What makes a house a Victorian?

Victorian-style homes became popular during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) and are characterized by Gothic influences and intricately designed woodwork. These homes often have pitched roofs, wraparound front porches, cylindrical turrets, and roof towers.

What are the features of a Victorian house?

What defines a Victorian house?

In Great Britain and former British colonies, a Victorian house generally means any house built during the reign of Queen Victoria. During the Industrial Revolution, successive housing booms resulted in the building of many millions of Victorian houses which are now a defining feature of most British towns and cities.

Why are they called Victorian houses?

Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. Victorian refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian were used in construction.

What does a typical Victorian house look like?

The main structures were fairly simple, rectangular-shaped houses with low sloping or sometimes flat roofs that protrude quite far out from the exterior walls. The windows are tall and skinny, often rounded at the top, and there is trim, trim, and more trim.

Why Victorian Houses Look Like They Do

Is my house a Victorian?

Seemingly obviously, Victorian houses were built between 1837 and 1901, when Queen Victoria was on the throne. However some people, including the Victorian Society itself, take 'Victorian Architecture' to encompass Edwardian as well, which takes this time period up to 1910.

How do I make my house look Victorian?

Add romance via fresh flowers or small touches of floral fabrics in pillows. A floral pillow placed on a modern chair can offer a nice Modern Victorian touch. Add floor-to-ceiling curtains in a Victorian drape style, but use a modern graphic print. Pair your modern cork or tile floors with a persian rug.

How do I know if my architecture is Victorian?

What makes something Victorian?

Victorian style meant Gothic spires and vaulted ceilings, Baroque textiles for flock and damask covered walls, moldings adorned with intricate carvings of Medieval fleurs de lys, quatrefoils, and family crests (formally known as heraldic motifs) and many more features now synonymous with opulence.

What is Victorian-style interior design?

Victorian interiors feature beautiful colors, lots of ornate details, and skilled fakery to make the home a welcoming and beautiful place. The industrial revolution led to a revolution in interior decorating, and for the Victorians, high style was all about the appearance of luxury, whether real or imitation.

What makes a Victorian house unique?

Cozy nooks were common in Victorian floor plans. The interior of the home tended to be unique and often rambling in its complexity. Multiple bedrooms, second-floor balconies, double doors, ornate stairways, and detailed interior trim are just a few of the typical features of Victorian homes and floor plans.

Do Victorian houses have cavity walls?

Builders and architects started to experiment with cavity or 'hollow walls' from early in the Victorian period. By the first decade of the 20th century, most pattern books for houses included examples of outer walls with two separate leaves of brickwork.

What are the important architectural and interior features of Victorian-style?

3 Characteristics of Victorian Architecture

Interiors were decorated with extravagant, ornate furnishings, while decorative gables, eaves, and rooftop finials adorned the exteriors. Colorful exteriors: Victorian homes and buildings are commonly painted in a variety of pastels, jewel tones, and earthy colors.

Why are Victorian houses so creepy?

The world had become a corrupt, dirty place, and Victorian-style houses were a physical manifestation of this stain; they represented the persistence of corruption and thoughtlessness that was thought to have originated in the Gilded Age.

What rooms are in a Victorian house?

Opposite the hall, behind closed doors and closed shades, lay the showplace of the Eclectic Manse: the parlor, sometimes called the "the first parlor," "the sitting room," "the front parlor," or "the front room." Parlors of some type of "best room" transcended social class, economic status, or geographical location .

What colors are Victorian houses?

What colour paint did the Victorians use? The traditional Victorian colour palette was dark and consisted of dark, rich and deep shades of maroon, red, burgundy, chestnut, dark green, brown and blues.

Why do Victorian houses have two staircases?

In old mansions, household servants—and pre-Civil War, possibly slaves—were often directed to stay out of sight. The solution was a separate staircase in the back just for the servants to use. This is why your kitchen or pantry might be accessible by two staircases.

What years are Victorian houses?

Seemingly obviously, Victorian houses were built between 1837 and 1901, when Queen Victoria was on the throne. However some people, including the Victorian Society itself, take 'Victorian Architecture' to encompass Edwardian as well, which takes this time period up to 1910.

What's the difference between Edwardian and Victorian houses?

Edwardian homes tend to be shorter than equivalent Victorian residences, partly because the middle classes who lived in these homes had less of a need for servants, unlike the Georgian the Victorian generations before them. Gone were the cellars and the second floors, but in came larger halls and spacious gardens.

What is the difference between Victorian and Georgian houses?

Whilst Victorian properties do often retain some of the features introduced by the Georgians, such as a balanced exterior and sash windows, the Victoria era also inherited styles from the Gothic revival architectural movement which really make them stand out from Georgian properties.

What features Characterise high Victorian architecture?

Generally, most Victorian architecture can be described as dollhouse-like, with curlicue trims, bright colors, and asymmetrical designs. Most Victorian buildings were brick with large interior staircases and windows, balconies, fireplaces in every room, and porches.

How many colors did the Victorian house have?

Speaking of color, the quintessential Victorian home's exterior is comprised of at least three colors; some have as many as nine different hues and shades. Darker colors are meant to enhance unique architectural details, and outlining windows lends character to the home.

What is modern Victorian design?

For the uninitiated, modern Victorian spaces are exactly what they sound like: homes that blend parts of the Victorian era with bits of the modern day. In a modern Victorian home, you can expect to see cement on the floors and chandeliers on the ceiling—or ornate mirrors juxtaposed with works of abstract art.

How can I make my living room look like Victorian?

What period is a 1930s house?

The 1930s: A new era of owner-occupied homes

There were approximately 4 million homes built between 1919 and 1930. Nearly 3 million of these were owner by the occupiers, an unprecedented change from the 750,000 of the early 1920s.