House Styles Past and Present

My knowledge of various house styles comes from years of looking at houses I like (and some I don’t) and asking myself “What is that?” and “Why did they build it that way?”

The houses of today are different than those of our grandfathers, and yet there is a common heritage. The same ideas, the same concepts, the same motifs keep reappearing. No style ever really dies. Either the style revives, or its various design elements are taken apart and used elsewhere.

This site takes a look at the various home styles that exist in our neighborhoods today, and some that have temporarily gone away. From here you can go to pages that explain what characteristics defined those styles. Other pages give background and history for these same styles of home. Some pages discuss various categories of houses, like beach houses, or cottages, and might reference back to specific styles, like the Craftsman Bungalow style of house.

Vernacular House Styles

• Cape Cod
• Garrison House Style
• Tidewater Cottages, Tidewater Plantations

Neoclassical House Styles

• Neoclassical Design
• Palladian Style
• Georgian Style
• Federal Style
• Greek Revival Style
• Greek Revival Tour in Ann Arbor, MI
• Pics of a Greek Revival B&B

Victorian House Styles

• Gothic Revival, Carpenter Gothic
• Steamboat Gothic, Victorian Stick, Queen Anne
• Victorian Houses for a New Era
• Italianate
• Second Empire
• Victorian House Styles: History
• A Gothic Revival
• Gothic Revival Comes of Age
• Gothic Revival Americanized
• Gothic Revival: A Spindle and A Stick Begat a Name

20th-Century Styles

• Craftsman House Characteristics
• Airplane Bungalow homes
• Arts and Crafts Movement History
• Art Nouveau - What was Art Nouveau
• Art Nouveau Architecture part 1
• Art Nouveau Architecture part 2
• Art Nouveau Architecture part 3
• Art Deco Homes
• Art Deco Style - What was Art Deco?
• Art Deco Architecture - How did it effect architecture?
• Art Deco Gargoyles - Who are these guys on Art Deco buildings?
• Art Deco Classical - What happens when Classical and Deco merge
• Art Deco and Archaeology - Dusty influences on Art Deco
• Art Deco Houses - Finally, the point of this whole series.
• Tudor Style
• Mission Revival Architecture
• Ranch Style Home Designs

The styles shown above are broad categories. There are lots of styles of homes that fit under these larger headings and many types of houses are known by multiple names. Use the search bar in the right-hand column for more specific house styles. For instance Steamboat Gothic is a type of Victorian house design.

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