Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. As with the latter, the period of building that it covers may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria after whom it is named. There are also Folk and Shingle Style Victorian Houses. Many homes combined the elements of several different styles and are not easily distinguishable as one particular style or another. In the USA, Highly decorated houses are sometimes called gingerbread houses.

Notable Victorian era cities include London, Toronto, Boston, Richmond, Saint Paul, St. Louis, Louisville, Galena, IL, Galveston, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Glasgow, Nelson, Sydney, Melbourne, Manchester, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pittsburgh, Philidelphia, Grand Rapids, and New Orleans.

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Second Empire

Second Empire is an architectural style that was popular during the Victorian era, reaching its zenith between 1865 and 1880, and so named for the "French" elements in vogue during the era of the Second French Empire. In France, a significant variation is sometimes called the Napoleon III style. While a distinct style unto itself, some Second Empire styling cues, such as quoins, have an indirect relationship to the styles previously in vogue, Gothic Revival and Italianate eras.

In the United States, the Second Empire style usually combined a rectangular tower, or similar element, with a steep, but short, mansard roof; the roof being the most noteworthy link to the style’s French roots. This tower element could be of equal height as the highest floor, or could exceed the height of the rest of the structure by a storey or two. The mansard roof crest was often topped with an iron trim, sometimes referred to as “cresting”.

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Jacobethan

Jacobethan is the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman to describe the English Revival style made popular from the 1830s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (1550 – 1625), with elements of Elizabethan and Jacobean.

Its main characteristics are flattened, cusped "Tudor" arches, lighter stone trims around windows and doors, carved brick detailing, steep roof gables, often terra-cotta brickwork, balustrades and parapets, pillars supporting porches and high chimneys as in the Elizabethan style. Examples of this style are Mentmore in Buckinghamshire and Sandringham House in Norfolk, England.

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