Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
False front
The vertical extension of the front of a building beyond the roofline creates the false front style.
Almost always used for commercial purposes, false front buildings gave an air of dignity to a quickly growing town by providing visual continuity along the street.
The style was popular in the West, after the California Gold Rush of 1849, as a way to make hastily built town buildings look more like the impressive commercial buildings of the East.
Rarely was the false front was used in residences.
False front buildings in their ornamentationusually echoed the architectural styles of the day. Popular styles included Italianate and Jacobean. A bracketed cornice brand[ed] the building Italianate. Stepped or curvilinear fronts marked the Jacobean style, popular in the South.The semi-circular cornice provided space for a sign in a commercial building.
- "False Front, 1860-1905," pub. in The Old House Web (online March 2019
Examples from Buffalo:
- Right illustration above: Bemis/Ransom House
- Photo - St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral Parish House
Examples outside of Buffalo:
- Left illustration above: Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence, Italy
- 2019 photo: "Painted lady," San Francisco
- Another 2019 photo: "Painted lady," San Francisco
- San Francisco "Painted Lady"
- 2002 photo: 116 Main Street, Albion, NY
