Brick Veneering makes tudor style affordable:

The flowering of the Tudor Style in the M-Street area was hastened by the coming of a new technology in homebuilding: the brick veneer exterior wall. Brick veneer was a cheap way to get the appearance of a traditional solid-masonry wall at a fraction of the cost. (It continues to serve that purpose today.) Brick veneering was not in wide use during the heyday of the Craftsman Style homes; most suburban bungalows in Dallas have wood siding. But the Tudor homes were almost always executed in brick veneer, with a generous measure of stucco and fieldstone trim.

Light Brick Colors:

In most other areas of the country, traditional dark-colored brick was most often used on Tudor Style homes. This was often true in Dallas as well. But in Dallas, particularly in the M-Street area, large numbers of homes (perhaps the majority) were built with blond bricks and light colored bricks. This seems to have been part of a general confusion of Mediterranean and Tudor architectural motifs, with a healthy measure of Gothic Revival thrown into the pot as well. The suburban builders of the time were not seeking architectural purity, but the attainment of a quaint and picturesque quality. In this they succeeded very well.

Steep Roofs Mean High Style:

Most historical Tudor-era cottages had straw-thatched roofs. A steep pitch is critical to enable a straw-thatched roof to shed rain, and the thatching itself cannot extend very far beyond the walls of the house. Therefore, in order to mimic the look of a straw-thatched roof most suburban Tudor style homes of the 1920's have steeply pitched roofs with eaves and soffits that project very little beyond the walls. Wide-projecting eaves and exposed rafter ends, which are such essential elements of the Craftsman Style, are a contradiction to the Tudor Style. (Some homes from about 1920 represent a transitional phase between Craftsman and Tudor, combining steep-pitched roofs and other Tudor-inspired motifs with the Craftsman-style roof brackets, wide eaves and exposed rafter ends.)

A Plethora of Gables:

The steep-pitched roofs of the Tudor homes are broken with multiple gables. A common element of the Tudor style is an asymmetric gable on a prominent front-facing portion of the facade. Additional gables are often placed above the doorway (if it faces forward)or at a brick archway which leads onto the front porch. The elaborate layering of gable upon gable creates an interesting interplay of shadows which is part of the charm of this style. Aside from their picturesque effect, additional gables hinted at the prosperity of the homeowner.

The Ascendancy Of The Chimney:

The chimney on a typical Tudor is usually placed in a very prominent location on a front wall or on a side wall near the front of the house. These chimneys are looking for attention. Like the chimneys of grand Tudor-era manor houses, the chimneys incorporate elaborate decorative brick patterns. They are often styled to give the appearance of two chimneys clustered side-by side.

The Front Porch Of Necessity:

Big front porches are not inherently a part of the Tudor style. in fact, a historically correct Tudor-style cottage would have no porches at all. But a big porch was an essential element of the suburban homes of Dallas in 1900-1930. The big front porch was just as popular in that day as, say, a gigantic master bathroom is today. Suburban builders solved this contradiction by incorporating brick or stone arches into the porch columns, thus introducing an element from the Mediterranean Revival styles. The arches sometimes have round (vaguely Spanish-looking) tops. Sometimes they have gothic arches. Sometimes they have Tudor arches.

Doors And Windows:

Front doors are often (though not always)turned sideways to the street. In this subordinate location they do not distract attention from the huge gables and the complicated chimneys. Street facing windows are frequently casement windows (sashes hinged at the side),often with elaborate leaded stained glass. Sometimes the casement windows are absent, but the double-hung windows which take their place often have an arch incorporated into the upper sash or the trim detailing. The street windows are usually vertical and independent. The windows on the less-visible portions of the house are usually ganged double-hung windows, similar to the windows in the same locations on Craftsman Bungalows.

Half-Timbering And The Jetty:

One of the most "architecturally correct" elements of a Tudor Style home is the simulation of half timbering on gables or other surfaces. Half-timbering (also called "post-and-girt construction) was a style of wood-framed construction used for many centuries before the mid-1900's. The second stories and gables on post-and-girt homes often were cantilevered out beyond the floor below. In England, this overhang was called a "jetty".

A Versatile Style:

The Dallas version of the Tudor style was easily applied to duplexes and fourplexes, as well as single family homes. A number of two story brick duplexes were built in this area during the late 1920's and early 1930's. Most of them incorporate Tudor elements into their facades, just like the houses.

Hard Times:

The Tudor Style suburban house of the 1920's represented a retreat to the imagined simplicity of another century in the distant past. As the economic hardships of the Great Depression stifled homebuilding, the elaborate and expensive (and distinctive) elements of Tudor Style slowly disappeared, leaving only a faint shadow of the quaint and picturesque qualities which brought the style into favor twenty years before. The Tudor Style had pretty much disappeared by the time of America's entrance into World War II, replaced by a new revival of Early American architectural motifs.

Recognizing the Tudor Cottage:

Look for the following elements of the style:

• A relatively steep-pitched roof
• Boxed-in eaves which project very little beyond the exterior walls.
• An asymmetrical front facade, with multiple gables facing the street.
• Gables (and sometimes other wall surfaces) trimmed with stucco to simulate "half-timbered" construction.
• Brick porch columns which are extended across the porch opening, with rounded or pointed arches.
• Elaborate brickwork on chimneys, giving the visual effect of multiple flues.
• Casement windows (often with stained glass) used as accent windows on the front facade.