Colonial Revival Architecture

The Philadelphia Centennial of 1876 is credited with first arousing an interest in an American colonial architectural heritage. In 1877, architects McKim, Mead, White, and Bigelow took a widely publicized tour through New England to study original Georgian and Federal buildings first hand.  Their subsequent residential and commercial designs were rarely historically correct copies, but were instead free interpretations with details inspired by colonial precedents from the eighteenth century.

During the first decade of the twentieth century, Colonial Revival fashion shifted toward carefully researched copies with more correct proportions and details. This was encouraged by new methods of printing which enabled books and periodicals to contain photographs of colonial buildings. Colonial Revival buildings built between 1915 and 1935 reflect these influences by more closely resembling early prototypes. The economic depression of the 1930s, World War II, and changing post-war fashions led to a simplification of the style in the 1940s and 1950s. Even so, variations of the Colonial Revival have continued to the present day.

Characteristic Features:

• Side gable, hip or gambrel roofs. Roofs often feature wood cupolas ornamented with balustrades, clocks, and/or weathervanes.

• Public buildings are most often clad in brick, though horizontal wood siding and shingle siding are sometimes used for residences.

• Elaborate front entrances are ornamented with pediments and broken pediments, sidelights and fanlights, columns and pilasters, and/or porticoes.

• Windows are rectangular with double-hung sashes, and frequently feature multiple panes. Occasional use of Palladian windows, dormer windows, and decorative shutters.

• Quoins are used to decorate the corners of the buildings.

Colonial Revival New Deal buildings are most often found in New England and the Midwest.