House / D.A.R. House, 477 Delaware Ave.
  
  
• Root House - DEMOLISHED
  
  
• Bennett High School
  
  
• Photo - Dining room in the Wilcox Mansion / Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site
  
  
• Photo - Harrietstown, NY, Town Hall ... Detail
  
  
• Portland Place, London, England

Illustrated Georgian Revival Typical Features:

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Sources:

• Preservation Coalition tour of Chapin Parkway, June 2001, Tim Tielman, tour guide
  
  
• "A Visual Dictionary of Architecture," by Francis D. K. Ching. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997
  
  
• "Identifying American Architecture," by John J.-G Blumenson. New York: Norton. 1981
  
  
• "Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture," by Ernest Burden. McGraw-Hill , 1998
  
  
• "The Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture," by Rachel Carley. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1994
  
  
• "A Field Guide to American Architecture," by Carole Rifkind. New York: New American Library, 1980
  
  
• "A Field Guide to American Houses," by Virginia & Lee McAlester. New York: Knopf, 2000

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See also: Highlights of Buffalo's History 1901-1940

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Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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