Early Gothic revival

Early Gothic revival

(1830–1880)

A favored style for secular buildings, it later became a favorite for classical elements used for ecclesiastical buildings as well. The style was characterized by verticality; pointed arches; steep, complex gables; roofs with finials; and medieval decorative motifs.

Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival: façade of house

A movement originating in the 18th century and culminating in the 19th century, flourishing throughout Europe and the United States, aimed at reviving the spirit and forms of Gothic forms; applied to country cottages, churches, some public buildings, and castlelike structures. Gothic Revival buildings usually are characterized by ashlar masonry, polychromed brickwork, or wood walls, often extending into the gables without interruption; Gothic motifs such as battlements, decorative brackets, finials, foils, foliated ornaments, hood moldings, label moldings, pinnacles, pointed arches, towers, turrets; often, a porch with flattened Gothic or Tudor arches; a symmetrical façade; steeply pitched gables often decorated with ornate gingerbread bargeboards; projecting eaves; decorative slate or shingle patterns on the roof; occasionally, a flat roof with crenelated and castellated parapets; ornamental chimney stacks and chimney pots; a cast-iron decorative strip at the ridge of the roof; windows extending into the gables; often, an elaborately paneled front door set into a lancet arch; the entry door sometimes within a recessed porch or under a door hood, occasionally bordered with sidelights. The initial phase is sometimes calledEarly Gothic Revival ; the latter phase is sometimes calledLate Gothic Revival or Victorian Gothic. Also see Collegiate Gothic, High Victorian Gothic, and Carpenter Gothic.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.