Italianate architecture
Italianate architecture is a style of building that became popular in the United States during the mid to late 1800s. It is called Italianate because it is inspired by the architecture of Italy, a country in Europe.
So imagine you are playing with your toy building blocks, and you want to make a house. You decide to make it look like the houses you saw when your family went on vacation to Italy last summer. Your building blocks might look a little like this:
- The house has a tall, triangular roof with overhanging eaves. It almost looks like a hat on top of the house!
- There are often round or arched windows and doors. This means the windows and doors look like they have a curve at the top, like a rainbow.
- The house might have a porch or balcony with decorative railings. This is like a little area outside where you can sit and look out over the yard.
- There could be fancy details on the roof, like ornate brackets or sculptures. These details make the house look special and unique.
Italianate houses in real life often have these same features! People liked this style because it made their houses look fancy and important, like the buildings they saw in Italy. Sometimes they even added things like statues or fountains in the yard to make it look more Italian.
So if you ever see a house that looks like it could be from Italy, but it's in your town, it might be an Italianate house!
So imagine you are playing with your toy building blocks, and you want to make a house. You decide to make it look like the houses you saw when your family went on vacation to Italy last summer. Your building blocks might look a little like this:
- The house has a tall, triangular roof with overhanging eaves. It almost looks like a hat on top of the house!
- There are often round or arched windows and doors. This means the windows and doors look like they have a curve at the top, like a rainbow.
- The house might have a porch or balcony with decorative railings. This is like a little area outside where you can sit and look out over the yard.
- There could be fancy details on the roof, like ornate brackets or sculptures. These details make the house look special and unique.
Italianate houses in real life often have these same features! People liked this style because it made their houses look fancy and important, like the buildings they saw in Italy. Sometimes they even added things like statues or fountains in the yard to make it look more Italian.
So if you ever see a house that looks like it could be from Italy, but it's in your town, it might be an Italianate house!