Gothic Revival

The first Gothic Revical building is credited to English author Sir Horace Walpole who transformed a cottage in Twickenham, England into a mansion, now called Strawberry Hill, inspired by medieval churches and cathedrals.

Gothic Revival buildings are characterized by:

Pointed windows with decorative tracery
Grouped chimneys
Pinnacles
Battlements and shaped parapets
Leaded glass
Quatrefoil and clover-shaped windows
Oriel windows
Asymmetrical floor plan
Most Gothic Revival homes were romantic adaptations of medieval architecture which did not try to replicate authentic Gothic styles.

Authentic recreations of Gothic architecture became known as High Gothic Revival, High Victorian Gothic, or Neo-Gothic. This monumental style was used for churches and public buildings. Residences continued to be built in the more modest Romantic style. Grace Cathedral in San Francisco approaches the High Gothic Revival style in ambition and authenticity.

Some characteristics of th High style are:

Masonry construction
Patterned brick and multi-colored stone
Stone carvings of leaves, birds, and gargoyles
Strong vertical lines and a sense of great height
Realistic recreation of authentic medieval styles
Gothic Revival in the United States

Early Gothic Revival homes, built of stone and flaunting pinnacles and parapets, were only for the wealthy. The style was advanced to utilize common products such as brick and wood with the design of Carpenter Gothic cottages and farmhouses.

Carpenter Gothic

The Carpenter Gothic style was popularized by landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing with the release of two pattern books, Victorian Cottage Residences (1842) and The Architecture of Country Houses (1850).

Following patterns in these books, carpenters could decorate modest wooden cottages with factory-made trim ordered from catalogs.

Carpenter Gothic houses are characterized by:

Steeply pitched roof
Lacy bargeboards
Windows with pointed arches
One story porch
Asymmetrical floor plan
Steep cross gables
Bay and oriel windows
Vertical board and batten trim