Victorian Houses, Defining the Style Fit for a Queen

Ornate and often colorful, Victorian houses don’t fall into an architectural style as much as they are defined by a specific period, the reign of Queen Victoria. That’s not to say that every home built during the British monarch’s reign from 1837 to 1901 is a Victorian home, though. And even if your home is a Victorian, it takes a trained eye to determine its architectural style. We’ve compiled a complete guide to Victorian houses, including the major architectural styles that fall under its umbrella and tips on how to renovate one. Although Victorian homeownership provides some unique challenges, their beautiful architecture and history make it well worth the effort.

The History of Victorian Houses

1837 to 1901

Although Victorian homes were built during the Victorian era from roughly 1837 to 1901, they have less to do with Queen Victoria than their name implies. She didn’t usher in an era of opulence, and her policies didn’t necessarily inspire people to paint their homes in more cheerful colors than usual. Instead, she took the throne as the world began to experience the full effects of the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution made it easier to mass-produce ornate architectural details, such as spindles, and railroads made shipping metal and other materials to rural areas easier. As a result, architects had access to more decorative elements, which they added liberally to their designs. To highlight these ornate details, Victorian homes often sport bright colors, like the Painted Ladies in San Francisco. Before the Victorian era, homes were often white, beige or stone-colored.

Great Britan to Worldwide

Not surprisingly, Victorian architecture got its start in Great Brittan. However, the architectural style quickly spread to British colonies and other English-speaking countries like the United States. Today, you’ll find examples of Victorian architecture worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and parts of the Caribbean.

What makes a house a Victorian?

There are several distinct styles of Victorian architecture. (See below for more information on how to tell what architectural style your Victorian home is.) However, Victorian architecture has several common characteristics, ranging from ornate architectural design elements to large entertaining areas and small kitchens. While not every Victorian home will have all of these characteristics, they will feature many.

Multiple stories: Victorian homes were typically built on narrow plots, so architects had to design homes that went up rather than out. Three and four stories are common on these narrow plots, but architects opted to create a massive, multistory home rather than a sprawling one even on larger plots with room to build.
Steeply pitched roof: The roof of a Victorian home is usually very steep and often features a front-facing gable. Additionally, the roofline is asymmetrical. One side may have a turret, the other a dominant gable.
Turrets and towers: Many Victorian homes boast a multistory turret or tower that serves as one of its prominent features. It’s common to have an attached circular-shaped balcony or porch.
Decorative trim: Some Victorian homes have elaborate trim known as “gingerbread trim.” This can include scroll-cut cornice brackets, pierced balusters, sawtooth siding and other architectural details. While usually made of wood, trim pieces can also be metallic.
Textured wall surfaces: Victorian architects avoided smooth exterior walls, adding scalloped shingles, patterned masonry, or half-timbering for texture. However, some Victorian home styles use stone, such as Second Empire and Romanesque.
Sash and bay windows: Two types of windows make a Victorian home stand out. The first is the sash window, typically made up of four to six panes attached to a wooden frame. The second is the bay window. A bay window can be circular or rectangular and extend several stories high. It is one of the most easily identifiable traits of a Victorian home.
Porch: Most Victorian homes have a front porch. Depending on the architectural style, the porch may be simple or feature gables, carvings, and other ornate designs. Additionally, the porch may extend along one or more sides of the house, and it’s not uncommon for a Victorian home to have at least one balcony on the upper levels of the home.
No garage: Unless one was added as a standalone building later, Victorian homes don’t have garages since the Model T wasn’t even available until 1908. Most Victorian homeowners walked, rode a horse or took a train.
Small kitchen: In the Victorian era, servants worked in the kitchen. It was not an area to show off or display, so kitchens tend to be small. Depending on the property, some kitchens aren’t even part of the house but rather a separate building that includes the pantry.
Entertaining space: Victorian homeowners welcomed guests into a reception area and had large dining rooms and parlors where they could entertain. In contrast, the kitchen and bedrooms were often smaller than we’d expect today.
Fireplaces: Most Victorian houses relied on fireplaces for heat, so almost every room would have at least one. Larger rooms might even have two. More commonly, though, the rooms in a Victorian were designed to be small and trap heat.
Ornate interiors: Just as their exteriors featured intricate details, Victorian houses have elaborate interiors. Terracotta, black and white floor tiles often lined the hallways while molding and embossed details added interest to walls and ceilings.

Types of Victorian houses

Victorian architecture shares the traits listed above, but there are several different styles within the genre. Italianate and Queen Anne, both technically revivals of earlier architecture styles, are the two most popular styles of Victorian architecture, but your house could be any of the following.

Italianate

Taking inspiration from 16 th -century Italian villas, these Victorian homes were popular in the United States from the 1840s through the Civil War. They feature low roofs, huge porches, Corinthian columns and arched windows. You’ll find them in cities that experienced a lot of growth during the mid-1800s, such as New Orleans, Cincinnati and Brooklyn, New York.

Queen Anne

This is the style most people associate with Victorian houses. Usually painted in bright colors to accentuate their ornate, gingerbread trim, Queen Anne-style houses have steep roofs, wraparound porches and bay windows. They are at least two-stories high and often have octagonal towers topped with a round, pointed roof. You’ll find good examples of these in San Francisco. It also pops up in areas that experienced a lot of growth from the 1880s until the 1920s.

Gothic Revival

Inspired by the great medieval cathedrals of Europe, this style incorporates design elements such as arches and diamond-shaped window panes. Architects often used stone when designing these houses and, as a result, look like miniature castles—smaller versions made out of wood fall into the Carpenter Gothic category.

Shingle

This style eschewed the ornate design that typified Queen Anne houses in favor of a simpler look. Although Shingle-style houses were typically adorned with shingles on the roof and sides, they skipped the fancy scrollwork and large bay windows common with Queen Anne. The wealthy popularized the style, who favored it for their summer homes.

Stick

As its name implies, this style relies on stickwork for its design with vertical, horizontal and diagonal boards creating decorative patterns. Diagonal support brackets also support porches for added character. Overall, Stick-style Victorian houses are fairly plain compared to their more elaborate counterparts.

Folk Victorian

Another constructed example of Victorian-era architecture, Folk Victorian, combines a simple, rectangular layout with decorative exterior trim. That trim is usually subdued, though. The patio might have a spindle railing but not the gingerbread trim of a Queen Anne. Or the house might have one bay window and nothing more. This style became popular between 1870 and 1910. You’ll often see it in rural areas where it was harder to ship in decorative materials.

Second Empire (Mansard)

This style resembles the Italianate style. Also known as Mansard style, Second Empire features the Mansard roof, which has two slopes. Picture the rooflines of Paris with their boxy, double-sloped shape. The Second Empire style was most popular in the Northeast and Midwest and rarely appeared along the Pacific Coast or in the South.

Richardson Romanesque

Named for U.S. architect Henry Hobson Richardson, this style revives the medieval Romanesque style and features rough stone surfaces, turrets and arches. It was often used in designing libraries, courthouses and even churches, but the style lends itself to the design of wealthy family homes as well.

Octagon

With its eight sides, this style is easy to identify. Octagon houses typically have quoins—masonry blocks at the corner of a wall—to accentuate the corner and a cupola on a flat roof. Although you can find them throughout the country, Octagon houses are more common in upstate New York, where stonemasons settled after completing the Erie Canal.

Where can you find Victorian homes?

You can find Victorian homes throughout the country, although they are perhaps most closely associated with San Francisco, where the famous “Painted Ladies” line the street. However, most American cities have Victorian-era homes, especially in their downtown areas and older neighborhoods.

In addition to San Francisco, you’ll find famous pockets of Victorian-era houses in New Orleans, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Louisville. Many small rural towns, especially in the Midwest and Northeast, boast Victorian architecture, too.

Can you renovate?

Given the age of Victorian homes, you will almost always face restrictions on what you can and can’t do when it comes to renovations and improvements on them. Contact your state’s historic preservation office to learn what restrictions govern your home. Your home may also be subject to local ordinances, so check with the city, too. Do this before you start renovating to avoid issues.

Here’s a general list of what you can’t do to a Victorian home.

Add square footage. Most historic preservation ordinances will not allow you to change the character or footprint of the home. As such, you can forget about adding an extra bedroom or expanding the kitchen.
Paint. Homeowners originally painted Victorian homes bright colors to draw attention to their gingerbread trim. Change that, and you change the character of the house.
Expand rooms. Many interior walls are load-bearing, meaning they’re necessary to support the weight of the upper floors. As tempting as it might be to remove a wall to create a great room or expand the kitchen, it could cause the floor above to sag. Instead, you may be able to cut an archway to open up a space.
Replace your roof. It’s not that you can’t replace your roof, but if you have to repair or replace it, you’ll have to use the same materials. You have to maintain the historic character of your home.

Here’s what you can do to renovate your Victorian home.

Modernize the kitchen. Victorian homes didn’t originally have dishwashers or gas stoves. If you want to upgrade your kitchen with more modern appliances, go for it. Same with toilets or showers.
Decorate in your style. Just because you live in a historic home doesn’t mean you have to decorate it with period pieces. Preserve the historical details, but if you want to incorporate your favorite modern art pieces, nothing says you can’t.
Make repairs. It’s okay to refinish the cabinets and patch cracked plaster. Whenever possible, repair any damaged items in the house rather than replace them. It will preserve the home’s historical integrity and may even be a selling point when you decide to move.
Convert the basement. If your Victorian house has a basement, you may be able to convert it into a livable space. Consult with the historic preservation board in your area. Then, hire a contractor who has experience renovating historic homes. You may be able to add a great room, extra bedrooms or an office.