Gothic Revival Mansard Roof Style

The predominantly red brick second empire style building under a mansard roof was built between 1874 and 1876.

Gothic revival mansard roof style.

This style home has many of the same characteristics as the victorian gothic style and the renaissance revival house style. The gothic revival was the first and most important of the many house fashions to sweep victorian america starting in about 1840. There are several variations of the slope some being straight while others being flared concave convex more rarely curved s and ogee patterns but whatever shape they take the mansard makes the style. A lovely but less common style in america during the victorian period was gothic revival 1840 1875.

With tall mansard roofs and wrought iron cresting second empire homes are inspired by the opulent architecture of france during the reign of napoleon iii. Second empire style philadelphia city hall with an elaborately decorated mansard roof. This style harked back to medieval castles and cathedrals and its growth in popularity came simultaneously with romantic movements in all the arts that is simultaneously with the infamous victorian taste for melodramatic music plays and novels. Inspired by the medieval cathedrals and buildings of england and france these homes had vertical siding capped by steeply pitched roofs the steep roof and multiple gables a hallmark of the style.

The steep roof with windows creates an additional floor of habitable space a garret and reduces the overall height of the roof for a given number of. Photo by bruce yuanyue bi lonely planet images collection getty images. Queen anne photo by carrie winegarden. A mansard roof is a hipped roof with two slopes the lower being very steeply pitched and the upper being almost flat.

Chateauesque houses have many of these features. The style is closely related to italianate but is always characterized by its mansard roof named for the 17th century french architect françois mansart. All three were inspired by the building traditions of medieval english half timbered construction with its visible structural elements steeply pitched roofs and projecting gables. Like the gothic revival the italianate or italian villa style featured picturesque and romantic architectural elements.

It is considered one of the finest examples of second empire architecture in the state of west virginia. Second empire in the united states and canada is an architectural style most popular between 1865 and 1900 second empire architecture developed from the redevelopment of paris under napoleon iii s second empire and looked to french renaissance precedents. Because it was based on a contemporary movement in paris americans considered the second empire style more progressive than greek revival or gothic revival architecture. A mansard or mansard roof also called a french roof or curb roof is a four sided gambrel style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope punctured by dormer windows at a steeper angle than the upper.