![Osborne-iow-3Ja10-10914](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Osborne-iow-3Ja10-10914.jpg)
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of
Classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect ...
. Like
Palladianism
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
and
Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century
Italian Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought ...
, synthesising these with
picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...
aesthetics. The style of architecture that was thus created, though also characterised as "
Neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...
", was essentially of its own time. "The backward look transforms its object,"
Siegfried Giedion
Sigfried Giedion (sometimes misspelled Siegfried Giedion; 14 April 1888, Prague – 10 April 1968, Zürich) was a Bohemian-born Swiss historian and critic of architecture. His ideas and books, ''Space, Time and Architecture'', and ''Mechaniza ...
wrote of historicist architectural styles; "every spectator at every period—at every moment, indeed—inevitably transforms the past according to his own nature."
The Italianate style was first developed in Britain in about 1802 by
John Nash, with the construction of
Cronkhill
Cronkhill, Atcham, Shropshire, designed by John Nash, is "the earliest Italianate villa in England".
Drawing on influences from the Italian Campagna and the Picturesque, including the art of Claude Lorrain, it began an architectural style th ...
in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
. This small country house is generally accepted to be the first Italianate villa in England, from which is derived the Italianate architecture of the late
Regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
and early
Victorian eras. The Italianate style was further developed and popularised by the architect Sir
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also respons ...
in the 1830s.
[Turner, Michael. ''Osbourne House'' Page 28. ]English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
. Osbourne House. Barry's Italianate style (occasionally termed "Barryesque")
drew heavily for its motifs on the buildings of the
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
, though sometimes at odds with Nash's semi-rustic Italianate villas.
The style was not confined to England and was employed in varying forms, long after its decline in popularity in Britain, throughout
Northern Europe and the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
. From the late 1840s to 1890 it achieved huge popularity in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, where it was promoted by the architect
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.
Education
Davis was born in New York City and studied at ...
.
Elements
Key visual components of this style include:
* Low-pitched or
flat roof
A flat roof is a roof which is almost level in contrast to the many types of sloped roofs. The slope of a roof is properly known as its pitch and flat roofs have up to approximately 10°. Flat roofs are an ancient form mostly used in arid c ...
s; roof is frequently
hipped
* Projecting
eaves supported by
corbels
* Imposing
cornice structures
*
Pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedim ...
ed windows and doors
* Arch-headed, pedimented or
Serlian windows with pronounced
architraves and
archivolt
An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch.
It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...
s
* Tall first floor windows suggesting a ''
piano nobile''
*
Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
or
machicolated
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...
signorial towers
*
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, fro ...
s
*
Quoins
*
Loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
s
* Balustrades concealing the roof-scape
* About 15% of Italianate houses in the United States include a tower
By region
England and Wales
![Cliveden, June 2005](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Cliveden%2C_June_2005.JPG)
A late intimation of
John Nash's development of the Italianate style was his 1805 design of
Sandridge Park at
Stoke Gabriel in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
. Commissioned by the dowager Lady Ashburton as a country retreat, this small country house clearly shows the transition between the picturesque of
William Gilpin and Nash's yet to be fully evolved Italianism. While this house can still be described as
Regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
, its informal asymmetrical plan together with its loggias and balconies of both stone and wrought iron; tower and low pitched roof clearly are very similar to the fully Italianate design of
Cronkhill
Cronkhill, Atcham, Shropshire, designed by John Nash, is "the earliest Italianate villa in England".
Drawing on influences from the Italian Campagna and the Picturesque, including the art of Claude Lorrain, it began an architectural style th ...
, the house generally considered to be the first example of the Italianate style in Britain.
Later examples of the Italianate style in England tend to take the form of
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
-style building often enhanced by a
belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
tower complete with
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
-type balustrading at the roof level. This is generally a more stylistic interpretation of what architects and patrons imagined to be the case in Italy, and utilises more obviously the Italian Renaissance motifs than those earlier examples of the Italianate style by Nash.
Sir Charles Barry, most notable for his works on the
Tudor and
Gothic styles at the
Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...
in London, was a great promoter of the style. Unlike Nash, he found his inspiration in Italy itself. Barry drew heavily on the designs of the original Renaissance villas of
Rome
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, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, the
Lazio
it, Laziale
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
and the
Veneto
it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman)
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
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or as he put it: "...the charming character of the irregular villas of Italy." His most defining work in this style was the large Neo-Renaissance mansion
Cliveden
Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern ...
, while the
Reform Club
The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...
1837-41 in
Pall Mall represents a convincingly authentic pastiche of the
Palazzo Farnese
Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French emb ...
in Rome, albeit in a 'grecian'
Ionic order in place of
Michelangelo's original
Corinthian order. Although it has been claimed that one-third of early Victorian country houses in England used classical styles, mostly Italianate, by 1855 the style was falling from favour and Cliveden came to be regarded as "a declining essay in a declining fashion."
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country h ...
occasionally designed in the Italianate style, especially in Wales, at Hafod House, Carmarthenshire, and
Penoyre House
Penoyre House, Battle, Powys, Wales is a nineteenth century country house. Designed by Anthony Salvin for Colonel John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins, it was built between 1846-8. In an Italianate style, it is described by Mark Girouard as "Salvin's mo ...
, Powys, described by Mark Girouard as "Salvin's most ambitious classical house."
Thomas Cubitt
Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. His great-great-g ...
, a London building contractor, incorporated simple classical lines of the Italianate style as defined by Sir Charles Barry into many of his London terraces.
Cubitt designed
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house himself, in ...
under the direction of
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861.
Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...
, and it is Cubitt's reworking of his two-dimensional street architecture into this freestanding mansion
which was to be the inspiration for countless Italianate villas throughout the British Empire.
Following the completion of Osborne House in 1851, the style became a popular choice of design for the small mansions built by the new and wealthy industrialists of the era. These were mostly built in cities surrounded by large but not extensive gardens, often laid out in a terrace
Tuscan style as well. On occasions very similar, if not identical, designs to these Italianate villas would be topped by
mansard roofs, and then termed
chateauesque. However, "after a modest spate of Italianate villas, and French chateaux" by 1855 the most favoured style of an
English country house was Gothic, Tudor, or Elizabethan.
The Italianate style came to the small town of Newton Abbot and the village of
Starcross
Starcross is a village with a 2011 census recorded population of 1,737 situated on the west shore of the Exe Estuary in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon. The village is popular in summer with leisure craft, and is home to one of t ...
in Devon, with Isambard Brunel's atmospheric railway pumping houses. The style was later used by Humphrey Abberley and Joseph Rowell, who designed a large number of houses, with the new railway station as the focal point, for Lord Courtenay, who saw the potential of the railway age.
An example that is not very well known, but a clear example of Italianate architecture, is St. Christopher's Anglican church in
Hinchley Wood
Hinchley Wood is a suburb in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England, approximately 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Charing Cross in central London, and within the Greater London Urban Area. It developed largely around its railway station at ...
,
Surrey, particularly given the design of its
bell tower.
Portmeirion
Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the co ...
in
Gwynedd,
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
, is an architectural fantasy designed in a southern Italian Baroque style and built by Sir
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architec ...
between 1925 and 1975 in a loose style of an Italian village. It is now owned by a charitable trust. Williams-Ellis incorporated fragments of demolished buildings, including works by a number of other architects. Portmeirion's architectural
bricolage
In the arts, ''bricolage'' ( French for "DIY" or "do-it-yourself projects") is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work constructed using mixed media.
The term ''bricolage'' ...
and deliberately fanciful nostalgia have been noted as an influence on the development of postmodernism in architecture in the late 20th century.
Scotland
![Craig Ailey (Italian Villa), Cove, SE entrance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Craig_Ailey_%28Italian_Villa%29%2C_Cove%2C_SE_entrance.jpg)
The Italianate revival was comparatively less prevalent in
Scottish architecture
The architecture of Scotland includes all human building within the modern borders of Scotland, from the Neolithic era to the present day. The earliest surviving houses go back around 9500 years, and the first villages 6000 years: Skara Brae on ...
, examples include some of the early work of
Alexander Thomson
Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was l ...
("Greek" Thomson) and buildings such as the west side of
George Square
George Square ( gd, Ceàrnag Sheòrais) is the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, St Enoch Square, Royal Exchange S ...
.
Lebanon
The Italian, specifically Tuscan, influence on architecture in Lebanon dates back to the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
when
Fakhreddine, the first Lebanese ruler who truly unified
Mount Lebanon with its Mediterranean coast executed an ambitious plan to develop his country.
When the Ottomans exiled Fakhreddine to Tuscany in 1613, he entered an alliance with the
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...
. Upon his return to Lebanon in 1618, he began modernising Lebanon. He developed a silk industry, upgraded olive-oil production, and brought with him numerous Italian engineers who began the construction of mansions and civil building throughout the country. The cities of
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
and
Sidon
Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
were especially built in the Italianate style. The influence of these buildings, such as the ones in
Deir el Qamar, influenced building in Lebanon for many centuries and continues to the present time. For example, streets like
Rue Gouraud
Rue Gouraud () is a mixed residential and commercial street in Gemmayzeh, a neighborhood in the Rmeil district of Beirut in Lebanon. It is named after French General Henri Gouraud. Gemmayze, and Rue Gouraud specifically, and competes with the ...
continues to have numerous, historic houses with Italianate influence.
United States
United States East Coast
The Italianate style was popularized in the United States by
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.
Education
Davis was born in New York City and studied at ...
in the 1840s as an alternative to
Gothic or
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
styles. Davis' design for
Blandwood is the oldest surviving example of Italianate architecture in the United States, constructed in 1844 as the residence of North Carolina Governor
John Motley Morehead.
It is an early example of Italianate architecture, closer in ethos to the Italianate works of Nash than the more Renaissance-inspired designs of Barry.
Davis' 1854
Litchfield Villa in
Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Prospect Park is an urban park in Brooklyn, New York City. The park is situated between the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, and Windsor Terrace, and is adjacent to the Brooklyn Museum, Gra ...
is a splendid example of the style. It was initially referred to as the "Italian Villa" or "Tuscan Villa" style.
Richard Upjohn
Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...
used the style extensively, beginning in 1845 with the
Edward King House. Other leading practitioners of the style were
John Notman
John Notman (22 July 18103 March 1865) was a Scottish-born American architect, who settled in Philadelphia. He is remembered for his churches, and for popularizing the Italianate style and the use of brownstone.
Career
Notman was born on 22 Jul ...
and
Henry Austin.
Notman designed "Riverside" in 1837, the first "Italian Villa" style house in
Burlington, New Jersey (now destroyed).
Italianate was reinterpreted to become an indigenous style. It is distinctive by its pronounced exaggeration of many Italian Renaissance characteristics: emphatic
eave
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
s supported by
corbels, low-pitched roofs barely discernible from the ground, or even flat roofs with a wide projection. A tower is often incorporated hinting at the Italian
belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
or even
campanile tower. Motifs drawn from the Italianate style were incorporated into the commercial builders' repertoire and appear in
Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
dating from the mid-to-late 19th century.
This architectural style became more popular than
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
by the beginning of the Civil War. Its popularity was due to being suitable for many different building materials and budgets, as well as the development of cast-iron and press-metal technology making the production more efficient of decorative elements such as brackets and cornices. However, the style was superseded in popularity in the late 1870s by the
Queen Anne and
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...
styles.
Other U.S. regions
![John Muir NHS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/John_Muir_NHS.jpg)
The popularity of Italianate architecture in the time period following 1845 can be seen in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
, the United States' first
boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
west of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
. This city, which grew along with the traffic on the
Ohio River, features arguably the largest single collection of Italianate buildings in the United States in its
Over-the-Rhine
Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United State ...
neighbourhood, built primarily by German-American immigrants that lived in the densely populated area. In recent years, increased attention has been called to the preservation of this impressive collection, with large-scale renovation efforts beginning to repair urban blight. Cincinnati's neighbouring cities of
Newport and
Covington, Kentucky
Covington is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, lies to its immediate north across the Ohio and Newport, to its east across the Licking ...
also contain an impressive collection of Italianate architecture.
The
Garden District of
features examples of the Italianate style, including:
*1331 First Street, designed by Samuel Jamison,
*the Van Benthuysen-Elms Mansion at 3029 St. Charles Avenue, and
*2805 Carondelet Street (technically located a block outside the Garden District).
In California, the earliest
Victorian residences were wooden versions of the Italianate style, such as the
James Lick Mansion,
John Muir Mansion, and
Bidwell Mansion, before later
Stick-Eastlake and
Queen Anne styles superseded. Many, nicknamed ''
Painted Ladies
In American architecture, painted ladies are Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings repainted, starting in the 1960s, in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco ...
'', remain and are celebrated in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. A late example in masonry is the
First Church of Christ, Scientist
The First Church of Christ, Scientist is the administrative headquarters and mother church of the Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as the Christian Science church. Christian Science was founded in the 19th century in Lynn, Massachusetts ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
Additionally, the
United States Lighthouse Board
The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 18 ...
, through the work of Colonel
Orlando M. Poe, produced a number of Italianate
lighthouses
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
and associated structures, chief among them being the
Grosse Point Light in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
.
[ – ]
Australia
![GovernmentHouseMelbourne1 gobeirne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/GovernmentHouseMelbourne1_gobeirne.jpg)
The Italianate style was immensely popular in Australia as a domestic style influencing the rapidly expanding suburbs of the 1870–1880s and providing rows of neat villas with low-pitched roofs,
bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room.
Types
Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or ...
s, tall windows and classical cornices. The architect
William Wardell
William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a civil engineer and architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but for a successful career as a surveyor and ecclesiastical architect in En ...
designed
Government House in Melbourne—the official residence of the
governor of Victoria
The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and th ...
—as an example of his "newly discovered love for Italianate,
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
and
Venetian architecture." Cream-colored, with many Palladian features, it would not be out of place among the unified streets and squares in Thomas Cubitt's
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, except for its
machicolated
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...
signorial tower that Wardell crowned with a
belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
.
The
hipped roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
is concealed by a
balustraded
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...
. The principal block is flanked by two lower asymmetrical secondary wings that contribute picturesque massing, best appreciated from an angled view. The larger of these is divided from the principal block by the belvedere tower. The smaller, the ballroom block, is entered through a columned
porte-cochère
A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...
designed as a single storey
prostyle
Prostyle is an architectural term designating temples (especially Greek and Roman) featuring a row of columns on the front. The term is often used as an adjective when referring to the portico of a classical building, which projects from th ...
portico.
![SydneyUniversity InstituteBuilding DarlingtonCentre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/SydneyUniversity_InstituteBuilding_DarlingtonCentre.jpg)
Many examples of this style are evident around Sydney and Melbourne, notably the
Old Treasury Building (1858),
Leichhardt Town Hall
The Leichhardt Town Hall is a landmark civic building in Leichhardt, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It stands at 107 Norton Street. It was built in 1888 in the Victorian Italianate style by architects Drake and Walcott. The Town Hall was the seat ...
(1888),
Glebe Town Hall (1879) and the fine range of state and federal government offices facing the
gardens
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
in Treasury Place. No.2 Treasury Gardens (1874). This dignified, but not overly exuberant style for civil service offices contrasted with the grand and more formal statements of the
classical styles used for
Parliament buildings. The acceptance of the Italianate style for government offices was sustained well into the 20th century when, in 1912,
John Smith Murdoch
John Smith Murdoch (29 September 186221 May 1945) was a Scottish architect who practised in Australia from the 1880s until 1930. Employed by the newly formed Commonwealth Public Works Department in 1904, he rose to become chief architect, ...
designed the Commonwealth Office Buildings as a sympathetic addition to this precinct to form a stylistically unified terrace overlooking the gardens.
The Italianate style of architecture continued to be built in outposts of the British Empire long after it had ceased to be fashionable in Britain itself. The
Albury railway station
Albury railway station is a heritage-listed railway station at Railway Place, Albury, New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the border with Victoria, in Australia. It was designed under the direction of John Whitton and built from 1880 to 18 ...
in regional
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, completed in 1881, is an example of this further evolution of the style.
New Zealand
As in Australia, the use of Italianate for public service offices took hold but using local materials like timber to create the illusion of stone. At the time it was built in 1856, the official
residence
A residence is a place (normally a building) used as a home or dwelling, where people reside.
Residence may more specifically refer to:
* Domicile (law), a legal term for residence
* Habitual residence, a civil law term dealing with the status ...
of the Colonial
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
was criticized for the dishonesty of making wood look like stone. The 1875
Old Government Buildings, Wellington
The Government Buildings Historic Reserve, or more commonly referred to as the Old Government Buildings, is situated on Lambton Quay in Wellington. It was completed in 1876, and until 1998 was the second-largest wooden building in the world (aft ...
are entirely constructed with local
kauri
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...
timber, which has excellent properties for construction. (
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
developed later and preferred Gothic detailing.) As in the United States, the timber construction common in New Zealand allowed this popular style to be rendered in domestic buildings, such as
Antrim House
Antrim House of Wellington, New Zealand, was completed in 1905 for Robert Hannah (1845–1930) and his wife Hannah Hannah (1852–1928).
History
This house was named after the original owner-builder's home county of Antrim in what is now Nor ...
in Wellington, and Westoe Farm House in
Rangitikei (1874), as well as rendered brick at
"The Pah" in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
(1880).
On a more domestic scale, the suburbs of cities like
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
and
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
spread out with modest but handsome suburban villas with Italianate details, such as low-pitched roofs, tall windows, corner
quoins
Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...
, and stone detailing, all rendered in wood. A good example is the birthplace of the writer
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...
.
Image galleries
Great Britain
File:Reform Club 02.JPG, The Reform Club
The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...
(1837-41) in Pall Mall by Barry was highly influential in its design and context at the heart of power structures in London
File:Runcorn Town Hall.jpg, The main aspect and belvedere of Runcorn Town Hall in Cheshire, England
Council Registry - geograph.org.uk - 1720858.jpg, The former headquarters of the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, England, built in 1846
Somerleyton_5.JPG, Somerleyton Hall
Somerleyton Hall is a country house and estate near Somerleyton and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England owned and lived in by Hugh Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton, originally designed by John Thomas. The hall is Grade II* listed on the National Heri ...
near Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth on the east coast of East Anglia
File:Johnston School, Kirkcudbright - view from NW.jpg, Johnston School, Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The town lies southwest of ...
, 1847
United States
File:Italianate1.png, Italianate Victorian ''Painted Lady
''Vanessa cardui'' is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.
Description
File:Vanessa cardui MHNT CUT 2013 3 14 Pontfaverger-Moronvilliers Dos. ...
'' in San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
File:Over-the-Rhine-12th-and-Vine.jpg, Series of Italianate tenements
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
in Over-The-Rhine
Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United State ...
, Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
.
File:Boardman Mitchell House.jpg, Boardman–Mitchell House Located in Stapleton, Staten Island
Stapleton is a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island in New York City in the United States. It is located along the waterfront of Upper New York Bay, roughly bounded on the north by Tompkinsville at Grant Street, on the south by Clifton a ...
, NY.
File:Bidwell Mansion 2006 11 IMGP0863.JPG, The Bidwell Mansion, built in 1865, Chico, California
Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...
File:Fitzgerald Home Milwaukee.jpg, Robert Patrick Fitzgerald House, Milwaukee, 1876: potpourri of "Italianate" features
File:Annefield Front View.jpg, Annefield, Charlotte County, Virginia, built in 1858.
File:Farnam Mansion 2.jpg, The Farnam Mansion in Oneida, New York
Oneida (, one, kanaˀalóhaleˀ) is a city in Madison County located west of Oneida Castle (in Oneida County) and east of Wampsville, New York, United States. The population was 11,390 at the 2010 census. The city, like both Oneida County an ...
, built in 1862.
File:LedyardBlockGrandRapidsMI.jpg, Ledyard Block Historic District
The Ledyard Block Historic District is a group of seven adjacent, coherently designed, nineteenth century commercial structures located within a square block at 123-145 Ottawa Avenue and 104-124 Monroe Center, NW, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The gro ...
, seven interconnected Italianate buildings in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, constructed between 1859 and 1874.
File:AldrichBuildingGrandRapidsMI.jpg, Aldrich Building, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, built in 1869.
File:PeckBlockGrandRapidsMI.jpg, Peck Block, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, built in 1875.
File:AldrichGodfreyandWhiteBlockGrandRapidsMI.jpg, Aldrich Godfrey and White Block
The Aldrich, Godfrey, and White Block is a commercial building located at 89-99 Monroe Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
History
The Aldrich, Godfrey, and White Block was construc ...
, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, built in 1874.
File:Toledo Central High School - DPLA - 19be52230269cfa2b347174f6b1bb815 (cropped).jpg, Toledo Central High School in Toledo, Ohio, 1864
File:Reddick Mansion House - Restored - Front View.jpg, alt=reddick_mansion_ottawa_il, William Reddick Mansion in Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the navigable Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The Illinois River is a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi Ri ...
. Built in 1855.
File:UsaEast2016 496 Horace S. Tarbell House.jpg, Horace S. Tarbell House, Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, built in 1869.
Australia and New Zealand
File:AlburyRailwayStation2.JPG, Railway station of Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
, New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia (1881).
File:Randwick Town Hall, Avoca Street.JPG, Randwick Town Hall
The Randwick City Hall is a heritage-listed town hall located in the Sydney suburb of , New South Wales, Australia. Designed by Messrs Blackmann and Parkes in the Victorian Italianate architectural style, the town hall was completed in 1882 at a ...
, New South Wales
File:Goulburn Post Office on Auburn Street in Goulburn.jpg, Goulburn Post Office
Goulburn Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 165 Auburn Street, Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet and built from 1880 to 1881 by F. Horn. It is also ...
, New South Wales
File:(1)Italianate home Dutruc Street Randwick-1.jpg, Italianate house in Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Ra ...
File:Winsbury Terrace 75-79 Kent Street Millers Point.jpg, Italianate terraces in Millers Point, Sydney
File:(1)Hotel CBD 006.jpg, Former National House, Sydney
File:Myrnong Hall Acland Street St Kilda.jpg, Myrnong Hall, Acland Street, St Kilda, Victoria, Melbourne
File:Forbes - Post Office-2+ (2147999692).jpg, Forbes Post Office
File:Heritage Kamesburgh Gardens in Brighton.jpg, ''Kamesburgh'', North Road, Brighton, Victoria
File:(1)Italianate house Avoca Street.jpg, Italianate terraces, Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Ra ...
File:Old Government Buildings - whole.JPG, Old Government Buildings, Wellington
The Government Buildings Historic Reserve, or more commonly referred to as the Old Government Buildings, is situated on Lambton Quay in Wellington. It was completed in 1876, and until 1998 was the second-largest wooden building in the world (aft ...
File:AntrimHouse.jpg, Antrim House, Wellington
See also
*
List of architectural styles
An architectural style is characterized by the features that make a building or other structure notable and historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as form, method of construction, building materials, and regional character. M ...
References
External links
Italianate, 1850–1890The Old House Web
Ontario Architecture
The Picturesque Style: Italianate ArchitectureBlog on Italianate architecture
Italianate ArchitectureArthemia
Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond
Sydney Architecture Images
Italianate and Italian Villa (1850–1890)Architectural Styles of America
Italianate Architectureflickr
The Pah Homestead, Auckland, New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italianate Architecture
House styles
Revival architectural styles
Victorian architectural styles