The Gothic Style House: Detailed and Dreamy Homes
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While we'll go further into detail on some of the key features, here's a quick overview of some features to look out for. However, in general, the Folk Victorian style was a lot more simple, with just a few embellishments added to relatively basic structures. Unlike many other Victorian architectural styles that were known for asymmetry and eye-catching architectural additions such as turrets or towers, Folk Victorian homes were typically symmetrical and simple, according to The Craftsman Blog. The style was also slightly different on the inside, with more flexible floor plans that allowed the space to be used to suit the homeowner's needs. High Victorian Gothic Revival architecture features masonry construction, patterned brick and multi-colored stone, stone carvings of leaves, birds, and gargoyles, strong vertical lines and a sense of great height.
Pugin and "truth" in architecture
The Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata prominently displays the era’s Indo-Saracenic Revival style. In Mumbai, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station combines Victorian Italianate, Gothic Revival, and traditional Mughal motifs into an exuberant architectural hybrid. In Australia, the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne hosted the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition. Its dome and classical detailing created a suitably imperial backdrop to showcase British industrial technology and design. It’s the iconic architecture—the gable roofs, gingerbread trim, and bay windows—that makes a Victorian house Victorian.
Styles
The ornate spindles and knobs found on so many Victorian-era houses, especially Queen Anne homes, were inspired by the decorative furniture of English designer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). When we call a house Eastlake, we're usually describing the intricate, fancy detailing that can be found on any number of Victorian styles. Eastlake style is a light and airy aesthetic of furniture and architecture. The developers of Victorian homes were born during the Industrial Revolution.
Where are Victorian houses found today?
The Gothic Revival style primarily utilized in the 1800s also influenced residential homes and famous governmental or educational buildings. A bit later in the Victorian time period — around 1880 to 1910, according to Home Reference — Folk Victorian was the style du jour. At first glance, you may not even group this particular architectural style in with the other styles prevalent in the Victorian period because it's visually quite different. Yes, there are some nods to previous styles, with ornate millwork and trim popping up here and there, and the quintessential Victorian porch also appearing on many of these homes.
The Gothic style dictated the use of structural members in compression, leading to tall, buttressed buildings with interior columns of load-bearing masonry and tall, narrow windows. But, by the start of the 20th century, technological developments such as the steel frame, the incandescent light bulb and the elevator made this approach obsolete. Steel framing supplanted the non-ornamental functions of rib vaults and flying buttresses, providing wider open interiors with fewer columns interrupting the view.
What Colors are Gothic Revival Victorians Known For?
More efficient glazing, heating, cooling, and lighting modernize sustainability. Smart home and IoT integration upgrade Victorian buildings for 21st-century connectivity and automation needs without altering inherent aesthetics. Additionally, laser scanning and photogrammetry documentation methods provide comprehensive digital records of existing Victorian structures to guide sensitive restoration work. On larger scales, modular off-site fabrication enables high-quality, cost-effective construction of new Victorian-inspired multi-unit residential buildings to help alleviate housing shortages in high-density urban areas. Victorian architecture reflected its time’s cultural and social values in several key ways. This reaction against uniformity culturally represented a desire to reconnect to England’s medieval past and Christian heritage.
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For $695,000, a Gothic Victorian by the architects of Harvard’s Memorial Hall.
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Almost all Gothic Revival style homes have steeply pitched roofs and some with gables. The exteriors also have detailed trims and millwork, sometimes called scrollwork. You’ll likely find a porch with a large window above it, stained glass or bay windows, chimneys, and maybe even a small tower. Digital tools like BIM facilitate detailed modeling of complex Victorian architecture. For example, BIM software allows intricate modeling of the complex geometries found in Victorian buildings.
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The Gothic Revival represented a reaction against the previous Georgian and Regency architectural periods, which proponents felt were too rigid and formulaic. Gothic Revival reintroduced asymmetry, verticality, and references to medieval cathedrals and churches for visual drama. Lastly,, as industrialization accelerated, the Arts & Crafts movement developed in opposition as well.
Can you still build Victorian houses?
Some people love the look of chic mid-century modern design, others love Cape Cod-style homes with traditional Yankee colors, while others prefer a strictly coastal vibe. But I must say, I’ve not seen a more enthusiastic and supportive group as those that cherish Victorian homes. Increasingly serious and learned admirers sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws upon features of medieval examples, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, and hood moulds. By the middle of the 19th century, Gothic Revival had become the pre-eminent architectural style in the Western world, only to begin to fall out of fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s. The Gothic Revival Victorian is what most people picture in their minds thinking of gothic architecture.
Sash windows were at that point one of the more common styles — they are most similar to the type of windows found on many properties today. According to Sash Window Specialist, these windows allowed for increased ventilation and natural light in the homes, always a perk to clear out the stuffiness of the home. The façade of many Victorian era properties often includes an abundance of windows, in all shapes and sizes, highlighting the various architectural features of the home's exterior and allowing natural light to permeate the interior. This newfound love of windows is in part due to the abolishment of the window tax, which took place in the Victorian era, according to Windows & More.
On the interior, the Victorian era favored increasingly specialized room functions. Formal areas like parlors, libraries, and dining rooms contrasted with more intimate spaces like bedrooms and nurseries. This room differentiation was highlighted through architectural detailing like raised decorative wall panels, ceiling medallions, and elaborate crown molding. The rooms were then filled with heavy wooden furniture, patterned rugs, draperies, and cluttered decorative objects.
Most true Victorian homes are between 100 to 180 years old now, and many still stand because their owners have ensured they take good care of them home. Built in 1891 by architect Louis Wegner, Queen Anne style, distinctive corner tower, grand staircase, detached garage, 4 bedrooms, 4439 sqft. I’ve previously discussed how fortunate homeowners can bring their 19th-century Victorian home into the 21st century with some lighter/brighter color combinations and a heavier emphasis on the contrast between dark and light elements of the home. However, a true Gothic Revival Victorian will be more traditional and embrace the colors that gave it such a distinctive look in the first place. In Victorian times, population growth, and the Industrial Revolution which saw a migration of workers from the countryside to the cities, resulted in successive housing booms in the 1850s and 1870s that saw the creation of millions of houses.
However, as the 19th century came to a close and building methods focused on functionality over details, the style faded. But there are still plenty of Gothic Revival homes you can find in the housing market – you may just have to work a little harder to find one of these dreamy houses. However, these details are merely frosting, applied to the facade of a refined brick home in the Federal style. At the center (behind the buttress) is a traditional Palladian window. Irish architect Sir Richard Morrison designed the 19,375 sq ft Gothic house. Ornamental arches lead into a grand hallway, which features a double-height oak staircase lit by a domed skylight.
By the late 1800s, the fanciful details of Gothic Revival architecture had waned in popularity. Gothic Revival ideas did not die out, but they were most frequently reserved for churches and large public buildings. Cottages, smaller than plantation homes, were often built in populated areas. What these homes lacked in square footage was made up in a more ornate decoration, A few religious revival groups in the American Northeast built densely clustered groupings — small cottages with lavish gingerbread trim. Methodist camps in Round Lake, New York and Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts became miniature villages in the Carpenter Gothic style. On America's modest wooden vernacular farmhouses and rectories, local variations of Gothic Revival ideas were suggested in the shape of the roof and window moldings.
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