Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and former

British colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

, a Victorian house generally means any house built during the reign of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, successive housing booms resulted in the building of many millions of Victorian houses which are now a defining feature of most British towns and cities. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Victorian houses follow a wide range of architectural styles. Starting from the early

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

inherited from

Regency architecture Regency architecture encompasses classical buildings built in the United Kingdom during the Regency era in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to earlier and later buildings following the same style. The period c ...

, the

Italianate style 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 Ita ...

gained influence in the 1840s and 1850s, and the Gothic Revival style became prevalent by the 1880s. Later in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

, the Queen Anne style and 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 ...

increased in influence, resulting in the transition to styles typically seen in

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

houses. Victorian houses are also found in many former

where the style might be adapted to local building materials or customs, for example in

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Melaka Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca. The state is bordered by Negeri Sembilan to the north and west and Johor to t ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

The Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by la ...

is a membership charity which campaigns for Victorian architecture. In the United States, Victorian house styles include Second Empire, Queen Anne, Stick (and Eastlake Stick), Shingle,

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

, and others.

Great Britain

Early in the Victorian era (up to the 1840s) houses were still influenced by the classicism of Regency styles. However the simplicity of Regency classicism fell out of favour as affluence increased and by the 1850s the

influenced domestic architecture which now incorporated varying quantities of

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

. From the 1850s domestic buildings also became increasingly influenced by the

Gothic Revival 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 ...

, incorporating features such as pointed, projecting porches, bay windows, and grey slate.

Typical features

In addition to general architectural influences, this progressive change in style resulted from several other factors. In the 1850s, the abolition of tax on glass and bricks made these items cheaper yet a suitable material and the coming of the railway allowed them to be manufactured elsewhere, at low cost and to standard sizes and methods, and brought to site. There was also progressive introduction from the 1850s of various building regulations. There are a number of common themes in Victorian housing: * Sanitation: regulations were introduced progressively from the 1850s to raise the importance of sanitation features, including correct drainage, waste facilities (the "ash pit" or "dust bin"), and toilet facilities either in the form of an outside privy or inside water closet. * Hot and cold water: at the start of the Victorian era, some houses had running tap water and a boiler for hot water. By the turn of the century, hot and cold running water were a common feature. * Lighting powered by gas was available in many towns from the start of the Victorian era. By the end of the Victorian era, many houses had gas. * A basement with a cellar for the storage of coal, required for open fires and to heat water. *

Sash windows A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

but with larger panes of glass, from the 1850s, than the characteristic 6 plus 6 smaller panes seen in Georgian and

. *The brick chimney was a prominent feature in Victorian homes, consisting of a fireplace, chimney breast and chimney stack that protruded above the roof line to exhaust smok

* Victorian houses were generally built in terraces or as detached houses. * Building materials were brick or local stone. Bricks were made in factories some distance away, to standard sizes, rather than the earlier practice of digging clay locally and making bricks on site. * The majority of houses were roofed with slate, quarried mainly in Wales and carried by rail. The clay tiles used in some houses would be available locally. * Vegetation and small garden were often incorporated into Victorian homes, as forms of nature were prized by the suburban domestic ideal.

Houses for all classes

In Victorian times, population growth, and the

which saw a migration of workers from the countryside to the cities, resulted in successive housing booms in the 1850s and 1870s that saw the creation of millions of houses. These catered not only for the rich and the new "middling-classes" but also for the poor. In deprived areas, Victorian houses were often very small, for example,

back-to-back houses Back-to-backs are a form of terraced houses in the United Kingdom, built from the late 18th century through to the early 20th century in various forms. Many thousands of these dwellings were built during the Industrial Revolution for the rapidly ...

built in extremely cramped conditions. Some of these areas became slums or 'rookeries', and were later cleared. Some smaller, two-up two-down houses still survive, for example in

Salford, Greater Manchester Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

. Victorian houses for the middle classes and upwards tended to have accommodation for servants, often employed to carry out the considerable labour required to keep the house, including its fireplaces, clean and well stocked. Victorian houses of the middle and upper classes aspired to follow the purest forms of contemporary architecture, for example, the

or Queen Anne styles.

Great houses

The

, together with the

Edwardian era In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

was the last sustained period in which

great house A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late Victorian or ...

s were built in large numbers. Many of these harked back to earlier periods of

English architecture The architecture of England is the architecture of the historic Kingdom of England up to 1707, and of England since then, but is deemed to include buildings created under English influence or by English architects in other parts of the world, p ...

, for example: *

Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, ...

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

style *

Highclere Castle Highclere Castle is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in ...

in Tudorbethan style ^{(link says it's actually Jacobethan)} * Harlaxton Manor in

Jacobethan The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the Engli ...

style * Canford manor following the medieval style and incorporating a

great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...

Penrhyn Castle Penrhyn Castle () is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, constructed in the style of a Norman architecture, Norman castle. The Penrhyn estate was founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In the 15th century his descenda ...

in Norman style *

Mentmore Towers Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...

style *

Tyntesfield Tyntesfield () is a Victorian Gothic Revival country house and estate near Wraxall, North Somerset, England. The house is a Grade I listed building named after the Tynte baronets, who had owned estates in the area since about 1500. The locati ...

style

North America

Victorian-era homes in eastern American cities tend to be three-story, while those in western American cities tend to be two-story houses or one-story cottages. This is not representative of a typical Victorian-era home in all regions. Although the general public often incorrectly refers to a

Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

house as a Victorian-''style'' house, Victorian era refers to a time period and not to a style. Although architectural historians generally agree that about eight primary architectural styles were prominent in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

during the Victorian era, Victorian-era residential architecture in the United States and Canada was a procession of styles borrowed from countries and historical styles. One feature that became popular in the Victorian era was the use of wooden gingerbread trims to create ornate embellishments to decorate their homes. This was a reinterpretation of European

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 ...

using timber that was abundantly available in North America. With the invention of steam-powered

scroll saw A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw used to cut intricate curves in wood, metal, or other materials. The fineness of its blade allows it to cut more delicately than a jigsaw (power tool), power jigsaw, and more easily than a h ...

, the gingerbread trims could be produced en masse. The popularity started in the east in 1870 and spread to the west five to ten years later.

Examples

Image:Carson Mansion Eureka California.jpg, "High execution" of U.S. Queen Anne style: The Carson Mansion located in

Eureka, California Eureka ( ; Wiyot: ; Hupa: ; ) is a city and the county seat of Humboldt County, located on the North Coast of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt Bay, north of San Francisco and south of the Oreg ...

. Image:John_B._Kane_Resldence.jpg, John B. Kane Residence,

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

(Eastlake) Image:Painted Ladies San Francisco January 2013 panorama 2.jpg, Alamo Square,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(

Painted ladies In American architecture, painted ladies are Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings repainted, starting in the 1960s, in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisc ...

) Image:Farnam Mansion 2.jpg, The Farnam Mansion,

Oneida, New York Oneida () is a city in Madison County in the U.S. state of New York. It is located west of Oneida Castle (in Oneida County) and east of Wampsville. The population was 10,329 at the 2020 census, down from 11,390 in 2010. The city, like b ...

. (

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 ...

) File:Pink House CMHD.jpg, A house in the Cape May Historic District with elaborate gingerbread trims File:655 Wrightwood Avenue Circa 1880, Lincoln Park Chicago Illinois.jpg, This is an 1880s photo of 653 W Wrightwood (now 655 W Wrightwood) in

Lincoln Park, Chicago Lincoln Park is a designated community areas of Chicago, community area on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is located west of Lincoln Park. History In 1824, the United States Army built a small post near toda ...

, Illinois. Note the wooden sidewalk, dirt road and lack of buildings surrounding the edifice.

Australia

In Australia, eight styles predominated for homes in the Victorian period: * Victorian Georgian * Victorian Regency * Filigree * Italianate * Tudor * Free Gothic * Rustic Gothic * Free Classical (The Arts and Crafts style and Queen Anne style are placed in the

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

period, from 1890 to 1915.)A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, pp.132–143 File:Lower Fort Street (57-61), Millers Point.jpg, Regency terraces in

Millers Point Millers Point is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to The Rocks and is part of the local government area of the City o ...

File:Myrnong Hall Acland Street St Kilda.jpg, Italianate home in St Kilda,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

File:Holcombe Terrace drummond street carlton.jpg, Victorian Filigree-style terraces in Carlton,

File:(1)Gladswood House-A.jpg, Free Gothic residence in

Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality o ...

File:Sydney-home10.JPG, Semi-detached Rustic Gothic homes in

File:Three storey terraces in drummond street carlton.jpg, ''Drummond Terrace,''

in Free Classical style

Great Britain

Typical features

Houses for all classes

Great houses

North America

Examples

Australia

See also

References

Further reading

External links