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Architecture

Architecture

With a wealth of styles from pioneer built log cabins to Art Moderne, and everything in between, Wayne County is an architecture lover's dream. Explore the wide variety of excellent reference materials listed below (most available at area libraries) and become a building watcher. Try to determine the style of your favorite buildings - but don't be surprised if many are a mixture of several styles!

Architectural Styles

Federal (1810-1845)

Historic Lantz House InnFlat, undecorated wall surfaces of local materials, usually brick or wood weatherboard. Low-pitched gable roof. End chimneys. Large, multi-paned windows. Fanlight and narrow sidelights at entrance. Most common along navigable waterways and early transportation routes such as the National Road.

Greek Revival (1840-1860)

Conklin Montgomery HouseInspired by classical Greek temple forms, with a heavy cornice and Doric, Ionic or Corinthian columns and pilasters. Customarily of smooth-faced stone, brick or wood. Sidelights and transom at entrance. Popular for courthouses and churches as well as houses.

Gothic Revival (1850-1870)

St. Andrews ChurchEmphasis on verticality, typified by steeply pitched roof, pointed arches, and vertical board-and-batten siding. Straight-headed and hooded openings. Bargeboard trim at gable. Later examples distinguished by enriched wall surfaces created through the use of materials of contrasting color and texture. Though Gothic Revival ceased to be favored as a style for houses by the 1870s, it remained popular as a style for religious architecture well into the twentieth century.

Italianate (1855-1890)

High Tower HousePredominant style in Indiana during the late nineteenth century, loosely derived from Italian villas. Vertical composition. Tall, narrow, slightly arched windows with segmental or round arched hoods. Low-pitched hipped roof supported by decorative brackets and often topped with a cupola.

Second Empire (1860-1885)

Gaar MansionAmericanization of nineteenth-century French Renaissance Revival style popularized in Paris during the reign of Napoleon III. Typified by mansard roof, usually of slate, with elaborate brackets and projecting dormers. Polychromatic ornamentation. Often features central pavilion or tower

Romanesque Revival (1880-1900)

Wayne County, Indiana Courthouse in FallAdapted from European medieval architecture. Massive scale. Rock-faced stone exterior relieved by trim of contrasting color or texture. Short, grouped columns support thick, round arches. Windows of varied size and shape. Steeply pitched roof. Towers and turrets common. Most often used for large public buildings.

Queen Anne (1885-1905)

Mansion at the corner of 22nd and Main StreetCombines medieval and classical elements to create the most exuberant of nineteenth-century styles. Asymmetrical composition, with towers, turrets, tall chimneys, bay windows, projecting pavilions, spindled porches and balconies. Contrasting materials on wall surfaces. Stained glass windows.

Vernacular Victorian (1870-1910)

Simplified house form with T, L or rectangular plan, embellished with details derived from late-nineteenth century styles, usually Queen Anne or Italianate. Also used for commercial buildings of modest size. Most detailing is manufactured wood elements applied at cornice and on porch, such as gingerbread trim in gable, spindled friezes and turned porch posts.

Neoclassical (1895-1930)

The Gennett MansionOriginated by the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, in the U.S. the style became popular for large buildings after the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Bold and symmetrical in form and lavish in detail, sometimes embellished with sculpture. Elaborate GrecoRoman classical details such as freestanding columns, heavy moldings, pediments, and balustrades applied to facade. Favored as style for banks, libraries and courthouses.

Colonial Revival (1890-1940)

Richmond High SchoolA revival of eighteenth-century colonial architecture and one of many revival styles popular in the early twentieth century. Symmetrical massing. Commonly used details include Palladian windows, quoins, garlands, heavy dentils, pedimented dormers, classical columns or pilasters. Multipaned windows with shutters. Entrance with fanlight and sidelights.

Tudor Revival (1900-1940)

Forest Hills Country ClubRevival style modeled on English manor houses and cottages. Light stucco wall surfaces and dark half-timbering. Steeply pitched slate roof with prominent gables. Leaded glass windows, often with diamond-shaped panes. Tudor-arched entrance. Usually built of brick or stone and stucco.

Prairie (1900-1920)

Originated by a group of Chicago architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, the style's most famous proponent. Marked by horizontal, ground-hugging quality, with low-pitched hipped roof, widely overhanging eaves, and horizontal bands of windows. Two-story central portion flanked by low, one-story wings or porches. Usually built of brick or stucco and wood.

American Four Square (1900-1930)

Nelson HouseSquare or rectangular house plan with two full stories, imparting box-like appearance. Large attic under hipped roof, usually with hip-roof dormers and wide, projecting eaves. Balanced and plain facade of brick, clapboard or stucco. Windows often arranged in pairs, with multi-paned upper sashes. One-story porch spans front facade

Bungalow (1905-1940)

DSC_7871One or one-and-a-half story house. Lowpitched roof with widely overhanging eaves and prominent dormer. Full or partial front porch. Roof rafters usually exposed, embellished by straight brackets or knee braces. Prominent chimneys and porch piers of field stone, rubble or rough-faced brick.

Art Deco/Art Moderne (1925-1940)

Former Second National Bank BuildingArt Deco characterized by bold geometric form and stylized decoration often of Egyptian influence. Low-relief ornamentation, often in form of zigzags, chevrons and/or volutes executed in colored glazed bricks, terra cotta, mosaic tiles or metal panels. Casement or metal sash windows often arranged in vertical strips. Art Moderne applies streamlined and aerodynamic compositions used by industrial designers to convey newness and speed. Often used in residential buildings. Characterized by horizontal bands, portal windows, glass block, flat roofs

Historic American Buildings Survey

Historic buildings in Wayne County, Indiana, highlighted on the Library of Congress' American Memory "Built in America" website.

Reference

Books & Bibliographies

Gaar Houses Richmond, Indiana

Greek Revival Houses 1834-1859

Richmond, Indiana: A pictorial history

Richmond Indiana: Its Physical Development and Aesthetic Heritage to 1920

Wayne County, Indiana Interim Report 2001: Historic Sites and Structures Inventory

Databases

Historic Architecture Survey Database - Richmond

State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)

Architectural Styles

Indiana DNR: Architectural Styles

Historic House Research Guide

Historic House Styles

Tenth Street Tour

Preservation Groups & Resources

Resource Inventory Council

Richmond Columbian Properties, Inc.

Text for Architectural Styles taken from "On the Street Where You Live", published by Indiana Landmarks.

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Did You Know?

The highest point in Indiana is located in Wayne County, northwest of Bethel. At 1,257 feet, it is known as “Hoosier Hill”, but that title is a bit ironic.