Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover , George I , George II , George III , and George IV , who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830.
58-543: The William Paca House (at one time known as Carvel Hall ) is an 18th-century Georgian mansion in Annapolis , Maryland , United States . Founding Father William Paca was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and a three-term Governor of Maryland . The house was built between 1763 and 1765 and its architecture was largely designed by Paca himself. The 2-acre (8,100 m) walled garden, which includes
116-399: A balustrade or the top of a pediment . Columns or pilasters , often topped by a pediment, were popular for ornament inside and out, and other ornament was generally geometrical or plant-based, rather than using the human figure. Inside ornament was far more generous, and could sometimes be overwhelming. The chimneypiece continued to be the usual main focus of rooms, and was now given
174-615: A mixed-use development was proposed for the site that would have demolished the house and the hotel, putting high rises in its place. After the plans to demolish Carvel Hall became public, the house was acquired by Historic Annapolis, Inc. (later the Historic Annapolis Foundation, or HAF), and the surrounding property (garden) was acquired by the State of Maryland in 1965. The additions were removed in 1966-67 by architects including Orin M. Bullock Jr. , and ownership
232-420: A suburban compromise between the terraced houses of the city and the detached "villas" further out, where land was cheaper. There had been occasional examples in town centres going back to medieval times. Most early suburban examples are large, and in what are now the outer fringes of Central London, but were then in areas being built up for the first time. Blackheath , Chalk Farm and St John's Wood are among
290-670: A building; such arrangements were only typical in England when housing groups of batchelors, as in Oxbridge colleges, the lawyers in the Inns of Court or the Albany after it was converted in 1802. In the period in question, only in Edinburgh were working-class purpose-built tenements common, though lodgers were common in other cities. A curving crescent , often looking out at gardens or
348-442: A classical treatment, and increasingly topped by a painting or a mirror. Plasterwork ceilings, carved wood, and bold schemes of wallpaint formed a backdrop to increasingly rich collections of furniture, paintings, porcelain , mirrors, and objets d'art of all kinds. Wood-panelling, very common since about 1500, fell from favour around the mid-century, and wallpaper included very expensive imports from China. Smaller houses in
406-492: A distance. The height was usually highest in the centre, and the Baroque emphasis on corner pavilions often found on the continent generally avoided. In grand houses, an entrance hall led to steps up to a piano nobile or mezzanine floor where the main reception rooms were. Typically the basement area or "rustic", with kitchens, offices and service areas, as well as male guests with muddy boots, came some way above ground, and
464-828: A joining material such as mortar to bind the blocks together, although dry ashlar construction, metal ties, and other methods of assembly have been used. The dry ashlar of Inca architecture in Cusco and Machu Picchu is particularly fine and famous. The word is attested in Middle English and derives from the Old French aisselier , from the Latin axilla , a diminutive of axis , meaning "plank". "Clene hewen ashler" often occurs in medieval documents; this means tooled or finely worked, in contradistinction to rough-axed faces. In tile carpet installation "ashlar" refers to
522-600: A lesser extent York and Bristol . The style was revived in the late 19th century in the United States as Colonial Revival architecture and in the early 20th century in Great Britain as Neo-Georgian architecture ; in both it is also called Georgian Revival architecture . In the United States, the term Georgian is generally used to describe all buildings from the period, regardless of style; in Britain it
580-409: A park, was popular for terraces where space allowed. In early and central schemes of development, plots were sold and built on individually, though there was often an attempt to enforce some uniformity, but as development reached further out schemes were increasingly built as a uniform scheme and then sold. The late Georgian period saw the birth of the semi-detached house, planned systematically, as
638-677: A sign of their fealty to Britain, and the Georgian style was dominant in the country for most of the first half of the 19th century. The Grange , for example, is a Georgian manor built in Toronto in 1817. In Montreal , English-born architect John Ostell worked on a significant number of remarkable constructions in the Georgian style such as the Old Montreal Custom House and the Grand séminaire de Montréal . In Australia ,
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#1732782638401696-541: A street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning. Until the start of the Gothic Revival in the early 19th century, Georgian designs usually lay within the Classical orders of architecture and employed a decorative vocabulary derived from ancient Rome or Greece. In towns, which expanded greatly during the period, landowners turned into property developers , and rows of identical terraced houses became
754-417: A two-story summer house, has been restored to its original state. The William Paca House and Garden was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. The original one-story office and kitchen pavilions, and their connecting hyphens , were altered in the 19th century with the house's conversion to a hotel, by a second story added to the hyphens and the west wing. These changes have since been reversed, and
812-429: A vertical 1/2 offset pattern. Ashlar blocks have been used in the construction of many buildings as an alternative to brick or other materials. In classical architecture , ashlar wall surfaces were often contrasted with rustication . The term is frequently used to describe the dressed stone work of prehistoric Greece and Crete , although the dressed blocks are usually much larger than modern ashlar. For example,
870-399: Is capable of requiring only very thin joints between blocks, and the visible face of the stone may be quarry-faced or feature a variety of treatments: tooled, smoothly polished or rendered with another material for decorative effect. One such decorative treatment consists of small grooves achieved by the application of a metal comb. Generally used only on softer stone ashlar, this decoration
928-540: Is generally restricted to buildings that are "architectural in intention", and have stylistic characteristics that are typical of the period, though that covers a wide range. The Georgian style is highly variable, but marked by symmetry and proportion based on the classical architecture of Greece and Rome , as revived in Renaissance architecture . Ornament is also normally in the classical tradition, but typically restrained, and sometimes almost completely absent on
986-683: Is known as "mason's drag". Ashlar is in contrast to rubble masonry , which employs irregularly shaped stones, sometimes minimally worked or selected for similar size, or both. Ashlar is related but distinct from other stone masonry that is finely dressed but not quadrilateral, such as curvilinear and polygonal masonry . Ashlar may be coursed , which involves lengthy horizontal layers of stone blocks laid in parallel, and therefore with continuous horizontal joints. Ashlar may also be random, which involves stone blocks laid with deliberately discontinuous courses and therefore discontinuous joints both vertically and horizontally. In either case, it generally uses
1044-457: The tholos tombs of Bronze Age Mycenae use ashlar masonry in the construction of the so-called "beehive" dome. This dome consists of finely cut ashlar blocks that decrease in size and terminate in a central capstone . These domes are not true domes, but are constructed using the corbel arch . Ashlar masonry was also heavily used in the construction of palace facades on Crete , including Knossos and Phaistos . These constructions date to
1102-464: The MM III-LM Ib period, c. 1700 –1450 BC. In modern European masonry the blocks are generally about 35 centimetres (14 in) in height. When shorter than 30 centimetres (12 in), they are usually called small ashlar . In some Masonic groupings, which such societies term jurisdictions , ashlars are used as a symbolic metaphor for how one's personal development relates to
1160-624: The Old Colonial Georgian residential and non-residential styles were developed in the period from c. 1810 – c. 1840 . After about 1840, Georgian conventions were slowly abandoned as a number of revival styles, including Gothic Revival , that had originated in the Georgian period, developed and contested in Victorian architecture , and in the case of Gothic became better researched, and closer to their originals. Neoclassical architecture remained popular, and
1218-569: The Venetian Giacomo Leoni , who spent most of his career in England. Other prominent architects of the early Georgian period include James Paine , Robert Taylor , and John Wood, the Elder . The European Grand Tour became very common for wealthy patrons in the period, and Italian influence remained dominant, though at the start of the period Hanover Square, Westminster (1713 on), developed and occupied by Whig supporters of
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#17327826384011276-602: The Villa Pisani at Montagnana , Italy as depicted in Andrea Palladio 's I quattro libri dell'architettura ("The Four Books of Architecture"). After independence, in the former American colonies , Federal-style architecture represented the equivalent of Regency architecture, with which it had much in common. In Canada , the United Empire Loyalists embraced Georgian architecture as
1334-561: The suburbs , is known in the UK as mock-Georgian . Ashlar Ashlar ( / ˈ æ ʃ l ər / ) is a cut and dressed stone , worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, and is generally rectangular ( cuboid ). It was described by Vitruvius as opus isodomum or trapezoidal . Precisely cut "on all faces adjacent to those of other stones", ashlar
1392-580: The Americas. Unlike the Baroque style that it replaced, which was mostly used for palaces and churches, and had little representation in the British colonies, simpler Georgian styles were widely used by the upper and middle classes. Perhaps the best remaining house is the pristine Hammond-Harwood House (1774) in Annapolis , Maryland , designed by the colonial architect William Buckland and modelled on
1450-522: The Georgian period were very often constructed of wood with clapboards; even columns were made of timber, framed up, and turned on an oversized lathe. At the start of the period the difficulties of obtaining and transporting brick or stone made them a common alternative only in the larger cities, or where they were obtainable locally. Dartmouth College , Harvard University and the College of William and Mary offer leading examples of Georgian architecture in
1508-492: The apprenticeship system. But most buildings were still designed by builders and landlords together, and the wide spread of Georgian architecture, and the Georgian styles of design more generally, came from dissemination through pattern books and inexpensive suites of engravings . Authors such as the prolific William Halfpenny (active 1723–1755) had editions in America as well as Britain. A similar phenomenon can be seen in
1566-531: The areas contesting being the original home of the semi. Sir John Summerson gave primacy to the Eyre Estate of St John's Wood. A plan for this exists dated 1794, where "the whole development consists of pairs of semi-detached houses , So far as I know, this is the first recorded scheme of the kind". In fact the French Wars put an end to this scheme, but when the development was finally built it retained
1624-606: The building approximates its original outward appearance, both inside and out. In 1780, Paca sold the house to Thomas Jenings, the attorney general of Maryland. The house and grounds were eventually acquired by the Annapolis Hotel Corporation, and the house became the lobby and conference rooms for the Carvel Hall Hotel, which was constructed in the garden immediately to the rear. The hotel opened in 1901 with two-hundred guest rooms. But, by 1964,
1682-502: The central structure by 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story hyphens . The interior is a center hall plan with two rooms on either side of the hall. Original woodwork remains only in the central hall, stair hall and the west parlor, including the stair's original Chinese Chippendale balustrade. Georgian architecture The Georgian cities of the British Isles were Edinburgh , Bath , pre-independence Dublin , and London , and to
1740-479: The classical vocabulary. Where funds permitted, a classical temple portico with columns and a pediment might be used at the west front. Interior decoration was generally chaste; however, walls often became lined with plaques and monuments to the more prosperous members of the congregation. In the colonies new churches were certainly required, and generally repeated similar formulae. British Non-conformist churches were often more classical in mood, and tended not to feel
1798-484: The classically inspired. Public buildings generally varied between the extremes of plain boxes with grid windows and Italian Late Renaissance palaces, depending on budget. Somerset House in London, designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776 for government offices, was as magnificent as any country house, though never quite finished, as funds ran out. Barracks and other less prestigious buildings could be as functional as
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1856-478: The commonality of housing designs in Canada and the United States (though of a wider variety of styles) from the 19th century through the 1950s, using pattern books drawn up by professional architects that were distributed by lumber companies and hardware stores to contractors and homebuilders. From the mid-18th century, Georgian styles were assimilated into an architectural vernacular that became part and parcel of
1914-409: The core of cities such as London , Edinburgh , Dublin , Newcastle upon Tyne and Bristol . The period saw the growth of a distinct and trained architectural profession; before the mid-century "the high-sounding title, 'architect' was adopted by anyone who could get away with it". This contrasted with earlier styles, which were primarily disseminated among craftsmen through the direct experience of
1972-471: The country, such as vicarages, were simple regular blocks with visible raked roofs, and a central doorway, often the only ornamented area. Similar houses, often referred to as "villas" became common around the fringes of the larger cities, especially London, and detached houses in towns remained common, though only the very rich could afford them in central London. In towns even most better-off people lived in terraced houses, which typically opened straight onto
2030-431: The exterior. The period brought the vocabulary of classical architecture to smaller and more modest buildings than had been the case before, replacing English vernacular architecture (or becoming the new vernacular style) for almost all new middle-class homes and public buildings by the end of the period. Georgian architecture is characterized by its proportion and balance; simple mathematical ratios were used to determine
2088-404: The extremely similar St. George's Church, Dublin . The 1818 Act allocated some public money for new churches required to reflect changes in population, and a commission to allocate it. Building of Commissioners' churches gathered pace in the 1820s, and continued until the 1850s. The early churches, falling into the Georgian period, show a high proportion of Gothic Revival buildings, along with
2146-511: The floor above. Often, when a new street or set of streets was developed, the road and pavements were raised up, and the gardens or yards behind the houses remained at a lower level, usually representing the original one. Town terraced houses for all social classes remained resolutely tall and narrow, each dwelling occupying the whole height of the building. This contrasted with well-off continental dwellings, which had already begun to be formed of wide apartments occupying only one or two floors of
2204-451: The height of a window in relation to its width or the shape of a room as a double cube. Regularity, as with ashlar (uniformly cut) stonework, was strongly approved, imbuing symmetry and adherence to classical rules: the lack of symmetry, where Georgian additions were added to earlier structures remaining visible, was deeply felt as a flaw, at least before John Nash began to introduce it in a variety of styles. Regularity of housefronts along
2262-591: The late 1950s, Bradshaw Gass & Hope 's Police Headquarters in Salford of 1958 being a good example. Architects such as Raymond Erith , and Donald McMorran were among the few architects who continued the neo-Georgian style into the 1960s. Both in the United States and Britain, the Georgian style is still employed by architects like Quinlan Terry , Julian Bicknell , Ben Pentreath , Robert Adam Architects , and Fairfax and Sammons for private residences. A debased form in commercial housing developments, especially in
2320-408: The main nave was generally wider and shorter than in medieval plans, and often there were no side-aisles. Galleries were common in new churches. Especially in country parishes, the external appearance generally retained the familiar signifiers of a Gothic church, with a tower or spire, a large west front with one or more doors, and very large windows along the nave, but all with any ornament drawn from
2378-478: The mid-1760s a range of Neoclassical modes were fashionable, associated with the British architects Robert Adam , James Gibbs, Sir William Chambers , James Wyatt , George Dance the Younger , Henry Holland and Sir John Soane . John Nash was one of the most prolific architects of the late Georgian era known as Regency style , he was responsible for designing large areas of London. Greek Revival architecture
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2436-540: The mills and factories that were growing increasingly large by the end of the period. But as the period came to an end many commercial projects were becoming sufficiently large, and well-funded, to become "architectural in intention", rather than having their design left to the lesser class of "surveyors". Georgian architecture was widely disseminated in the English colonies during the Georgian era . American buildings of
2494-563: The need for a tower or steeple. The archetypal Georgian church is St Martin-in-the-Fields in London (1720), by Gibbs, who boldly added to the classical temple façade at the west end a large steeple on top of a tower, set back slightly from the main frontage. This formula shocked purists and foreigners, but became accepted and was very widely emulated, at home and in the colonies, for example at St Andrew's Church, Chennai in India. And in Dublin,
2552-481: The new dynasty, seems to have deliberately adopted German stylistic elements in their honour, especially vertical bands connecting the windows. The styles that resulted fall within several categories. In the mainstream of Georgian style were both Palladian architecture —and its whimsical alternatives, Gothic and Chinoiserie , which were the English-speaking world 's equivalent of European Rococo . From
2610-500: The norm. Even the wealthy were persuaded to live in these in town, especially if provided with a square of garden in front of the house. There was an enormous amount of building in the period, all over the English-speaking world, and the standards of construction were generally high. Where they have not been demolished, large numbers of Georgian buildings have survived two centuries or more, and they still form large parts of
2668-581: The other materials was more favourable. Raked roofs were mostly covered in earthenware tiles until Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn led the development of the slate industry in Wales from the 1760s, which by the end of the century had become the usual material. Versions of revived Palladian architecture dominated English country house architecture. Houses were increasingly placed in grand landscaped settings, and large houses were generally made wide and relatively shallow, largely to look more impressive from
2726-544: The period in Great Britain. Some windows were subsequently bricked-in. Their height increasingly varied between the floors, and they increasingly began below waist-height in the main rooms, making a small balcony desirable. Before this the internal plan and function of the rooms can generally not be deduced from the outside. To open these large windows the sash window , already developed by the 1670s, became very widespread. Corridor plans became universal inside larger houses. Internal courtyards became more rare, except beside
2784-523: The same period is usually referred to as Neo-Georgian ; the work of Edwin Lutyens and Vincent Harris includes some examples. The British town of Welwyn Garden City , established in the 1920s, is an example of pastiche or Neo-Georgian development of the early 20th century in Britain. Versions of the Neo-Georgian style were commonly used in Britain for certain types of urban architecture until
2842-545: The semi-detached form, "a revolution of striking significance and far-reaching effect". Until the Church Building Act 1818 , the period saw relatively few churches built in Britain, which was already well-supplied, although in the later years of the period the demand for Non-conformist and Roman Catholic places of worship greatly increased. Anglican churches that were built were designed internally to allow maximum audibility, and visibility, for preaching , so
2900-429: The stables, and the functional parts of the building were placed at the sides, or in separate buildings nearby hidden by trees. The views to and from the front and rear of the main block were concentrated on, with the side approaches usually much less important. The roof was typically invisible from the ground, though domes were sometimes visible in grander buildings. The roofline was generally clear of ornament except for
2958-402: The street, often with a few steps up to the door. There was often an open space, protected by iron railings, dropping down to the basement level, with a discreet entrance down steps off the street for servants and deliveries; this is known as the "area" . This meant that the ground floor front was now removed and protected from the street and encouraged the main reception rooms to move there from
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#17327826384013016-609: The tenets of their lodge . As described in the explanation of the First Degree Tracing Board , in Emulation and other Masonic rituals the rough ashlar is a stone as taken directly from the quarry, and allegorically represents the Freemason prior to his initiation; a smooth ashlar (or "perfect ashlar") is a stone that has been smoothed and dressed by the experienced stonemason , and allegorically represents
3074-468: The training of every architect , designer , builder , carpenter , mason and plasterer , from Edinburgh to Maryland . Georgian succeeded the English Baroque of Sir Christopher Wren , Sir John Vanbrugh , Thomas Archer , William Talman , and Nicholas Hawksmoor ; this in fact continued into at least the 1720s, overlapping with a more restrained Georgian style. The architect James Gibbs
3132-484: Was a transitional figure, his earlier buildings are Baroque, reflecting the time he spent in Rome in the early 18th century, but he adjusted his style after 1720. Major architects to promote the change in direction from Baroque were Colen Campbell , author of the influential book Vitruvius Britannicus (1715–1725); Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and his protégé William Kent ; Isaac Ware ; Henry Flitcroft and
3190-577: Was added to the repertory, beginning around 1750, but increasing in popularity after 1800. Leading exponents were William Wilkins and Robert Smirke . In Britain, brick or stone are almost invariably used; brick is often disguised with stucco . The Georgian terraces of Dublin are noted for their almost uniform use of red brick, for example, whereas equivalent terraces in Edinburgh are constructed from stone. In America and other colonies wood remained very common, as its availability and cost-ratio with
3248-417: Was lit by windows that were high on the inside, but just above ground level outside. A single block was typical, with perhaps a small court for carriages at the front marked off by railings and a gate, but rarely a stone gatehouse , or side wings around the court. Windows in all types of buildings were large and regularly placed on a grid; this was partly to minimize window tax , which was in force throughout
3306-718: Was the opponent of Gothic in the Battle of the Styles of the early Victorian period. In the United States the Federalist Style contained many elements of Georgian style, but incorporated revolutionary symbols. In the early decades of the twentieth century when there was a growing nostalgia for its sense of order, the style was revived and adapted and in the United States came to be known as the Colonial Revival . The revived Georgian style that emerged in Britain during
3364-508: Was transferred to the Maryland Historical Trust . The property is administered by Historic Annapolis Foundation, and is open to the public for guided tours of the house and self-guided garden year round. The Paca House is a Georgian five-part house. The brick structure comprises a central 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story block on an elevated basement, flanked by symmetrical 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story end pavilions, connected to
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