Hidden House History

Medieval

Wealden hall-houses were developed in Kent and Sussex for the yeoman class (gentleman-farmer). They combined all elements of lodgings under a single roof, a neat solution that paved the way for later timber-framed blocks. But the early ones have the recessed central section representing a double-height hall which was lit by a large window at one end.

Tudor

Early Tudor houses are famous for their spiral brick chimneys and lead domes, set off by castle-like crenellated parapets. But some Elizabethan houses combine the domes with chimneys shaped as fashionable columns and classical parapets. This is Burghley House; a cut above the average, admittedly.

Queen Anne

Scroll brackets are flourishes that grace the houses of Sir Christopher Wren’s age, reaching a peak at the years around 1700. They gave carpenters wonderful opportunities to show off where it counted: at the front door.

Georgian

Georgian stucco frequently employed the Greek anthemion design: a palm-like leaf observed by antiquaries, measured, drawn, and published in pattern-books. This house is part of Robert Adam’s Adelphi development in London, and it’s full of anthemion designs.

Georgian

The Greek Key design is another classical motif, which was increasingly favoured during the later Georgian and Regency period when the Greek revival style took hold. Cast iron was a way of replicating fashionable patterns: mass production was here to stay.

Victorian

Some influential Victorians held the philosophy that the medieval period was a cleaner, less corrupted world than the disease-ridden Britain they knew. Turning back the clock was unachievable, so emulating the past was the next option. Scholarly Victorian architects came to understand the chronology of English architecture much more accurately, and often replicated native medieval details.

Edwardian

Art Nouveau forms are immediately recognisable by their organic sinuousness. Though the style came from Belgium and France, Britain has many Edwardian houses that adopt these motifs in fireplaces, doors, and ironwork; this example is tempered by the English Arts and Crafts movement, which preferred simplicity and clarity to the writhing exoticism of some continental models.

1920/30s

Modernism – the desire to encapsulate the utilitarian and functional ethos- can be traced back into the nineteenth century. But the Paris Expo of 1925 spurred a generation to abandon traditions of ornament in favour of habitable plans and simple forms that heralded a new age of travel and machines. Streamlining was further encouraged by American designers in the Chicago expo of 1933, and curved triple stripes were used in anything from boats to houses to clocks to convey speed.

Various

Look at typography and compare the fonts used on buildings with those founding books and magazines. It can be powerful or subtle, but clear, elegant and characterful architectural labelling is always rewarding. Lettering is an important and underappreciated aspect of period style- see how often new shop signs use Times New Roman!

1930s

Zig-zags were an important part of the expensively glamorous Parisian and New York art deco movement. In Britain, we see zig-zags used on glazed doors, windows and parapets, frequently in the newly fashionable medium of concrete. This was the pattern of the 1930s.