Architectural
Styles in Rensselaer County:
Colonia Revival and
Neo-Classical Styles: 1890s and 1920s
Nostalgia for early America, fueled to some extent
by the 1876 celebration of America's centennial, distinguishes
the popularity of the Colonial Revival Style that borrowed many
design elements from the 18th and early 19th centuries, sometimes
mixing them together in one building. The horizontal dimension
of Colonial Revival Style residences are often emphasized by widely
spaced windows and strong cornice lines.
While many Colonial Revival homes in the first period
were large and expansive, their overall form was symmetrical,
tightly organized and clearly defined. Pastel tones of gray, buff,
blue, green and yellow characterize clapboard and shingle dwellings
in the Colonial Revival Style.
Public buildings use the same classical details
in a larger scale. The variety of ornament and the scale contribute
to the monumental appearance of the buildings.
| 
Three-part Palladian windows
Ornamental garlands
|
Grouping of two or more columns
Broken pediments
|
| Colonial Revival
Houses have details similar to those
in earlier Federal and Georgian houses, but much larger
in scale, more complicated in shape and with much heavier
ornamentation than the earlier styles.
Look for:
Symmetrically arranged facades.
Large, wrap-around porches.
Plate glass and stained- glass windows, often
arranged in pairs or groups of three. |
[Elm Street, Berlin] |
[Geary Road, Schaghticoke]
|
Colonial
Revival houses often display a mix of styles.
This example combines the Colonial
Revival with Queen Anne features, such as the tower and
porch pavilion, and the Shingle Style evident in the side
gable. |
| Many "double
decker" or two-family houses were built in the Colonial
Revival style. Today the porches on these buildings have
been enclosed as in the example on the right. |
|
[Berlin Central School] |
Public
Buildings Many
schools and other public buildings were constructed in versions
of the Colonial Revival style. This elementary school has
double-hung, multi-paned windows, a portico supported by
columns, and stepped gables at the center section.. The
wings have "Dutch" gables and palladian windows. |
| The door displays the delicate
detailing borrowed from the Federal style: fluted pilasters
with Corinthian capitals, and fanlight. However, the exaggerated,
over-scaled broken pediment belongs to the Colonial Revival
style. |
[Berlin Central School]
|
Later 20th Century Examples
[Hoosick Street, Troy]
[Second Avenue, Lansingburgh]
Photos by Lorraine E. Weiss; Drawings by Andrea
J.Becker Next style: Bungalow
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