What Is the Style of Homes With High Brick Exterior Walls?

Colonial

• Dating from 1492, with the landing of Christopher Columbus to 1763, just shy of the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence, Colonial homes were so solidly constructed that the style has endured for centuries. The plainest of these homes, the Federal and Georgian styles, feature a simple, rectangular floor plan and steep pitched roof, with the latter also sometimes built with front pillars. The pillars give these homes a towering appearance. Georgian homes often have huge picture windows. Colonials typically have shuttered windows and often feature a chimney at each end of the home.

Colonial Variations

• In addition to the simple brick Colonial are the Southern Colonial, Farmhouse Colonial and Country Colonial styles. Each of these architectural designs elaborates on the original to better suit the area of the country the house was built in. Southern Colonials often feature large wrap-around porches and upper balconies with stately columns. Farmhouse styles are similarly simple and boxy with big porches but no columns. Country styles feature more modest porches but a similar floor plan to the Southern and Farmhouse Colonials.

Victorian Gothic

• More elaborate in design than Colonial homes, Victorian Gothics are towering brick structures with steeply pitched and gabled roofs. Their elaborate gingerbread trim typically accents porches, bays and turrets, depending on the home. Victorian Gothics often extend beyond two stories so the exterior walls look that much more imposing. Victorian architecture lasted from the start of Queen Victoria's reign in 1839 until her death in 1901. The Gothic Revival was part of the Victorian era, lasting from 1840 to 1880.

French Revival

• Also known as French Eclectic, these homes were designed and built from 1915, one year into World War I, to 1945, the end of the second World War. These two-story homes often feature gray brick exteriors, in keeping with their French counterparts. French Revivals have steep hip roofs and flared eaves. They gained their popularity in the Roaring '20s when the "dough boys" returned home from World War I and described the French architecture they had seen. As a result, these homes appeared in many growing suburbs across the nation.