How to Know a Queen Anne House

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By Kristina Jensen
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Queen Anne Houses are known for their ornate decorations, called gingerbread.

The popular Victorian house style known as Queen Anne began during Queen Victoria's reign. The style began in England and was imported to the United States. Often grand and homey-feeling at the same time, Queen Anne houses can be recognized by their fancy ornamentation and a few other key features. Read on to identify features of Queen Anne homes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Look at the porch. If you see a wide wraparound porch that runs along the entire front of the house and winds around the side, and it has rails with delicate spindlework, you might be looking at a Queen Anne house. The porch of a Queen Anne home tends to invite one to linger and "set a spell."
Step 2

Note any fancy painted wood cut-outs and vergeboards (called gingerbread) on the porch. If you see lots of ornamentation, you've probably identified a Queen Anne house style.
Step 3

Gaze at the house shape. Queen Anne homes are usually two or more stories, asymmetrical with a pitched, irregular, cross-gabled roof line, with maybe a tower with finials, ornamented gables, and chimneys. Along with fishscale shingles, this detailing gives the Queen Anne Victorian house a fanciful appearance.
Step 4

Examine the building materials and decorative detailing on the external walls. Queen Anne houses feature mostly wood in clapboard, scales, and trim. The historic Queen Anne houses are often painted in light pastel colors.

Tips & Warnings

Queen Anne homes are gorgeous, romantic creations. Whether they're standalone homes or townhomes (which tend not to have wraparound porches,) they're characteristically Victorian in their decorative nature and the attention paid by the architect to ornamental detail.

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