Georgian & Regency Houses Explained by Trevor Yorke

Author:Trevor Yorke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Georgian & Regency Houses Explained
ISBN: 9781846740510
Publisher: Countryside Books
Published: 2011-04-08T04:00:00+00:00

FIG 4.15: Details from Gothick style houses with the distinctive Y-shaped glazing bars, battlements, shallow pointed arches and stucco-covered exteriors.

The simple style of Ancient Greek architecture, which had first been recorded back in the 1760s, came into fashion. The Neo Classical style could be stark and in the hands of architects like Sir John Soane (see Fig 2.3) almost modern in its simple geometric forms. For most housing this Greek Revival meant the use of the Greek Ionic and Doric orders. Contact with far-flung parts of the empire also resulted in an assimilation of their styles, rarely in the design of a whole structure but in the decoration and details. Chinese pagoda style roofs were commonly fitted to balconies and discoveries from Ancient Egypt resulted in the occasional decorative motif or tapered pilaster.

For the vast majority of detached and terrace housing a distinctive Regency style developed incorporating elements from all the above styles and new forms from France and Italy. The most notable feature was the use of stucco on the exterior; although commonly painted white or cream today, it was more usual at that time for it to be coloured to simulate the popular grey and beige stone of the day. The increased availability of slate meant that low pitched roofs with overhangs and no parapet became popular on housing.

The use of decorative ironwork on the exterior, especially the balcony, was another distinctive and widespread feature. Half basements became common and so the ground floor was raised up with a set of steps, stucco-covered brick or stone porches supported on columns (porticos) were also popular. On smaller houses semi-circular fanlights remained in vogue, many having the distinctive reeded moulding that was used inside and out on Regency houses and usually continued up over the arch at the top of a door.

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