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Colonial Revival
c.1900-1960
The
Colonial Revival style gained prominence around 1900 and retained popularity
throughout much of the twentieth century. Several factors accounted for its
widespread acceptance and desirability:
- the American Centennial
(1876), which stimulated an unprecedented interest in American heritage in
general and in colonial American architecture in particular
- the growing tendency in
the late nineteenth century among America's trend-setting architects to
build period houses in a variety of eclectic styles that often
incorporated colonial elements
- the 1893 Chicago
Columbian Exposition. Architect's of the World's Fair emphasized accuracy
and correctness in the use of historical styles and established
Neoclassical and the Colonial Revival as the dominant styles in American
architecture
In truth, historical accuracy in the
Colonial Revival style was expressed more in specific elements than in the
building as a whole. For instance, a Colonial Revival house is usually of
much larger scale than its period prototype, and it may bear the influence
of more than one phase of the colonial era. Elements of the style include
dentils, heavy cornices, entrances with
fanlights and
sidelights,
pedimented dormer windows, keystones and quoins.
Most of the county's examples of the
Colonial Revival style are found in Martinsville. The Frank Branch House in
Martinsville's
East Washington Street Historic District is the
county's finest example. Built in 1916, this house exhibits the symmetry,
cornice treatment, windows and the classical porch typical of the style.
Popular subtypes, or variations, of the
Colonial Revival Style include
Cape Cod and
Dutch Colonial.
Colonial Revival:
Frank Branch House (1916), 640 East Washington Street, Martinsville
Colonial Revival:
Emmett Forest Branch House (c.1920), 510 East Washington Street
Emmett Forest Branch served as governor of Indiana from May 1924 to
January 1925.
Colonial Revival:
United States Post Office (1935), 10 South Main Street
Top
Colonial Revival: Cape Cod
Cottage
c.1920-1940
Americans' interest in reclaiming
architectural styles from the colonial period also led to smaller versions
of familiar house types. The one- and one-and-one-half-story Cape Cod
Cottage is a popular variant or subtype of the Colonial Revival style.
Loosely patterned after early wood folk houses of eastern Massachusetts,
Cape Cod houses have gable end walls and entrances typically located
in the center of a forward facing broad wall. Front
dormers are
typical. Colonial-inspired ornamentation includes multi-pane double-hung
sash windows, frequently in pairs, and entrances accentuated with any of the
following:
The Cape Cod Cottage
was built throughout the Colonial Revival era but was most popular between
the two World Wars.
Colonial
Revival/Cape Cod: House (c.1935), 860 East Columbus Street
Top
Colonial Revival:
Dutch Colonial Revival
c.1895-1935
Like
Cape Cod
cottage, Dutch Colonial Revival is a variant, or subtype of the
Colonial Revival style. It loosely mimics folk houses brought by Dutch
colonists to the Hudson River Valley in the 1600s. The most distinguishing
characteristic of the Dutch Colonial Revival style is the
gambrel roof that provides a
nearly a full story of living room underneath.
Most early Dutch Colonial Revival style
houses have a forward facing gambrel roof with a cross gambrel at the rear.
Side gambrel models were popular in the 1920s and 1930s.
Dutch Colonial Revival:
Major-Miles House (c.1885/1920), 689 East Washington Street
Built about 1885, this was the first house on
this stretch of East Washington Street. About 1920, it was remodeled in the
Dutch Colonial Revival style popular at that time.
Dutch Colonial Revival: House (c.1920), 260 North Main Street
Dutch Colonial Revival: House (c.1930), 1010 East Harrison Street
There is no mistaking the gambrel roof on this house.
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