Victorian House Styles

Examples of Victorian homes around Louisiana. (From the Louisiana Speaks Pattern Book)

The Victorian house style was a national style that achieved widespread popularity in the United States between 1860-1900.

Named for the last decades of the reign of Queen Victoria in England, the style was readily accessible to many home builders as a result of pattern books that provided drawings of these early house designs, making it easier for the builders of both country estates and modest dwellings to adopt the style. Cottages in the Victorian and Carpenter Gothic styles were abundant in early rail-served coastal resorts.

Dramatic changes, such as mass production, in construction techniques and railroad shipping, which allowed construction materials to move more easily around the country at low cost, contributed to the broad appeal and proliferation of these styles. The evolution in construction techniques also allowed for greater expression in both the massing and details of Victorian-style houses.

Traditional houses in the Victorian style were often complex in form, creating picturesque compositions. Frequent elements of Victorian-era houses include heavily detailed porches and elaborate woodwork, as well as textures created by scalloped, diamond and fishscale shingles. Other elements include stained glass and beveled glass windows and doors.

Although exotic Victorian houses incorporating Eastlake, Queen Anne and Italianate details grew in popularity throughout the country, primarily folk-based Victorian houses flourished in this region. The Louisiana Victorian style is based on simple, elegant forms that have been adapted for smaller houses. The massing is simple and the ornamentation is typically restrained and limited to the porch, railing and cornice of the building.

Essential Elements:

• Prominent porch elements
• Cut-wood ornament, influenced by natural forms such as leaves and vines, or turned decorative millwork
• Wood clapboard siding
• Vertically proportioned windows and doors