What is a Victorian Home? – New Chester Realty

If you are new to Chester or have lived here many years you are sure to have noticed many historical homes, specifically Victorian homes.

What is a Victorian home?

The “Victorian Era” is defined as the time period between 1820 and 1914, approximately during the time of Queen Victoria of England’s reign. Architectural styles are often characterized and defined by the time that were most popular hence the name Victorian home. The British Empire was extensive at this time and had such a far reach that it influenced many homes with this style. These homes can be found not only across Europe but in North America as well. Architects new to their trade would travel to North America to start their careers. They were able to stay up to date on European trends by reading a publication called The Builder.

Like most other architectural styles, homes built during the Victorian era incorporated older architectural styles such as Medieval Gothic and Romanesque. This is evident through the use of large columns and semi-circular arches.

Characteristics of Victorian home’s:

Exterior:

Steep, gabled roofs
Round angles
Towers, turrets and dormers
Shapely windows, especially bay windows
Stained glass
Decorative woodwork
Bright colors

Interior:

Steep, gabled roofs
Round angles
Towers, turrets and dormers
Shapely windows, especially bay windows
Stained glass
Decorative woodwork
Bright colors

Victorian Architecture can be broken down into six distinctive styles:

Gothic Revival (1830-1860)
Italianate (1840-1870)
Second Empire (1852-1870)
Stick-Eastlake (1860-1890)
Folk Victorian (1870-1910)
Queen Anne (1875-1905)

Gothic Revival

Features:

Pointed arches as decorative element and as window shape
Front facing gables with decorative incised trim (vergeboards or bargeboards)
Porches with turned posts or columns
Steeply pitched roof
Gables often topped with finials or cross-bracing
Decorative crowns (gable or drip mold) over windows and doors
Castle-like towers with parapets on some high style buildings
Carpenter Gothic buildings have distinctive board and batten vertical siding

Italianate

Features:

Typically built from brick or wood clapboard
Between two and four stories
Tall in appearance
Subtly sloping hipped roofs
Deep overhanging eaves with prominent decorative brackets and wide cornices
Corbels
Entrances with decorative details such as columns and brackets, as well as raised one-story porches, and single or double doors
Belvederes, cupolas, or towers
Tall narrow rectangular or arched windows
Decorative window trim, pediments
Bay windows
Porches with decorative woodwork
Flexible interior spaces that were a departure from the formal floor plans of classical architecture and often included better access to outdoor space
Focus on the role of landscaping with fanciful picturesque elements like grottos and follies where space permitted
Mass-produced cast iron or pressed metal decorative elements on balconies, porches, and fences

Second Empire

Features:

Mansard roof
Patterned shingle roof
Iron roof crest
Decorative window surrounds and dormers
Eaves with brackets
One story porch
Tower
Quoins
Balustrades

Stick-Eastlake

Features:

Oversized porch posts, railings, balustrades, bargeboards, braces and pendants shaped by a lathe.
Wooden forms cut by a jigsaw. Curved brackets, scrolls, and other stylized elements were placed at every corner, turn or projection of the façade.
Perforated gables and pediments.
Carved panels.
Beaded spindles and lattice work along porch eaves.
Strapwork (interlaced strips of wood).
Mansardic porches with wrought-iron cresting.