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Pittsburgh Architecture Guide
The Pittsburgh area features a variety of
architectural styles which should satisfy the tastes of most home buyers. While
this list is not meant to be exhaustive, these are the most common styles of
homes found in the area.
Cape Cod
Some of the first houses built in the United States were Cape Cods. Built by
English colonists who came to America in the late 17th century, the
original colonial Cape Cod homes were shingle-sided, one-story cottages with no
dormers. During the mid-20th century, the small, uncomplicated Cape Cod shape
became popular in suburban developments. A 20th-century Cape Cod is square or
rectangular with one or one-and-a-half stories and steeply pitched, gabled
roofs. It may have dormers and shutters. The siding is usually clapboard or
brick.
Colonial
When we speak of the Colonial style, we
often are referring to a rectangular, symmetrical home with bedrooms on the
second floor. The double-hung windows usually have many small, equally sized
square panes. During the late 1800s and throughout the 20th century, builders borrowed
Colonial ideas to create refined Colonial Revival homes with elegant central
hallways and elaborate cornices. Unlike the original Colonials, Colonial Revival
homes are often sided in white clapboard and trimmed with black or green
shutters.
Contemporary
Known by their odd-sized and often tall windows, lack of
ornamentation, and unusual mixtures of wall materials - stone, brick, and
wood, for instance - architects designed Contemporary-style homes (in the Modern
family) between 1950 and 1970. They created two versions: the flat-roof and
gabled types. The latter is often characterized by exposed beams. Both breeds
tend to be one-story tall and were designed to incorporate the surrounding
landscape into their overall look.
Craftsman
Popularized at the turn of
the 20th century by architect and furniture designer Gustav Stickley in his
magazine, The Craftsman, the Craftsman-style bungalow reflected, said Stickley,
"a house reduced to it's simplest form... its low, broad proportions and
absolute lack of ornamentation gives it a character so natural and unaffected
that it seems to... blend with any landscape."
The style, which was also widely billed as the "California bungalow" by
architects such as Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, featured
overhanging eaves, a low-slung gabled roof, and wide front porches framed by
pedestal-like tapered columns. Material often included stone, rough-hewn wood,
and stucco. Many homes have wide front porches across part of the front,
supported by columns.
Dutch Colonial
This American style originated in homes built by German, or "Deutsch"
settlers in Pennsylvania as early as the 1600s. A hallmark of the style is a
broad gambrel roof with flaring eaves that extend over the porches,
creating a barn-like effect. Early homes were a single room, and additions were
added to each end, creating a distinctive linear floor plan. End walls are
generally of stone, and the chimney is usually located on one or both ends.
Double-hung sash windows with outward swinging wood casements, dormers with
shed-like overhangs, and a central Dutch double doorway are also common. The
double door, which is divided horizontally, was once used to keep livestock out
of the home while allowing light and air to filter through the open top.
French Provincial
Balance and symmetry are the ruling characteristics of this formal style.
Homes are often brick with detailing in copper or slate. Windows and chimneys
are symmetrical and perfectly balanced, at least in original versions of the
style. Defining features include a steep, high, hip roof; balcony and porch
balustrades; rectangle doors set in arched openings; and double French windows
with shutters. Second-story windows usually have a curved head that breaks
through the cornice. The design had its origins in the style of rural manor
homes, or chateaus, built by the French nobles during the reign of Louis XIV in
the mid-1600s. The French Provincial design was a popular Revival style in the
1920s and again in the 1960s.
Ranch
Sometimes called the California ranch style, this home in the Modern family
originated there in 1930s. It emerged as one of the most popular American styles
in the 1950s and 60s, when the automobile had replaced early 20th-century forms
of transportation, such as streetcars. Now mobile homebuyers could move to the suburbs into bigger homes on bigger
lots. The style takes its cues from Spanish Colonial and Prairie and Craftsman
homes, and is characterized by its one-story, pitched-roof construction,
built-in garage, wood or brick exterior walls, sliding and picture windows, and
sliding doors leading to patios.
Saltbox
This New England Colonial style got its name because the sharply sloping
gable roof that resembled the boxes used for storing salt. The step roofline
often plunges from two and one-half stories in front to a single story in the
rear. In Colonial times, the lower rear portion was often used as a partially
enclosed shed, which was oriented north as a windbreak. These square or
rectangular homes typically have a large central chimney and large, double-hung
windows with shutters. Exterior walls are made of clapboard or shingles. In the
South this style is known as a "cat's slide" and was a popular in the 1800s.
Split Level
A Modern style that architects created to sequester certain living
activities--such as sleeping or socializing--split levels offered a multilevel
alternative to the ubiquitous style in the 1950s. The nether parts of a typical
design were devoted to a garage and TV room; the midlevel, which usually jutted
out from the two-story section, offered "quieter" quarters, such as the living
and dining rooms; and the area above the garage was designed for bedrooms. Found mostly in the East and Midwest, split-levels, like their Ranch
counterparts, were constructed with various building materials.
Tudor
This architecture style was popular in the 1920s and 1930s and continues to
be a mainstay in suburbs across the United States. The defining characteristics
are half-timbering on bay windows and upper floors, and facades that are
dominated by one or more steeply pitched cross gables. Patterned brick or stone
walls are common, as are rounded doorways, multi-paned casement windows, and
large stone chimneys. A subtype of the Tudor Revival style is the Cotswold
Cottage. With a sloping roof and a massive chimney at the front, a Cotswold
Cottage may remind you of a picturesque storybook home.
Victorian
Victorian architecture dates from the second half of the 19th century, when
America was exploring new approaches to building and design. Advancements in machine technology meant that Victorian-era builders could
easily incorporate mass-produced ornamentation such as brackets, spindles, and
patterned shingles. The last true Victorians were constructed in the early
1900s, but contemporary builders often borrow Victorian ideas, designing
eclectic "neo-Victorians." These homes combine modern materials with 19th
century details, such as curved towers and spindled porches.
Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with
permission.
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