When our new country was founded, American buildings imitated their European precedents. Then, around 1820, we developed an appearance of our own. Fitting with the new republic, it was based on the reuse of ancient Greek forms and celebrated Greek democratic principles.
Named the National Style because of its popularity, it was the first American architectural style to reach the West Coast. Because, or despite the fact that it was rooted in Hellenistic design in the fifth century, the style was associated with local nationalism and civic virtue. Between 1820 and 1860, it was the design preferred for the state capital, New England congregational churches, grand southern plantation homes, urban row houses, and modest bungalows.
Nearly 200 years later, she is still loved and distinguished. The most defining element is the facade of an enormous Greek temple that uses details of the Doric, Ionic or Corinthian order, with columns supporting the entire roof and a low arch.
However, Greek Revival homes without columns are abundant and easy to identify.
A complete inner surface comprising a sill, eaves and frieze adorns the upper part of the outer wall, just below the ceiling. Double-hung windows widely spaced are usually six-by-six, but sometimes, nine are more than six; The top of the window is often hill-shaped. Archetypes are usually trimmed, columns mark the corners of modest homes, and front doors are framed by beams and side lights. The overall appearance is classic, tidy and even stately mansions faced with two-story columns for elegant restraint. The Greek Revival house was the first to introduce its gabled facade to the street, a form particularly common in the Northeast.
Among the contributors to the style’s popularity are the architects William Strickland (1788-1854), Robert Mills (1781-1855), and Thomas Ostek Walter (1804-1887). However, model books had a much greater impact during a period of scarcity for architects and only worked with wealthier Americans. These books were handbooks containing blueprints and patterns for homes, with carefully reproduced building details such as columns, cornices, doors, porches, and windows. the General coach of small construction, published by Minard Lafever in 1829, was an important influence in spreading the Greek Revival style. Another style book was Asher Benjamin Practical home carpenter, published 1830. Benjamin’s Handbook was an important factor in the spread of Greek Revival homes in upstate New York and the western reservations in Ohio.
Like so many things we think are true, the pure, gleaming whiteness of a Greek temple turns out to be historically inaccurate. We know that the ancient Greeks painted their temples. It doesn’t matter: For Americans, the white bars represent the idea of democracy.