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  The Genealogy of your House –Who lived here? City Directories are full of research information Owners almost always want to know who lived in your old house before they arrived. Who built this house? Who closed in the porch? When did the garage get built, and why? Perhaps you are lucky enough to know the immediately previous owners. Perhaps even the owners before them. But good old houses tend to have long-term residents, and old houses tend to have long histories, and the trail starts to get murky after a while… There are many ways of researching previous residents of an old house – and not all residents are owners. Owners names show up on the official documents of your local Land Titles office, where you can, usually for a fee, search the title documents for all the owners of your property back to when it was built. But not all owners lived in the houses they owned. Frequently, older homes were leased or rented, sometimes for years at a time. How to find out information about t...
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  The Italianate Style: Royalty and the Grand Tour – A stylish progress The Victorian enthusiasm for the Italianate style of architecture had its origins in Royal approval; the cult of romantic poetry; and the siren-song of warm climates with winter sun and palm trees. The Italianate style was fashionable from the 1840’s through the 1890’s for houses, as well as for commercial buildings like hotels and institutional buildings like courthouses and government offices. The Origins of the Italianate style: The popularity of the Grand Tour – the near-obligatory coming-of-age for young people of wealth in England – started to spread the word about the warm sun, and exotic sights that gradually filtered back to cool, damp England. The Grand Tour had started as early as the late 1600’s, and grew in popularity in Georgian and early Victorian times.  Deemed to be part of a required Classical education for the future ruling class, a tour to Venice, Rome, Florence, and all parts in betwee...
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  Queen Anne Style: Architecture and Art – In England and North America During the Victorian period, architectural styles were supposed to reflect the sensibilities of those who lived in them. For example, the Gothic revival style for buildings and homes was supposed to convey one’s aspirations to higher planes of existence than those found in everyday life. After the English fashion for Gothic revival architecture – especially popular in the 1850’s and 1860’s – was found to be somewhat formal and restricting for most people, a loosening up was bound to occur. As the Gothic Revival style had searched back in England’s history for inspiration, so did the Queen Anne style – (which had nothing to do with the monarch of the same name). The Queen Anne style in England: Beginnings Rather than looking to precedents defined by ancient cathedrals and other ecclesiastical buildings, the designers of the Queen Anne style in the 1870’s; 1880’s and 1890’s took their inspirations from the more f...
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  Richardson Romanesque: House Style of the Rich Richardson Romanesque was the house style for the rich. You had to have money – and lots of it – to build a mansion in masonry, which was the construction material that best suited the new style of the 1880’s and 1890’s. All those stone masons cost money, setting courses of heavy stonework and carving, as they did, recreations of medieval floral decoration, and heraldic animal heads. Henry Hobson Richardson (1838 – 1886) Portrait: National Portrait Gallery Washington DC The distinctive style is named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson who worked in Boston. His most famous work in the style, and the building that established his reputation, is Trinity Church, now a National Historic Site in downtown Boston. Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, Completed 1877. An early postcard view. Richardson developed the style in a free manner, incorporating elements of the medieval Romanesque architecture of southern France. With the additi...
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  19th century Gothic Revival Homes and Furnishings in North America A modest North American home c1850, in the Gothic Revival style. The true Gothic style is the Middle Ages tour-de-force of soaring spires, tracery windows, vaulted ceilings and flying buttresses that made up the great cathedrals of Europe. The incomprehensible majesty of the great cathedrals inspired awe, respect, power, and spirituality for the people who lived in modest, low, poorly lit homes at the time. The Gothic Revival style of the mid to late 19 th  century was a looking back at the grandeur of the past; it was also a way to claim the history and the recognition of the greatness that the cathedrals had originally inspired. Other architectural styles also harked back to earlier precedents. The Mansard style that became popular in the 1800’s in France was used as a way of connecting the reign of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie of France with the historic greatness of France in the 1600’s. The s...
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  A Planned Company Town: Powell River, British Columbia Powell River, British Columbia, is a company town for the pulp and paper industry.  It was built after 1910, and has a great store of bungalows built for the workers at the Mill. There are also some wonderful public buildings in the town that are great to visit. In this article, we explore the historic townsite of Powell River and some of the early residential and public architecture that was built in this sea-side town. For more detailed information (with lots of photographs) on the styles of bungalow homes in the town, please see the article in Classic Bungalows:  http://classicbungalows.com/2012/01/30/bungalows-in-a-planned-community-powell-river-british-columbia/ But a bit of historical and geographic background first, so it all makes sense… The town of Powell River is tucked away on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. A town of around 20,000 people, it is at the most northerly end of the world’s longest high...
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Port Gamble: A Historic sea-side town in the Pacific Northwest On the shore of Puget Sound lies a small unincorprated town from the 19 th  century, that seems to be slumbering on into the 21 st  century.  Discovering it while driving – for a minor Washington State highway actually runs through the town – is a surprise of the pleasantest kind. A small main street, a few rows of neatly kept wooden houses with gardens enclosed by picket fences and a church that wouldn’t look out of place in Maine are the main features of this magical village. An intriguing general store and a Post Office and a few shops are added attractions in this delightful community. The buildings range in age from the 1860’s through to the early years of the twentieth century – from Gothic revival to Four-square houses, with a dash of Queen Anne and Italianate thrown in for good measure. A bit of historical background will help to explain why Port Gamble is still able to welcome visitors, while wearing ...
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