Victorian architecture - Definition and Overview

The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles during the Victorian era:

• Neoclassicism
• Gothic Revival
• Italianate
• Second Empire
• Neo-Grec
• Romanesque Revival (Includes Richardsonian Revival)
• Renaissance Revival
• Queen Anne
• Jacobethan architecture (the precusor to the Queen Anne style)
• British Arts and Crafts movement
• painted ladies

There are also Stick-Eastlake, Folk, and Shingle Style Victorian Houses. Please note that the names of architectural styles (as well as their adaptations) varied between countries. Many homes combined the elements of several different styles and are not easily distinguishable as one particular style or another.

The Victorian era lasted roughly 75 years, from 1825-1900. Greek Revival architecture stretches from the later part of the Colonial era into the beginnings of the Victorian era. Similarly, the Arts and Crafts movement in The United States started a few years before the end of the Victorian era.

See also: Georgian architecture.