Victorian Gothic House Styles

Victorian Gothic homes reflected earlier architectural traditions through an inventive, adventurous spirit. Their grand scale design and focus on elaborate details, highlighted the era's expanding, imaginative and inventive home development.

Time Period

Established in the 1840s, Victorian Gothic houses reached the height of their popularity between 1860 and 1900.

Building Materials

Victorian home builders used wood, brick or stone to construct their buildings. Fieldstone, clapboard, fancy shingles and cast and decorative terra-cotta tiles embellished homes.

House Colors

Many Victorian homeowners enjoyed dark, rich jewel-tone colors such as red, blue, green, violet or gray. Owners of Federal, Classical or Greek revival style homes preferred light, pastel colors such as white, off-white or pale yellow.

Architectural Features

Features often seen in Victorian Gothic houses include elaborate carved and turned balusters and railings, repetition of columns on porches, pointed arches, grouped chimneys, steep hipped roofs and dominant polygonal or cylindrical towers.

Accessories and Trims

Elaborate fretwork adorned many Victorian houses, especially the Victorian Gothic stick and Queen Anne styles. Stained glass windows added color, warmth and light to the buildings.

References

• "A Field Guide to American Architecture;" Carole Rifkind; 1980
• Historical Designs: Victorian and Farmhouses

Resources

• Victorian Home Plans