Editing Colonial Revival architecture

{{Short description|American architectural style}}
[[File:Auburn City Hall Auburn.jpg|thumb|Memorial City Hall in [[Auburn, New York]], built between 1929 and 1930 in the Colonial Revival style]]
The '''Colonial Revival''' [[architectural style]] seeks to revive elements of [[American colonial architecture]].

The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the [[Centennial Exposition|Centennial Exhibition of 1876]], which reawakened Americans to the architectural traditions of their colonial past.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=McAlester |first=Virginia Savage |title=A Field Guide to American Houses the Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture |date=2015-11-10 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=9780375710827 |edition=Revised |location=New York |pages=3, 68, 414 |language=en}}</ref> Fairly small numbers of Colonial Revival homes were built {{Circa|1880}}&ndash;1910, a period when [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne-style architecture]] was dominant in the United States.<ref name=":0" /> From 1910&ndash;1930, the Colonial Revival movement was ascendant, with about 40% of U.S. homes built in the Colonial Revival style.<ref name=":0" /> In the immediate post-war period ({{circa|1950s}}&ndash;early 1960s), Colonial Revival homes continued to be constructed, but in simplified form. In the present day,{{when?|date=March 2025}} many New Traditional homes draw from Colonial Revival styles.<ref name=":0" />

Although associated with the architectural movement, "Colonial Revival" also refers to [[historic preservation]], [[landscape architecture]] and [[garden]] design, and [[decorative arts]] movements that emulate or draw inspiration from colonial forms.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The gardens of colonial Williamsburg |date=1996 |publisher=Colonial Williamsburg Foundation |isbn=978-0-87935-158-8 |editor-last=Brinkley |editor-first=M. Kent |location=Williamsburg, Va |pages=3 |editor-last2=Chappell |editor-first2=Gordon W. |editor-last3=Doody |editor-first3=David M.}}</ref>

== Characteristics ==
While the dominant influences in Colonial Revival style are [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] and [[Federal architecture]], Colonial Revival homes also draw, to a lesser extent, from the [[Dutch_colonial_architecture|Dutch Colonial style]] and post-medieval English styles. Colonial Revival homes are often eclectic in style, combining aspects from several of these previous styles.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Architectural Style Guide |url=https://www.historicnewengland.org/preservation/for-homeowners-communities/your-old-or-historic-home/architectural-style-guide/ |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=Historic New England}}</ref>

Since Colonial Revival architecture pulls structural and decorative elements from other styles, there is not one single combination of elements that defines the style. However, some commonly found characteristics of Colonial Revival buildings include:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schagrin |first=Danielle Lehr |title=Colonial Revival |url=https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/colonial-revival/ |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

* Gabled, hipped, or gambrel roofs
* Broken pediments
* Symmetrical facades
* Double hung windows and shutters
* Fanlights and sidelights

[[Cyril M. Harris]]'s ''American Architecture: An Illustrated Book'' noted that "Colonial Revival houses are usually the result of a rather free interpretation of their prototypes; they tend to be larger, may differ significantly from the houses they seek to emulate, and often exaggerate architectural details."<ref>{{Cite book |title=American architecture, an illustrated encyclopedia |date=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton & comp |isbn=978-0-393-73029-6 |editor-last=Harris |editor-first=Cyril M. |location=New York}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Robinson Hall at LA Tech IMG 3763.JPG|Historic Robinson Hall on the [[Louisiana Tech University]] campus in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], [[Louisiana]], is named for the second president of the institution, [[W. C. Robinson (Louisiana educator)|William Claiborne Robinson]]
File:Hyattsville PO Nov 08.JPG|Colonial Revival post office in [[Hyattsville, Maryland]]
File:Henry M. Jackson's Home-1.jpg|Colonial Revival home of [[Henry M. Jackson]] in [[Everett, Washington]]
File:UD North Green.JPG|Brown and Sypherd Residence Halls, [[University of Delaware]]. Much of the central campus is built in Colonial Revival style.
File:16 24 062 little white house.jpg|The [[Little White House]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt's]] personal retreat near [[Warm Springs, Georgia|Warm Springs, GA]]
File:Town Hall Lawn.jpg|[[Mount Kisco Municipal Complex|Mount Kisco Village Hall]]
File:Former Post Office, Manchester CT.jpg|[[Weiss Center]], a town-owned facility in [[Manchester, Connecticut]], was a former post office. It is made of brick with limestone trim and contains a portico.
File:Robert A. Stranahan residence, exterior views, 2019 - DPLA - 00fd9309adad9c0eda449b55e3b2b491 (page 1).jpg|The Robert Stranahan residence in [[Toledo, Ohio]], now a part of [[Wildwood Preserve Metropark]]
File:FSHS front.jpg|[[Fairmont Senior High School]], a public secondary school in [[Fairmont, West Virginia]]
File:2016 Brooklyn College Library.jpg|The [[Brooklyn College]] Library, designed by architect Randolph Evans
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Architecture}}
* [[Colonial Revival garden]]
* [[Dutch Colonial Revival architecture]]
* [[Mission Revival Style architecture]]
* [[New Classical architecture]]
* [[Spanish Colonial Revival architecture]]
* [[Wallace Nutting]]
* [[Colonial Williamsburg]]

==Further reading==
* Alan Axelrod, ed. ''The Colonial Revival in America.'' New York: W.W. Norton, 1985.
* William Butler, ''Another City Upon a Hill: Litchfield, Connecticut, and the Colonial Revival'' 
* Karal Ann Marling, ''George Washington Slept Here: Colonial Revivals and American Culture, 1876–1986'', 1988.
* Richard Guy Wilson and Noah Sheldon, ''The Colonial Revival House'', 2004.
* Richard Guy Wilson, Shaun Eyring and Kenny Marotta, ''Re-creating the American Past: Essays on the Colonial Revival'', 2006.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Colonial Revival architecture}}

{{Architecture in the United States}}
{{Revivals}}
{{History of architecture}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colonial Revival Architecture}}
[[Category:Colonial Revival architecture| ]]
[[Category:Colonial Revival architecture in the United States| ]]
[[Category:American architectural styles]]
[[Category:Colonial Revival Movement]]
[[Category:Georgian architecture]]
[[Category:House styles]]
[[Category:Revival architectural styles]]
[[Category:Revival architecture in the United States]]