New Orleans Houses

Architectural Styles & Types.

Learning objectives
• Identify the different building styles and types.
types

• Developp the basis for an informed critical assessment of

the predominant architectural styles of the New Orleans
area.

• How a careful examination of a house and its floor plan

can lead to a fairly precise identification.
a primer on architectural style
Architectural style
• Architectural style is a way of classifying
architecture largely by characteristic features of
design known as elements.
design, elements

• A combination of unique architectural elements

adds greatly to the appreciation of any style and
leads us to use terminology such as French
C l i l style,
Colonial t l Spanish
S i hR
Revival
i l style,
t l PPrairie
ii
Style, etc.
Elements of Architectural Style

• Architectural elements are the unique details

and component parts when combine in a
harmonious manner form the architectural style
of houses and buildings.
El
Elements off A
Architectural
hi l SStyle
l

• Form
• Character, i.e. curb appeal
• Details & Component Parts
• Time period
• Regional & cultural influences
• Materials
i l & Construction i techniques
h i
El
Elements off A
Architectural
hi l SStyle
l

shape massing scale proportion

El
Elements off A
Architectural
hi l SStyle
l

Character is derived from the harmonious

use of building materials and color – Lap
siding, stucco, brick, paint, etc. or a
combination thereof.
El
Elements off A
Architectural
hi l SStyle
l

Arches,
A h columns,
l doors,
d windows,
i d roofs,
f
dormers, courtyards, landscaping, etc.
El
Elements off A
Architectural
hi l SStyle
l

French Classical
Creole
Queen
Q Anne
A Period
P i d
Second Empire
Victorian Period
Arts & Crafts Period
Modern Movement, etc.
Elements of Architectural Style

• Regional & cultural influences particular

to a time and place.
Elements of Architectural Style

conventional framing, modular, post &

b
beam, h
heavy ti
timber
b construction,
t ti etc.
t
New Orleans Architecture
 Timeline of Architectural Styles in New Orleans
PERIODS:
1718 1803 1830 1862 1900 1940 1980 2000

Colonial Period
Early Modern
Post -
Victorian 2oth
Colonial
Century Sustainable
A tiBell
AntiBellum

HOUSE STYLES:
French Colonial

Creole
Greek
Revival
Italianate
Second
Empire
Eastlake
Bracket

Queen Anne
 Timeline of Architectural Styles in New Orleans
PERIODS:
1718 1803 1830 1862 1900 1940 1980 2000

Colonial Period
Early Modern
Post -
Victorian 2oth
Colonial Post-Modern
Century
A tiBell
AntiBellum Sustainable
HOUSE STYLES: Richardsonian

Georgian Colonial

Neo-Classical
Neo Classical
Revival
Prairie Style

Tudor
Revival

Bungalow

Spanish
Colonial

International Style

Suburban Ranch
F
French
hCColonial
l i l Style
St l
1720-1825
• Also know as Louisiana French Vernacular Style,
Style being
an indigenous building style using local materials and
traditional methods of construction and ornament.

• Two types: Urban and rural. Rural types were large

plantation homes with galleries (porches) on all 4 sides.
sides
Modest city types were known as “New Orleans Urban
Houses” of the period with porches facing the street.

• French, Spanish, African and Caribbean influences.

Later houses incorporated Greek Revival elements.
F
French
hCColonial
l i l Style
St l
1720-1825
Common Features:
• No interior hallways.
• Tall narrow paired french doors and window openings with paired shutters
• Tall and p
paired french doors and the windows were p paired casements with
paired vertical plank shutters.
• Constructed of heavy timber framing with brick. Briquette-Entre-
Poteaux .
• Steeply pitch roof being hipped or gabled (sometimes with flaired
overhanging eaves) also known as double pitch roof known as the “West
Indies Roof”.
• The porch called a gallerie or verandah was included with a shallower
pitch.
it h
• Walls commonly finished with stucco. Siding and brick also used.
• The lower floor was used as storage and utility space.
F
French
hCColonial
l i l Style
St l
1720-1825
F
French
hCColonial
l i l Style
St l
1720-1825

Lorriens Plantation built c.1784

F
French
hCColonial
l i l Style
St l
1720-1825
F
French
hCColonial
l i l Style
St l
1720-1825

James “Pitot” House on Bayou St. John c. 1799

F
French
hCColonial
l i l Style
St l
1720-1825

Ormond Plantation c. 1790

C l SStyle
Creole l
1790 - 1840

• In the early 1700s, during the Post-Colonial Period, an

g
eclectic "Creole" architecture evolved, combining
building traditions from France, the Caribbean, the West
Indies, Africa and other parts of the world.

• Creole style gained popularity in the 1800’s in Louisiana.

• French Creole homes,

homes also called “Creole
Creole Cottages”
Cottages , were
designed for the hot, wet climate.

• C
Creole
l h
homes are asymmetrical
i l and
d llack
k iinterior
i
hallways.
Creole Style
1790 - 1840

Features:

• Stucco was commonly used. Also brick and weather boards.

• Full front porch with gabled roofs.
• Thin wood columns call colonnettes.
colonnettes
• Placement of living area well above grade – raised.
• French doors and high ceilings
• Heavy
H timber
i b construction
i combined
bi d with
i h an iinfill
fill off b
brick
i k or a
mixture of mud, horse hair called bousillage.
• The Creole cottage evolved into larger homes with Greek Revival
i fl
influences.
Creole Style
1790 - 1840

Variations of creole style:

• Creole Cottage
• Creole Townhouse
• Creole Plantation
Creole Style
1790 - 1840

Typical form for a Creole Cottage in New Orleans c.1811

Creole Style
1790 - 1840

Typical form for a Creole Cottage in New Orleans c.1811

Creole Style
1790 - 1840

French Q
Quarter Creole Cottage
g c. 1815
5
Creole Style
1790 - 1840

Creole Townhouse
• Mainly located in the Vieux Carre and Fabourg Marigny
• Built from 1820 to 1850
• Usually 3 storied structures
• Made of stucco or brick
• Asymmetrical front with a balcony over the sidewalk.
• Roof dormers
• Steeply pitched gabled roof
Creole Style
1790 - 1840

Typicall Creole
l Townhouses
h
Creole Style
1790 - 1840

Typicall Creole
l Townhouses
h
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1865

• Draws inspiration from architecture of ancient Greece

• Greek Revival was introduced by architects from the East
Coast
• Characterized by simplicity, strength and dignity
• Most houses cottages, double gallery houses, and
mansions with Greek architectural details.
• Other distinguishing features include low pitched roof,
roof
full entablature support by Greek Order columns, egg
and dart molding, rosettes, and acanthus leaves.
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860

Greek Orders
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860

Greek
G kRRevival
i l French
F hQQuarter
Townhouse
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860
Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860

Greek Revival Double Gallery House

Greek Revival Style
1830 - 1860

Greek Revival Shotgun House

Gothic Revival Style
1850 - 1870

• Instrumental in ushering the Victorian Era but was not

common in New Orleans. Very few were built.
• Extremely popular in other parts of the country.
• The style takes in inspiration from the Gothic Cathedral
off Europe.
• Steeply pitched roofs, high ornamentation, Gothic
arched windows, and pointed arches.
• Constructed of either wood frame with weatherboard
siding, exposed brick, or stuccoed brick.
Gothic Revival Style
1850 - 1870

Briggs-Staub House at 2605 Prytania St.

The Italianate Style
1860 - 1885
• Akin to the Italian Villa and inspired by the Italian Renaissance.
• Also known as the American Bracketed Style because of the use of
eave brackets thoughout.
g
• Characterized by brackets and verandas.
• Smoothly finished 3 – 5 bay façade.
• Tall windows – usually round top, flat-arched, or square with
elaborate decoration.
• Use of lacy wrought iron railings on balconies/galleries.
• Characterized by gable end roofs with entablature above the front
balcony.
balcony
• Use of dormers with embellished pilaster on the sides.
• Bracketed or dental cornice.
• Semi octagonal or half round room on one side of the house usually
a dining room.
The Italianate Style
1860 - 1885

First Street Italianate Style Mansion c. 1860

The Italianate Style
1860 - 1885

Italianate Style Mansion c. 1860

The Italianate Style
1860 - 1885

Garden District Italianate Style Mansion

The Italianate Style
1860 - 1885

Italianate Style Shotgun House

The Italianate Style
1860 - 1885

Italianate Style
y Shotgun
g House
The Italianate Style
1860 - 1885

Italianate
l Style
l St. Charles
h l Street Mansion
The Eastlake Style
1880 - 1905

• This period was characterized by the popularity of shotgun houses.

• Named after English architect Charles Locke Eastlake
• Characterized by turned columns and balusters in the shape of table
and chair legs.
• Many shotgun houses are in the Eastlake style.
• The most common house type associated with shotgun singles and
doubles, and camelbacks.
• Also characterized by porches and galleries.
• Use of brackets
brackets, spindle bands
bands.
• Built with barge boards decorated with jigsaw applique.
• Also wood frame construction on piers with weatherboard siding.
• U
Use of stain and b
beveled g
glass in doors and g
gable
b windows.
The Eastlake Style
1880 - 1905
The Eastlake Style
1880 - 1905
The Eastlake Style
1880 - 1905
The Eastlake Style
1880 - 1905

Eastlake Style Double Gallery House in the Fabourg Marigny on

Dauphine Street
The Bracket Style
1880 - 1905

• This period was characterized by the popularity of shotgun houses.

• Referred to as the New Orleans Millwork Style. y
• Characterized mainly by large brackets supportinga roof overhang
above a gallery (porch).
• A blendingg of late Victorian ornamentation and Italianate brackets.
• Houses built during the late Victorian Period in the Bracket Style
were mostly shotgun singles and doubles.
• Also characterized byy pporches and g
galleries.
• Sunburst patterns on the front gable end.
• Also wood frame construction on piers with weatherboard siding.
• Use of stain and beveled glass in doors and gable windows.
The Bracket Style
1880 - 1905
The Bracket Style
1880 - 1905
The Bracket Style
1880 - 1905

Eastlake Style Shotgun in the Holy Cross Neighborhood

The Bracket Style
1880 - 1905

Eastlake Style Shotgun in the Holy Cross Neighborhood

The Bracket Style
1880 - 1905

Eastlake Style Shotgun in the Holy Cross Neighborhood

The Queen Anne Style
1880 - 1905

• The Queen Anne Style was created and popularized by British Architect Richard Norman
Shaw through rough his pen and ink drawings in trade journals and magazines.
• Exploded rectangular box with protrusions in the form of balconies
balconies, overhanging gables
gables,
towers, turrets, and wrap around porches.
• Use of dormers , gables, towers extending in all directions.
• Steep roofs.
• Main feature of the style was texture and ornamentation.
ornamentation
• Weatherboard siding, wood frame on brick piers, and use of decorative shingles.
• Porch and balconies used classical influenced columns with turned-wood balustrades.
• Large Full length windows and doors.
• Introduction of Palladian windows and classical columns in the Queen Anne style.
• Popular in the early 1900’s.
• Style based on typical features of architecture during the reign of Queen Anne of England.
The Queen Anne Style
1880 - 1905
The Queen Anne Style
1880 - 1905
The Queen Anne Style
1880 - 1905
The Queen Anne Style
1880 - 1905
The NeoClassical Revival Style
1895 - 1920

• The neoclassical style was introduce at the World Columbian Exposition in

1893 in Chicago.
• All
ll white
hi colorl scheme.
h
• Massive porticos
• Gabled front galleries supported by 2 or 3 Classical columns.
• Porches
P h on th the ffrontt ffaçade
d only.
l
• Diamond paned window on the front gable over the porch.
• Characterized by stucco exterior or weatherboard siding.
• Built out of wood frame on brick piers.
piers
• Subtle quoins at the corners of the building.
• Hipped roofs were a common characteristic.
• Classical proportions
The NeoClassical Revival Style
1895 - 1920
The NeoClassical Revival Style
1895 - 1920
The NeoClassical Revival Style
1895 - 1920
The Bungalow Style
1910 - 1940

• The bungalow was developed in California in the early 1900’s by architects

Charles and Henry Greene.
• Also
l kknow as Theh Craftsman
f Style.
l
• Characterized by wide overhangs, full width porches, hipped roofs with
cross gables, exposed rafter tails, pergolas and trellises over porches.
• Double hung or casement windows.
windows
• Colors were earth toned.
• Were the first mail order pre-manufactured houses through catalogs
shipped by train.
• “Bangla”. Hindu word for bungalow. Low houses surrounded by porches.
• Construction was wood frame with a combination of weatherboard siding
and stucco.
• Porch roof supported by large tapered columns.
• Introduce the insect screen. Used instead of shutters.
The Bungalow Style
1910 - 1940
The Bungalow Style
1910 - 1940
The Bungalow Style
1910 - 1940
The Bungalow Style
1910 - 1940
The Prairie Style
1900 - 1920

• Frank Lloyd Wright developed a unique and distinct regional styles in the
early 1900’s.
• There are some houses in the New Orleans area designed in the prairie
style.
• Featured explosion of the floor plan and traditional exterior.
• Open plan fashioned by Frank Lloyd Wright featuring open interior spaces.
• Characteristics of the Prairie Style are wide sheltering overhangs, low
pitched roofs, bands of casement windows with abstract patterns of
patterned stain glass.
• Strong horizontal emphasis achieved by deep, shadowed overhangs. Of the
prairie. Frank Lloyd Wright’s interpretation of blending architecture with
nature meaning “of the hill instead of on the hill”.
• Popular during the early 1900’s.
• Precedent to the Ranch Style Suburban Home.
Home
 Further research of the Centanni House at
4506 Canal Street indicates that this is a
Craftsman Style Bungalow with Prairie
Style and Arts & Crafts influences.

Designed by Architect H. Jordan

MacKenzie for Sammy & Joann Centanni

The Prairie Style

and completed in 1917, the Centanni
Home represents a range of styles
including Prairie, California Bungalow
Mansion, Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau,
1900 - 1920 all beautifully melded throughout the
interior and exterior.

H. Jordan MacKenzie was a native of

California who arrived in New Orleans c.
1901 and initially worked in the office of
Thomas Sully.

H. Jordan MacKenzie was known as

"Blue-Tile MacKenzie" because in 1910 he
designed a house with a distinctive blue-
tile roof in the 6300 block of West End
Boulevard known as the "Blue-Tile Roof
House".

Listed in the National Register of Historic

Places and the Centanni Home's rich
history includes being named "Home of
Tomorrow" in 1934 by the leading local
trade organization.

also known as the "Christmas House"

owned by and from 1940 through the
1960s, it wasn’t Christmas unless you
drove out of your way to see the spectacle
that the Centannis built causing traffic to
back up for blocks. It’s what inspired Al
Copeland to create his own eye-popping
displays on his Metairie house.
The Prairie Style
1900 - 1920
Spanish Colonial Revival
1915 – 1940
• Introduced at the 1915 Panama Exposition in San Diego, California.
• Also know as Mediterranean Style with Spanish and Italian influences.
• Spanish Colonial is based on the missions and houses built by the Spanish colonist in
Florida and the Southwest.
• Characterized by red barrel or mission tile roofs, stucco walls, low pitched roofs with
barrel tile parapets.
• Carved or cast ornamentation around doors and windows.
• Window would have wrought iron grilles and ornamental ironwork.
• Fan-lite
F lit transoms
t above
b windows.
i d
• Decorative chimney caps.
• Pilasters and arches supported by Moorish columns, balconies with wrought iron
detailing.
• Arched casement windows and wood doors frequently used throughtout.
throughtout
• Sometimes combined with Bungalow features resulting in Spanish Colonial
Bungalows.
• Popular style of the 1920’s and 30’s.
• The most lasting legacy of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style is the one-story house
k
known today
d as the
h “Ranch
“ h House”.
”
Spanish Colonial Revival
1915 – 1940
Spanish Colonial Revival
1915 – 1940
Spanish Colonial Revival
1915 – 1940
Spanish Colonial Revival
1915 – 1940
Spanish Colonial Revival
1915 – 1940
International Style
1920 – 1980

• Emerged as a result of the Modern Movement in Germany, Holland and

France after World War 1.
• Not very popular
l iin New Orleans
l b
but a number
b off commerciali lb
buildings
ildi
and homes were constructed in this style.
• Philosophy of the International Style was refined at the Bauhaus School in
Germany by architects Walter Gropius,
Gropius Le Corbusier
Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies Van
Der Rohe.
• Characterized by stark simplicity, flexible planning, elimination of
ornament.
• Flat roofs, smooth walls, steel casement windows, sleek lines.
• Boxy with no overhangs.
International Style
5521 S. Claiborne Ave.
The Lone Star Cement Company
House was built in 1935 designed by
Weiss, Dreyfous, and Sieferth
1920 – 1980 Architects for the Lone Star Cement
Co. Completely built with reinforced
concrete reflected the International
Style of architecture. The International
Style emerged from the modernist
movement created at the Bauhaus in
Germany during the 1920's and was
popularized in the United States by
American Architect Phillip Johnson
during the International Exhibition of
Modern Architecture held at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York
City in 1932.
See Phillip Johnson's Glass House at
http://philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/

The best example of International

Style architecture in New Orleans and
was designated as historical by the
New Orleans Historic District and
Landmarks Commission in 1982.
Suburban Ranch Style
1945 –
• Derived from Spanish Revival Style as the one-story American Ranch House.
• Comes from the Spanish word “rancho” meaning “ranch” in English, reminiscent
of the California ranchos of the 1830’s with courtyard patios and U-shaped floor
plans.
• Strongly influenced by the houses of Architect Frank Lloyd Wright which were
built on concrete slab-on-grade.
• Suburban Ranch Style homes express a low, horizontal feeling, with generous
overhangs and low pitch roofs.
roofs
• Characterized by the importance of the automobile incorporating one and two-
car attached garages.
• Use of shutters as decorative elements only. Now functional to meet code.
• Built
B ilt on slab-on-grade,
l b d conventional
ti l wood
d fframe, b
brick
i k exterior,
t i withith llarge
picture windows on the front.
• Proliferated during the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s including classical, French
Colonial, and Spanish Colonial design aspects with the prefix “Neo-…”
• Large
L manicured
i d front
f llawn with
i h llandscaping.
d i
Suburban Ranch Style
1945 –
Suburban Ranch Style
1945 –
Miscellaneous Styles

• Originated in England.
• No dormers
• Gabled Roof
• One-story
O
• One-and-a-half story
• Clapboard siding
• Draws from Colonial
designs
g
• Symmetrical design
• Subtle design elements

Cape Cod Style Cottage – New Orleans

Miscellaneous Styles

Neo Mediterranean Style

Neo-Mediterranean
Miscellaneous Styles

Neo Mediterranean Style

Neo-Mediterranean
Miscellaneous Styles

Caribbean Style
Miscellaneous Styles

Neo Queen Anne - Victorian Style

Neo-
Miscellaneous Styles

Neo Classical Style

Neo-
Miscellaneous Styles

Neo Eclectic Style

Neo-
Miscellaneous Styles

Acadian Vernacular Style

Miscellaneous Styles

Modern Colonial Style

Miscellaneous Styles

Modern Acadian Style

Miscellaneous Styles

Vernacular Style
Credits:
New Orleans Houses – A House-Watcher’s Guide, Lloyd Vogt
Historic Buildings of the French Quarter – Lloyd Vogt
Creating
g Your Architectural Style
y – George
g D. Hopkins,
p , Jr. Ph.D.
Architecture – Form, Space, & Order – Francis D. K. Ching
American Houses – Gerald Foster
American House Styles, A Concise Guide, John Milnes Baker, A.I.A.
Jeannette S. Arriaga, B. Arch. – Research
Roland A. Arriaga, Architect – Research & photography
Archi-Dinamica Architects, LLC – Technical
Special Thanks:
Laura Meehan, Marketing Representative
Crescent Title Company
End of Presentation