In towns across the country, you can easily find many examples of Colonial Revival houses—those iconic two-story residences clad in clapboard, shingles, or brick and featuring a center entry with a portico, symmetrical windows, and a façade reminiscent of historic early American houses. Indeed, this style was the dominant house type built across the country from 1900-1955, according to the residential architecture reference book, A Field Guide to American Houses.
TOH TV’s Ridgewood project house is a classic example of Colonial Revival style: It dates from the 1930s and features a side gable roof, exterior shingle siding, a center front door with portico, and symmetrically placed double-hung windows with board-and-batten shutters.
Over the years, Colonial Revival style across the country adapted to homeowners’ desires and building trends, whether it was for more space—which led to the introduction of gambrel and , dormer roofs, side additions, and eventually attached garages—or for different materials, such as brick, wood-frame, or a combination.
Origins of Colonial Revival Style
The Colonial Revival style emerged after the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. Held in Philadelphia, it was one of the country’s first world’s fairs and a chance to showcase American industry and innovation on the 100-year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. With fervid attention being paid to the country’s earliest days, people became fascinated with the architecture of the colonial era, namely the Georgian- and Federal-style houses built throughout the 1700s. Georgian houses were usually simple box-shaped, two-story houses, two rooms deep, with doors and windows in strict symmetry. Federal houses had those same characteristics but also featured a touch of elaborate detail with fanlight windows adorning the front door, eyebrow dormers on the façade, and expanded footprints with wings and side additions.
Within a few years following the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, Colonial Revival houses began popping up and by 1910, the trend was in full swing. Soldiers returning from World War I increased the demand for Colonial Revival style, as they sought to live in houses with architectural details that accurately reflected the country’s origins. The style continued to be extremely popular through the 1950s, and even on into today. According to A Field Guide to American Houses: “Although new Colonial Revival houses slowed to a trickle in the late 1950s, their production never completely disappeared. The Built-in Garage subtype appeared in pattern books until about 1980, when New Traditional versions of the Colonial Revival were already beginning to appear.”
Colonial Revival Characteristics
There is no better way to appreciate the elements of Colonial Revival style than by looking at real examples. Here are key features that define a Colonial Revival house.
Center entry
The center entry is typical of Colonial Revival style, here accentuated by a set of steps leading up to the door. Anchoring the symmetrical facade that is an essential feature of the style, the center entry is almost always embellished in some manner; here, with a broken pediment and sidelights.
Portico
The portico is an element that reflects the Colonial Revival emphasis on accented front doors; nearly all Colonial Revival houses have a portico over the entrance. Typically, the portico is either pedimented or flat; the latter is shown here. Columns and an extended portico create an entry porch.
Symmetrical windows
The overall symmetry of the main facade of this house is a quintessential Colonial Revival look. Establishing the symmetry are the paired windows—two on the left and two on the right of the center entry; on some houses, there are triple-paired windows, but there is always a symmetrical pairing. The windows are double-hung sash style, which is also typical of Colonial Revival. Here, the second-floor window in the center aligns above the front door, creating another visual aspect of the balanced facade.
Roof Shape
This Colonial Revival has a gabled roof typical of the style, although there is also a gambrel-roof element visible on the back. The gambrel roof usually appears in regions of the country where the Dutch influence was strong, such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Shutters
Shutters frequently appear on Colonial Revival houses, and historic preservation specialist Maggie O’Neill, who accompanied TOH TV host Kevin O’Connor on a walking tour of the neighborhood where the project house is located, notes that details about the shutters can pinpoint the time frame. For example, on the 1930s TOH project house, above, the shutters are board-and-batten style with a small cutout, which O’Neill says almost always indicates the house was built between 1930-1940.
Today, Colonial Revival houses are frequently renovated to meet the needs of the modern-day family, still the identity of the homes’ style is clear. “Colonial Revival was always a very adaptable style,” says O’Neill. “There were regional differences and people would pick and choose the elements and materials they wanted, but if the basics are there, it’s still a Colonial Revival.”