Georgian Architecture - General Characteristics

General Characteristics

Identifying features (1700 – c.1780):

• A simple 1–2 story box, 2 rooms deep, using strict symmetry arrangements
• Panel front door centered, topped with rectangular windows (in door or as a transom) and capped with an elaborate crown/entablature supported by decorative pilasters
• Cornice embellished with decorative moldings, usually dentilwork
• Multi-pane windows are never paired, and fenestrations are arranged symmetrically (whether vertical or horizontal), usually 5 across

Other features of Georgian style houses can include – roof to ground-level:

• Roof: 40% are Side-gabled; 25% Gambrel; 25% Hipped
• Chimneys on both sides of the home
• A portico in the middle of the roof with a window in the middle is more common with post-Georgian styles, e.g. "Adam"
• Small 6-paned sash windows and/or dormer windows in the upper floors, primarily used for servant's quarters. This was also a way of reducing window tax.
• Larger windows with 9 or 12 panes on the main floors