Design of the Period House - By Era

In this area of Bricks & Brass we look era by era at the architectural design styles used.

In almost every era we find more than one style being popular. Even when the design cognoscenti, or the wealthy, favour one style, we find vernacular architecture or the homes of people in ordinary towns and cities borrowing from current and past styles.

It is rare to be able to label any house as being of a single style. The typical middle or working class home was built by a small builder who would buy a plot of land, build one or two houses and immediately sell them freehold or leasehold to a landlord. This speculative builder built what he liked, was familiar with and could sell easily and profitably. These houses were influenced by contemporary fashions but were no more 'designer houses' than the typical house of today.

The names given to the different periods and the dates they cover in the UK are:

1558-1603

Elizabeth I

Elizabethan

1603-1625

James I

Jacobean

1625-1649

Charles I

Carolean

1649-1660

Commonwealth

Cromwellian

1660-1685

Charles II

Restoration

1685-1689

James II

Restoration

1689-1694

William & Mary

William & Mary

1694-1702

William III

William III

1702-1714

Anne

Queen Anne

1714-1727

George I

Early Georgian

1727-1760

George II

Georgian

1760-1812

George III

Late Georgian

1812-1820

George III

Regency

1820-1830

George IV

Late Regency

1830-1837

William IV

William IV

1837-1860

Victoria

Early Victorian

1860-1901

Victoria

Late Victorian

1901-1910

Edwardian VII

Edwardian

1910-1936

George V

 

1936-1936

Edward VIII

 

1936-1952

George VI

 

1952-

Elizabeth II

 

The Edwardian era loosely covers 1900-1918.

Other sections of Bricks & Brass explore: