The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the

English Baroque English Baroque is a term used to refer to modes of English architecture that paralleled Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London (1666) and roughly 1720, when the flamboyant and dramatic qualities of Baroque ...

architecture of the time of Queen Anne (who reigned from 1702 to 1714) or the

British Queen Anne Revival British Queen Anne Revival architecture, also known as Domestic Revival, is a style of building using red brick, white woodwork, and an eclectic mixture of decorative features, that became popular in the 1870s, both for houses and for larger bu ...

form that became popular during the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. In other English-speaking parts of the world,

New World Queen Anne Revival architecture In the New World, Queen Anne Revival was a historicist architectural style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries. In Australia, it is also called Federation archit ...

embodies entirely different styles.

Overview

With respect to

British architecture British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

, the term is mostly used for domestic buildings up to the size of a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, and usually designed elegantly but simply by local builders or architects rather than the grand palaces of noble magnates. The term is not often used for churches. Contrary to the American usage of the term, it is characterised by strongly

bilateral symmetry Symmetry in biology refers to the symmetry observed in organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. External symmetry can be easily seen by just looking at an organism. For example, the face of a human being has a plane of symme ...

, with an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

-derived

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

on the front formal elevation. Colours were made to contrast with carefully chosen red brick for the walls, with details in a lighter stone that is often rather richly carved.

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...

used this technique, which achieved a rich effect for a considerably lower cost than using stone as a facing throughout, in his rebuilding of

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

, commissioned by

William and Mary William and Mary often refers to: * The joint reign of William III of England (II of Scotland) and Mary II of England (and Scotland) * William and Mary style, a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 named for the couple William and Mary may al ...

. Here, it harmonized well with the remaining Tudor parts of the palace. This highly visible example probably influenced many others. The architectural historian

Marcus Binney Marcus Hugh Crofton Binney ( Marcus Hugh Crofton Simms; 21 September 1944) is a British architectural historian and author. He is best known for his conservation work regarding Britain's heritage. Early and family life Binney is the son of Lie ...

, writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in 2006, describes Poulton House in Poulton, Wiltshire (built in 1706, during the reign of Queen Anne) as "...Queen Anne at its most delightful". Binney lists what he describes as the typical features of the Queen Anne style: * a sweep of steps leading to a carved stone door-case * rows of painted sash windows in boxes set flush with the brickwork * stone

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

emphasizing corners * a central triangular pediment set against a hipped roof with dormers * typically box-like "double pile" plans, two rooms deep When using the revived "Queen Anne style" of the 19th and 20th centuries, the historical reference in the name should not be taken at all literally, as buildings said to be in the "Queen Anne style" in other parts of the

English-speaking world The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English language, English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the ...

normally bear even less resemblance to English buildings of the early 18th century than those of any style of

revival architecture Architectural revivalism is the use of elements that echo the style of a previous architectural era that have or had fallen into disuse or abeyance between their heyday and period of revival. Revivalism, in a narrower sense, refers to the perio ...

to the original. In particular,

Queen Anne style architecture in the United States Queen Anne style architecture was one of a number of popular Victorian architecture, Victorian architectural styles that emerged in the United States during the period from roughly 1880 to 1910. It is sometimes grouped as New World Queen Anne R ...

is a wholly different style, as in Australia, and normally includes no elements typical of the actual architecture of Queen Anne's reign, the names being devised for marketing purposes.

British Queen Anne Revival

George Devey George Devey (1820, London – 1886, Hastings, Sussex) was an English architect notable for his work on country houses and their estates, especially those belonging to the Rothschild family. The second son of Frederick and Ann Devey, he was bo ...

(1820–1886) and the better-known

Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

(1831–1912) popularized the Queen Anne style of British architecture of the

industrial age The Industrial Age is a period of history that encompasses the changes in economic and social organization that began around 1760 in Great Britain and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-d ...

in the 1870s. Norman Shaw published a book of architectural sketches as early as 1858, and his evocative pen-and-ink drawings began to appear in trade journals and artistic magazines in the 1870s. American commercial builders quickly adopted the style. Shaw's eclectic designs often included Tudor elements, and this "Old English" style also became popular in the United States, where it became known (inaccurately) as the Queen Anne style. Confusion between buildings constructed during the reign of Queen Anne and the "Queen Anne" style persists, especially in England. British Victorian Queen Anne architecture empathises more closely with the

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

than its American counterpart. A good example is

Severalls Hospital Severalls Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Colchester, Essex, England. It was managed by the North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. History Early history The hospital was designed by Frank Whitmore, the county architect, ...

in Colchester, Essex (1913–1997), which is now defunct. The historical precedents of the architectural style were broad and several: * fine brickwork, often in a warmer, softer finish than the Victorians characteristically used, varied with terracotta panels or tile-hung upper storeys, with crisply-painted white woodwork or blond limestone detailing *

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...

s, often stacked one above another * corner towers * asymmetrical fronts and picturesque massing * Flemish

mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

sunken panels of

strapwork In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in ...

* deeply shadowed entrances * broad porches * overall, a domesticated free Renaissance style In the 20th century,

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

and others used an elegant version of the style, usually with red-brick walls contrasting with pale stone details.

New World Queen Anne Revival

United States

In the United States, "Queen Anne" is used to describe a wide range of picturesque buildings with "free Renaissance" (non-

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

) details and as an alternative both to the French-derived Second Empire and the less "domestic"

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and ...

, is broadly applied to architecture, furniture, and decorative arts of the period 1880 to 1910; some "Queen Anne" architectural elements, such as the wraparound front porch, continued to be found into the 1920s. One example of a Queen Anne style home in the United States is the Slowe-Burrill House located in the Brookland neighborhood of

Washington D.C Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. The gabled and domestically scaled style arrived in New York City with the new housing for the New York House and School of Industry Sidney V. Stratton, architect, 1878. Distinctive features of American Queen Anne architecture may include an

asymmetrical Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

; dominant front-facing

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

, often

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

ed beyond the plane of the wall below; overhanging

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

; round, square, or

polygonal In geometry, a polygon () is a plane (mathematics), plane Shape, figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its ''edge (geometry), edges'' or ''sides''. The p ...

tower(s); shaped and

Dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and which has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the terminat ...

s; a

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

covering part or all of the front façade, including the primary entrance area; a second-story porch or balconies;

ed porches; differing wall textures, such as patterned wood shingles shaped into varying designs, including resembling fish scales,

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

tiles,

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

panels, or wooden shingles over brickwork, etc.;

dentils A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

; classical columns; spindle work; oriel and bay windows; horizontal bands of leaded windows; monumental chimneys; painted

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

s; and wooden or

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roofs. Front gardens often had wooden fences.

Australia

In Australia the influence of

Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

contributed to the development of the

Federation style Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonw ...

, of which the heyday lasted from 1890 to 1915, and which is subdivided into twelve phases,

Federation Queen Anne Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonw ...

being one and the most popular style for houses built between 1890 and 1910. The style often used Tudor-style woodwork and elaborate fretwork that replaced the Victorian taste for wrought iron. Verandahs were usually a feature, as were the image of the rising sun and Australian wildlife, plus circular windows, turrets, and towers with conical or pyramid-shaped roofs. The first Queen Anne house in Australia was

Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...

in the suburb of Bellevue Hill,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Caerleon was designed initially by a Sydney architect, Harry Kent, but was then substantially reworked in London by Maurice Adams. This led to some controversy over who deserved the credit. The house was built in 1885 and was the precursor for the Federation Queen Anne house that was to become so popular. The APA Building in the

Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

was an example of the Queen Anne style being used for non-residential purposes. However, at some stage, the building may have been apartments. It was demolished in 1981 after the modernism boom in Melbourne took off – factors that sealed its demolition included rapacious development, lax heritage attitudes in Australian cities, and the owner's decision to argue for a demolition permit, which was granted. Caerleon was followed soon after by West Maling, in the suburb of

Penshurst, New South Wales Penshurst () is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penshurst is located 17 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district it is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area, and part o ...

, and Annesbury, in the suburb of Ashfield, both built circa 1888. Although built around the same time, these houses had distinct styles, West Maling displaying a robust Tudor influence that was not present in Annesbury. The style became increasingly popular, appealing predominantly to reasonably well-off people with an "Establishment" leaning. The style as it developed in Australia was highly eclectic, blending Queen Anne elements with various Australian influences. Old English characteristics like ribbed chimneys and gabled roofs were combined with Australian aspects like encircling verandahs, designed to keep the sun out. One outstanding example of this eclectic approach is

Urrbrae House Peter Waite (9 May 1834 – 4 April 1922) was a South Australian pastoralist, businessman, company director and public benefactor. Waite's philanthropic endeavors provided significant benefit to the University of Adelaide and to local public sc ...

, in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

suburb of Urrbrae, part of the Waite Institute. Another variation connected to the Federation Queen Anne style was the

Federation Bungalow Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonw ...

, featuring extended verandahs. This style generally incorporated familiar Queen Anne elements, but usually in simplified form. Some prominent examples are: * West Maling, corner of Penshurst Avenue and

King Georges Road King Georges Road is a major suburban arterial road through south-western Sydney, Australia. It is a constituent part of the A3 route. Route King Georges Road commences at the intersection of Wiley Avenue and Punchbowl Road in Wiley Park ...

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Weald, Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, within the Seveno ...

, Sydney * Homes,

Appian Way, Burwood Appian Way is a street in the suburb of Burwood in Sydney. The state heritage listed Appian Way has been described as one of the finest streets of Federation houses in Australia. The picturesque houses create an asymmetrical, multi-gabled roof ...

, Sydney * Homes, Haberfield, Sydney *

, 15 Ginahgulla Road, Bellevue Hill, Sydney * Annesbury, 78 Alt Street, Ashfield, Sydney *

Weld Club The Weld Club is a private male-only social club in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1871 as a gentlemen's club, it is named after Frederick Weld, the chronologically first patron of the club and the Governor of Western Australia at the tim ...

Barrack Street, Perth Barrack Street is one of two major cross-streets in the Perth central business district, central business district of Perth, Western Australia. Together with St Georges Terrace, Wellington Street, Perth, Wellington Street and William Street, P ...

ANZ Bank The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, commonly known as ANZ Bank, is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fo ...

, Queens Parade,

Fitzroy North Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Merri-bek, Merri-bek and City of Yarra, Yarra Local government areas of Victo ...

, Melbourne *

Campion College Campion College Australia is a Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Roman Catholic tertiary educational liberal arts college located at Austin Woodbury Place, Toongabbie, New South Wales, Toongabbie in the Western Sydney, western suburbs of Syd ...

, Studley Park Road,

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

, Melbourne * Redcourt Estate, Armadale, Melbourne * Tay Creggan, Hawthorn, Melbourne

Gallery

Image:WestMalingSydney0004.jpg, West Maling, Penshurst, New South Wales (NSW) Image:'Amalfi' 2 Appian Way Burwood.jpg, 'Amalfi', 2 Appian Way, Burwood, NSW Image:'Vallambrosa' 19 Appian Way Burwood NSW.jpg, 'Vallambrosa', 19 Appian Way, Burwood, NSW Image:Burwood Appian Way 2.JPG, Appian Way, Burwood, NSW Image:SLNSW 796381 The Manse Haberfield Federation style house.jpg, The Manse, Haberfield Image:(1)Caerleon-3.jpg, Caerleon, Bellevue Hill, Sydney, NSW Image:Weld club2.jpg, Weld Club, Perth, WA Image:Queens_Bess.jpg, Queen Bess Row in

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ce ...

Image:RedCourt-Exterior-01.jpg, Redcourt, Armadale, Victoria Image:Edzett Mansion Toorak.jpeg, Edzell Mansion, Toorak Victoria Image:Carramar House in Parkside, South Australia.jpg, Carramar House in

Parkside, South Australia Parkside is an inner southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Unley. History The suburb was once home to the mental health campus of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Known as 'The Parkside Asylum', it was the pr ...

References

External links

Photography of Queen Anne Style Homes in Hamilton, Ontario

Federation Queen Anne Style

Gothic Queen Anne Style
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Anne Style Architecture Victorian architectural styles British architectural styles House styles 18th-century architecture 19th-century architectural styles