Victorian America - Architecture and Furnishing

Architecture and Furnishing

Architecture in the Victorian era was very elaborate, romantic, and emotional. The architecture of the house advertised the amount of money that the owner had. Houses were very large with many small rooms: each room had a particular function "a place for everything and everything in its place." Houses had ballrooms, morning rooms, sitting rooms, libraries, piano rooms, etc. Houses often were set in the middle or towards the back of lots. The exteriors of houses were often brightly colored with false fronts and false chimneys. The interiors were dark with heavy drapes, dark wood, dark wall paper, and hard wood flooring. Many houses had two hallways and two staircases, one grand for company, and one plain for the children and servants. The staircase for guests allowed for dramatic entrances. The back halls and private rooms were not decorative and were plain with whitewash and wooden floors. The public areas of the house were displays of wealth and virtue. It was an age of materialism, and Victorian houses were correspondingly larger. The Victorians also despised pragmatism and hid the functions of furnishings.