The Colonial Revival Styles, 1876-1950

The romantic ideals associated with the Tudor and Spanish Eclectic Styles also produced the Colonial Revival Style.

The Centennial Exposition of 1876 fostered a renewed interest in the designs of the early republic, a time when Thomas Jefferson hoped to define an American architecture loosely based on the architecture of the Roman Republic. The final years of the Victorian era saw many homes built which were considered to be inspired by Colonial American antecedents. (To our eyes today, of course, they have so much gingerbread trim that we have a hard time detecting the Colonial elements.)

The Colonial Revival Style has many sub-types and variants. Sub-types include Dutch Gambrel (such as 5451 Morningside) and Georgian. The dominant version in Dallas is based on southern colonial prototypes.

The southern colonial variants usually are symmetric, with the focal emphasis placed on the front door. The porch is relatively small, more of a stoop than a real porch. It typically has turned wood columns, usually of the Roman Doric order. This style was easily produced by the lumber mills of the era.

The roof usually has gables at the sides, rather than in front. The fireplace is placed on the side of the house, never on the front. The entry doorway serves as the dominant design element, since it does not have to compete for attention with a prominent front gable or chimney. The eaves are shallow; they don't overhang much. Within Vickery Place most Colonial Revival homes have wood siding. Windows are double hung and are usually grouped together, or "ganged".

The houses built between 1915 and 1935 are more accurate recreations of the originals. Major magazines, such as American Architect and Building News, began a series of articles on the original designs and details during that period of time. These articles were widely available, and were copied by architects and builders.

The best examples of Colonial Revival houses in Vickery Place are 5603 and 5631 Willis, 2626 Madera, 5337, 5528 and 5533 Belmont and 5410 and 5307 Goodwin. A good example in a duplex is 5614/16 Vickery. A unique example of Colonial Revival is 5330 Goodwin. This structure, built as a school house, reflects Jefferson's passion for an American Architecture.

THE 1910S

This home has a front-facing gable which looks like it came right off the Parthenon. Relatively small-diameter porch pillars add to the Neoclassical flavor. Yet it has the low hip roof and broad overhanging eaves which are characteristic of Prairie Style.

THE 1920S

There's a lot of confusion about Colonial Style vs. Early American Style vs. Neoclassical Revival Style. When you describe a house as Colonial or Early American, are you talking about the period from 1620 to 1700 or the period from 1700 to 1770, or the period from 1770 to 1840? This home is described as Colonial in the planbook, but it mixes several Tudor motifs with its Early American elements. The symmetrical window placement comes from about 1770 and the small front stoop is taken from homes of 1820. But the details of the roof have been carefully shaped to mimic the straw-thatched roofs of the early 1600's.

THE 1930S

Many homes built in the late 1930's were described at the time as "Cape Cod" style. (The side porch on this home is a later addition.) Relatively few homes were built during the hard times in the Great Depression. The "powers-that-be" were worried that middle class Americans might turn to Communism, Fascism, or some other political system in response to the economic slump. This was the decade when Texas ladies restored the Alamo, Henry Ford built his so-called Greenfield Village in Michigan, and the Rockefellers restored Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. All were shrines to "traditional" American values. "Early American" virtues and "Early American" styles were promoted in all aspects of American culture in the 1930s, including architecture and the decorative arts.

THE 1940'S

A two-story "Colonial" home from about 1947. Homes like these were filled with casual furniture in the maple "Early American" style, or with the more formal "Duncan Phyfe" mahogany pieces.