Architectural Styles

Its all in the details

Architectural Styles in Elgin

Greek Revival
Gothic Revival
Federal
Folk
Italianate
Second Empire
Stick Style

Queen Anne
Shingle Style
Colonial Revival
Georgian
Tudor Revival
Neoclassical
Craftsman
Prairie

Greek Revival 1825-1860

Front gable shaped to look like the
pedimented faade of a Greek Temple
Small attic windows (frieze band windows)
Front door surrounded by narrow sidelights
and transom
Cornice emphasized with a wide board

Greek Revival
Pedimented faade of a Greek Temple

Greek Revival
Italianate influenced brackets
Front facing
gable

Multiple
pained
windows

Front door surrounded by side lites

and transom

162 College

Greek Revival
1934 HABS

Door with side

lites and transom
443 E. Chicago

Egyptian Revival 1830-1850

118 Tennyson

Gothic Revival 1840-1880

Steeply pitched roof

Front facing gables
Steep cross gables
Decorated verge boards
Pointed, arched windows
Open cornices with rafters exposed

Gothic Revival
Steeply pitched cross gables

Drip mold

Verge Board
Pointed Arch
Windows
Front facing
gable

Rafters
exposed

373 Park

Quatrefoil

Gothic Revival

277 Gifford Pl.

Verge boards

Clustered
columns

Pointed arch

Drip mold

373 Park

Gothic Revival
Steeply pitched cross
gables

Pointed arch
windows

402 N. Spring

Gothic Revival
Spire pointing to the Gods
Steeply pitched roof

Verge board

Open rafters
155 S. Gifford Carriage House

Gothic Revival
Pointed arch
Parapet gable end
wall - Flemish
Renaissance
influence

Gothic influenced brackets

- quatrefoil

552 E. Chicago

Italianate 1840 -1885

Low pitched, hipped roof

Symmetrical faade
Often cubic in form
Widely overhanging eaves
Decorative brackets
Heavily rounded crowns
on windows and doors

Tall narrow windows

Porch posts often square
with chamfered edges
Large pane of glass in
front door
Heavy spindles on porches
or no balustrade (porch
railing) at all

Italianate
Hipped
roof
Brackets
Cubical in
form
Chamfered
posts

434 E. Chicago

Italianate

Gothic
influenced
roof - steep
and cross
gabled

Paired
brackets

Balustraded
porch roof

Tall windows
with round
tops

Heavy spindles
Glass in
the doors

155 S. Gifford

Italianate Porch Post

Common brackets
in Elgin

Stop Chamfer

156 S. Gifford

Italianate
Heavy window
hoods
Segmented arch

Large pain of glass in the doors

Paired brackets

Italianate

364 E. Chicago

155 S. Gifford

Second Empire 1855-1885

Mansard Roof (dual pitched hipped roof)
Dormer windows on lower slope
Often have patterned shingles in the roof
and cresting

Second Empire
363 Prairie

Dormer
windows
Mansard
roof
Quoins
Cobblestones

Decorative
brackets

Second Empire

Dormer
Window
Mansard
Roof
Decorative
Corbels
Oriel Bay

The Murphy House

327 DuPage

Second Empire

Rinceau
316 Kimball

260 Gifford Pl.

Second Empire

317 Raymond
117 Tennyson Ct.

Stick Style 1860-1890

Cross gabled steeply pitched roof
Decorative trusses in the gable
Wooden wall cladding interrupted by
patterns of horizontal, vertical or diagonal
boards raised from the wall surfaces for
emphasis (stickwork)
Porches have diagonal braces

Stick style
Stickwork

Eastlake and Queen

Anne influences

259 Villa

Stick Style
Stickwork

Queen Anne
influence

126 Hill

Colonial Revival 1880-1955

Accentuated front door with decorative
crown, pediment, pilasters, fanlights and
sidelights
Symmetrical
Corner pilasters
Dentils and modillions

Colonial Revival

107 N. Porter

Colonial Revival

Dentils
Pilasters

Bay window

34 N. Porter

34 N. Porter

Colonial Revival

Colonial Revival
Accentuated
front door
Broken
Pediment
Pilasters

409 DuPage

Colonial Revival

Dentils
Pilaster

Bay Window

16 Rugby Pl.

Tudor Revival 1890-1940

Steeply pitched roof

Front facing gable
One or more cross gables
Half Timbering
Tall windows with multiple panes
Massive chimney

Tudor Revival
Half timbering

Front facing
gable

Tudor Revival

Large
chimney

427 DuPage

Tudor Revival
Half timbering
Massive Chimney

Cross gables
Steeply
pitched roof

Front Facing gable

1182 Cedar

Georgian 1700-1830
Paneled front door with decorative crown
supported by pilasters
Cornice emphasized by decorative moldings
such as dentils
Windows in symmetrical rows

Georgian
Small panes

Pediment

Pilasters

4 S. Gifford

Interesting Details at 4 S. Gifford

Georgian

Paneled
door

Dentils

Neoclassical 1895-1950
Full height porch with classic columns
Symmetrical

Neoclassical
Pediment

Full Height porch

Classic Ionic
columns
Symmetrical

402 River Bluff

Queen Anne 1880-1910

Irregular shape no symmetry

Patterned shingles
Bay windows
Towers
Several different materials to make different wall
textures
Half have delicate turned porch posts
Lacy, decorative spandrels
Gingerbread and Eastlake detailing

Queen Anne
Asymmetrical
Several textures
Tower
Patterned shingles
Original porch had
turned posts

409 Douglas

Queen Anne
Patterned
shingles
Different
textures
No symmetry
Decorative
spandrel
Turned post

470 Park

Free Classic Queen Anne

35 % of Queen Anne's
Classical columns and no spindle work
Palladian windows
Cornice line dentils

Palladian
Window
Dentils

Classical
columns

Free Classic Queen Anne

426 Prairie

Free Classic Queen Anne

Shingle style influence
Dentils
Asymmetrical
Tower
Art glass
Classic columns and
no spindle work

600 E. Chicago

Folk Houses 1850-1890

Designed without a conscious attempt to
mimic current fashion
Built to provide basic shelter with little
regard for changing fashion`

Folk Style

436 Fulton

128 Hilton

Folk Style

432 North
389 Prairie

Folk Style

368 Prairie
380 Prairie

Shingle Style 1880 - 1900

Irregular steeply pitched roof

Large porches
Shingle walls without corner boards
Asymmetrical faade
Decorative detailing used sparingly
Often have a tower
Porch posts are often clad in Shingles
Most commonly found in coastal New England

Shingle Style

Steeply
pitched roof
Shingles
without corner
boards

Tower

Posts clad in
shingles

33 N. Porter

Shingle Style

Shingles
without
corner
boards
Porch posts clad in
shingles

419 DuPage

Tower

Shingle Style
Asymmetrical

Irregular,
steeply
pitched roof
Large porch
303 River Bluff

Craftsman 1905 - 1930

Low pitched roof

Wide, unenclosed overhang
Roof rafters exposed
Decorative beams or braces commonly
added under the roof
Tapered, square porch columns often
extending to ground level

Craftsman
Wide overhang
Low pitched
roof
Tapered, square
porch columns
often extending
to ground level

155 N. Channing

Craftsman

Decorative
braces under
the roof
Unenclosed
overhang

375 North

Prairie 1900-1920

Low pitched roof, usually hipped

Widely overhanging eaves
Emphasis on horizontal lines
Massive square porch posts
Geometric patterns of ssmall-panme
window glazing

Prairie

Large overhangs

Hipped roof

Massive square
porch posts
Horizontal lines

Stained glass
54-56 N. Liberty

Prairie

Stucco
Low porch
emphasizing the
horizontal
Massive square
porch post

155 S. Gifford

Prairie

Low pitched,
hipped roof
Widely
overhanging
eaves
Horizontal
lines

259 River Bluff

Italian Renaissance 1890-1935

Low pitched hipped roof of clay tiles
Asymmetrical

Arches above
doors

Prairie Influence
Small wings
940 Douglas

121 Villa

109 Geneva

Bungalow

107 Geneva

250 S. Channing

American Foursquare
Sub group of Prairie 1900-1920
Hipped roof
Simple square plan
Symmetrical faade with front entry
centered or off center
Hipped dormers
Full width single story porches

American Foursquare
Hipped dormer
Hipped roof
Symmetrical
facade
Simple square
plan
Full width
porch
137 N. Channing