Architectural Styles of America

COLONIAL STYLES (1640-1821)

Early Spanish:
The Spanish Colonial style of architecture dominated in the early Spanish colonies of North and South America, and were also somewhat visible in its other colonies. It is sometimes marked by the contrast between the simple, solid construction demanded by the new environment and the Baroque ornamentation exported from Spain.

The Colonial Cathedral of Mexico City. Some of the richest colonial architecture is found in Mexico.

Early French:French Colonial developed in the settlements of the Illinois Country and French Louisiana. It is believed to have been primarily influenced by the building styles of French Canada and the Caribbean.^[2] It had its beginnings in 1699 with the establishment of French Louisiana but continued to be built after Spain assumed control of the colonial territory in 1763.

Parlange in Mix, Louisiana was built c.1754 and is an early example of French Colonial architecture in the United States.

Georgian:
Georgian Architecture was widely disseminated in the English colonies of the time. In the American colonies, colonial Georgian blended with the neo-Palladian style to become known more broadly as 'Federal style architecture'. Georgian buildings were also constructed of wood with clapboards; even columns were made of timber, framed up and turned on an over-sized lathe.

Westover Plantation, an example of Georgian architecture on the eastern James River, in Virginia.

 

EARLY NATIONAL AND ROMANTIC STYLES (1780-1850) 

Federal architecture:

American federal architecture differs from preceding Georgian colonial interpretations in its use of plainer surfaces with attenuated detail, usually isolated in panels, tablets and friezes. It was most influenced by the interpretation of Ancient Roman architecture fashionable after the unearthing of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Bald Eagle was a common symbol used in this style, with the ellipse a frequent architectural motif.

Massachusetts State House (1798, in a drawing by Alexander Jackson Davis, 1827