Gothic tudor house
Tudor Architecture and The Many Faces of Tudor Houses
These English-inspired houses are part of the same architectural movement that spawned the English Queen Anne style, the Shingle Style, and American Queen Anne houses. They mark a transition between late Victorian sensibility and the beginning of modern architecture, including Arts & Crafts.
- Author:
- Old House Journal
- Publish Date:
- Updated Jun 16, 2021
A 1920s Tudor home.
Blackstoneedge.com
Interpreting Tudor
A Glossary of Tudor Styles
Tudor: Refers to the first half of the 16th century and the reigns of the Tudor monarchs (1485–1558): Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I. Like Elizabethan and Jacobean, Tudor falls between the Perpendicular Gothic before it and the classical Palladian style that would follow. Houses of the Tudor period are known for their domesticity; less like the fortresses of the past, they offered specialized rooms for study, dining, and sleeping. Finishes included linen-fold paneling and plaster relief ceilings. Mullioned (divided) windows and oriels, flattened Tudor arches, brickwork combined with half-timber construction, tall gables, and decorative chimneys predominated.
Tudor Gothic: Suggests the continuing influence of the Gothic during the early Tudor period. Turning their attention to domestic building, church craftsmen continued in the Gothic tradition but began to adapt Renaissance motifs. Heavy (timber) construction predominated.
Elizabethan: The “golden era” defined by the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Literature and poetry flourished in this time of Shakespeare and the English Renaissance.
The style designation “Tudor” is often assumed to include this period’s influence.
Jacobean: A reference to the reign of King James I (1603–1625). It is the second, more obviously Renaissance period of English architecture, after the Elizabethan.
Jacobethan: A word coined in the 1930s to refer to English Revival architecture after 1830 that combined elements of Elizabethan and Jacobean architecture. In the early 20th century, American “baronial” houses were called Jacobethan.
Tudor Revival: Understood to be a conscious, romantic revival of late- and post-medieval vernacular architecture, starting with designer William Morris and architect Richard Norman Shaw in England during the 19th century. The sweeping, so-named Tudor Revival in America was an Anglophile phenomenon in the suburbs of the 1920s and later. Another Tudor Revival occurred during the 1970s; those houses were often called Mock Tudor.
Stockbroker Tudor: A pointed reference to the bourgeois houses of the 1920s built by conservative new money.
Recommended Reading
Arts & Crafts Homes of Great Britain
By Brian D. Coleman (Gibbs Smith, 2005)
A guide to the great Arts & Crafts houses of England’s vernacular revival period.
Tudor Style: Tudor Revival Houses in America from 1890 to the Present
By Lee Goff (Universe Publishing, 2002)
From New York to Lake Forest (IL) and St. Louis to Los Angeles, here are notable Tudor houses that span decades, including new houses in the English Tudor mold. The first and only book devoted to American Tudor style.
The English House: English Country Houses and Interiors
By Sally Griffiths & Simon McBride (Rizzoli, 2004)
Real English houses from the Georgian Palladian era to 20th-century cottages. Good for background in English architectural motifs and decorating.
What Is Tudor Architecture?
By
Lauren Thomann
Lauren Thomann
Lauren Thomann is a jewelry expert passionate about crafting and DIY home improvement, writing on both topics. She has been in the antique jewelry business for over 13 years. She completed formal training on diamond and gemstone courses at the Gemological Institute of America and makes her jewelry from reclaimed materials and antiques. While refurbishing her 1916 bungalow on her own, she shares lessons learned through her DIY and home improvement articles.
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Updated on 12/18/20
Jesse Roberts / Unsplash
Picture a storybook English cottage set in the countryside with a soft white exterior that is accented with rich wood beams. Inside there is a fire in the hearth and picturesque wood beams on the ceiling. Chances are you're picturing a home that has several other Tudor-style elements.
Tudor architecture is a quirky yet stately style of building that originated in England during the Tudor period.
What Is Tudor Architecture?
Tudor architecture refers to the period between 1485 to 1558 when craftsmen built sophisticated two-toned manor homes with a combination of Renaissance and Gothic design elements. This transitional style continued to pop up in villages throughout England until Elizabethan architecture took over in 1558.
Eventually, Tudor architecture fizzled out. It wasn't until centuries later that the design style was reborn in the United States.
Fun Fact
While Tudor architecture rose in popularity during the Tudor Dynasty, it fell out of favor when Elizabeth I came to power. During her reign, the regal, intricately-detailed Elizabethan architecture style exploded.
Tudor Revival architecture is less common than some other American architecture styles, but its unmistakable charm makes it a fan favorite. The revitalization of this design style began in the 1890s and lasted through the 1940s.
The majority of Tudor Revival homes are located in the northern US since their facade is ideal for colder climates.
How to Identify a Tudor-Style Home
Some uncommon yet striking features make a Tudor-style home relatively easy to identify. These fundamental elements can help you distinguish a Tudor-style home from others:
- The most common design feature of Tudor-style homes is the half-timber detailing. These long beams are usually vertically placed and are strictly decorative. A lighter-colored stucco or stone fills the gaps between the timbers to create a two-toned exterior.
- Many Tudor Revival homes were constructed entirely out of red-toned brick, which eliminated some of that two-toned detailing that is characteristic of original Tudor architecture in England. The brick detailing is generally very ornate around windows, chimneys, and entryways.
- These homes have several front-facing gables that are often in intricate, asymmetrical patterns.
Each gable has steep roof lines that sometimes extend from the highest elevation of the house to just 10 or so feet from the ground. - Long, rectangular windows are often positioned in clusters. You might also find oriel or bay windows with several panes of glass on either story of the home.
- There is usually a prominent front door that's not at the center of the home. Doors might have arches or decorative concrete detailing to make it stand out from the rest of the home's facade.
Common Materials Used
Builders use a combination of materials like brick, stucco, and wood for the exterior of Tudor-style homes. Chimneys, windows, and doors were accented with some spectacular and labor-intensive brick and stonework.
Builders accented the interiors spaces with dark wood detailing on the floors, walls, and ceilings. You'll also find plaster walls and porcelain tile throughout the living spaces.
More About Tudor Revival Architecture
Tudor layouts are intricate and custom.
After the Industrial Revolution, homes were being built faster and more affordably than ever. For example, the American Foursquare was a popular design style because its symmetrical footprint was practical and fit comfortably on city lots. On the contrary, there is nothing typical about a Tudor Revival-style home. They had complex and often custom layouts that worked best on larger lots. The floor plans had to be formatted in a way to make sense of the home's exterior. Because of this, these homes were more expensive to build and were found in more prominent suburbs.
Tudor homes became known as "Stockbroker Tudors."
Particularly in the 1920s and 1930s, several European-trained architects made this style home a staple of more well-to-do families. Purchasers and admirers of Tudor-style homes even coined the term "Stockbroker Tudor" as an homage to the people who built houses with their newfound wealth from the stock market.
A Tudor house comes in large and small sizes.
Even though Tudor revival homes were pricey to manufacture, you can still find them in all sizes. There are sprawling mansions and small 1000 square feet cottages, each with the main design elements that make it a Tudor.
The trend went out of fashion after WWII.
This elaborate house style eventually went out of fashion because of WWII. If you drive through an older suburban neighborhood, it will be easy to designate a street that was built pre-WWII or post-WWII. Before the war, you would find a lot of brick Tudors. After WWII, there were tight budgets that demanded a more simple way of life. In the 1950s, Tudor-style homes were replaced with efficient and straightforward Cape Cod-style homes.
In summary, Tudor Revival architecture is an extension of the Tudor homes found in England during the 15th and 16th centuries. In the United States, this style of home was built in prominent suburbs from the 1890s through the 1940s. The exterior is a mix of lighter wall colors that are accented with vertical half-timber detailing.
There are several steep gables and an asymmetrical footprint that is characteristic of this style.
House in the English Tudor style
The house in the Tudor style is a real embodiment of the English mentality in architecture: a combination of conservatism, respectability and solidity with nobility, curiosity and desire for comfort. Let's start with a historical background. The Tudor style came to us from the 16th century, having received its name from the ruling royal dynasty. During this period, English art, including architecture, began to acquire a national character, secular features. Instead of monasteries and churches, they now began to build more residential buildings and country estates.
The architectural style that emerged at this time combined elements of late Gothic and early Italian and Flemish Renaissance. On the one hand, the buildings of this era were distinguished by thick walls, the presence of towers, high chimneys, buttresses, lancet window and door openings, and on the other hand, the houses no longer resembled impregnable castles, they received more light due to the expansion of windows, the living space acquired ease.
At this time, many innovations appeared in the design of the home: the hearth was replaced by a fireplace, which means that it became possible to build two-story buildings, because the smoke now goes through the chimney, and not into the hole in the roof. There are more rooms, and they are divided functionally. More furniture and decorative elements appear. Window openings are covered with glass.
In general, dwellings became much cozier and more comfortable, and the design features of Gothic architecture began to be used for purely decorative purposes.
Tudor house exterior
In Europe, the Tudor style of architecture became famous at the beginning of the 20th century. It remains popular to this day. The style has not undergone major changes during its existence. The attitude towards interior decoration has only slightly changed, new materials have been used.
Modern architects are building country houses and cottages in the Tudor style, making rooms more spacious and higher ceilings, while trying to maintain all its attractive features.
Let us consider in more detail the main characteristic features of the English house.
English Tudor style house is half-timbered
This building design spread to English cities in the 16th century because it saved space in narrow, overcrowded streets. The basis of the half-timbered house was a rigid wooden structure: a supporting frame made of vertical posts, horizontal beams and diagonally arranged braces. The gaps between the beams were filled with brick, stone, straw or wicker branches smeared with clay. The frame itself was visible from the outside, which gave the building an original look and a special expressiveness.
Tudor style house is a frame structure (half-timbered)
An old Tudor house. Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, lived in this house
This technology has been preserved to this day, but the materials have changed: today the gaps between the beams are filled with aerated concrete, insulated frame or structural panels.
At the same time, the drawing of facades in neo-framing becomes simpler, since there is no need for braces.
Fachwerk often becomes only a decorative element of facades, having lost its functional purpose. In this case, we are talking about styling a half-timbered house built using a different technology.
Tudor house cladding
Exterior walls are usually finished with brick, stone or light plaster. The combination of these natural materials is also widely used. Brickwork and stucco combined with wood give the façade a recognizable Tudor style. Cornices, shutters and protruding half-timbered beams stand out in dark color against light walls.
As a rule, only the first floor of the building is faced with stone or brick
Tudor house plan
general view. A characteristic element of the main facade is a bay window, often in the form of a high square or round turret.
Tudor houses.
London District
The foundation is low, wooden or stone floor located almost at ground level. The second floor often protrudes slightly forward, serving as a kind of canopy.
Roof of the house
Complicated gable, hip and semi-hip roofs , covered with tiles, are distinguished by a steep slope angle, broken edges, crossing lines, many high gables, often of different sizes. But the attic floor is not typical for such houses.
The Tudor style made fabulous hip roofs popular. In general, the Tudor-style roof looks high, refined and attractive.
Windows in the house
The British have always preferred to have a lot of natural light and a good view from the window. Large hinged windows with two or even three sashes and frequent sashes are located quite low, in a row. They are combined with an abundance of small dormer windows, round porthole windows.
English Tudor style house with many windows
Main entrance
The main entrance to the house is in the shape of an arch lined with a large stone.
An image of the family coat of arms was often placed above the door. This tradition continues to this day in many houses built in the Tudor style.
Adjoining space
An English Tudor house is, first of all, a country mansion. The British like to be as close to nature as possible. Therefore, the design of the local area is very important: an open front yard, a garden, forged fences, brick or stone sidewalks, curbs and paths.
A manicured lawn, trimmed hedges and shrubs, free-standing trees, playgrounds and recreation areas - all this creates a truly English coziness. Mandatory attributes of such a courtyard are a fountain, sundial, benches. Flower beds and flowerbeds located near the house are bordered by borders and form a geometric ornament of regular shapes.
Interior arrangement of a Tudor house
English cottage is a single-family house, two-storey, relatively compact, inexpensive. The second floor was residential in it, while the kitchen, hall, storerooms were located on the first.
The interior design of a Tudor-style dwelling is subject to the requirements of coziness and comfort, but the central rooms must certainly testify to the well-being and solidity of the owner. The hall located in the center - the front hall for receptions - is richly decorated: collections of weapons, portraits of ancestors, carved oak panels on the walls. The ceiling is decorated with exposed beams or stucco.
An indispensable accessory of such a house is a staircase that leads from the hall to the second floor: wide, decorated with carved wooden railings and sculptures.
The main place in the hall or in the living room is occupied by a massive brick or stone fireplace - a real one that is heated with wood. It is located not in the center of the room, but against the wall, opposite the front door.
An equally characteristic feature of the English Tudor dwelling are the promenade galleries located on the second floor, open or closed. They emphasize the well-being of the owners, respectability.
We can say that the English Tudor style in architecture is the Middle Ages, which looks luxurious, but restrained and presentable, these are houses, as if descended from the pages of a children's fairy tale, charming with elegance and romance of antiquity.
Author: Alla Dobrokhotova
See also:
Patio at the dacha and in a country house
What are roofs?
What are gazebos? Choosing a gazebo and a place for it
About choosing a chimney for a private house
Children's playground in the country
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Modern Tudor house is a stylization of an old English country mansion. Tudor style symbolizes English conservatism, family values, combining respectability and comfort. At the same time, architects and decorators have room for imagination, as many variations can be created based on this style: from a fabulous “gingerbread house” to a strict respectable mansion.
What today is called Tudor style is its modern variation, in which the structural elements of ancient architecture are often used as decorative elements.
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Initially, the Tudor style originated in England in the 16th century, and was named after the royal dynasty that ruled the country at that time. During the Tudor era, elements of the late Gothic style in architecture merged with the early Renaissance. The houses still had thick walls, towers and buttresses, at the same time, the arches acquired softer outlines over time, the windows expanded, letting more light into the dwelling.
The interior has become more comfortable. In general, the house looked less and less like a fortress, and more and more like a family hearth. In the literal sense, the hearth was replaced by a more modern design - a fireplace, which made it possible to build two-story houses, arrange more rooms, and divide them by function.
The Tudor style experienced a new surge in popularity at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and America, becoming a symbol of prosperity and success.
Modern materials and technologies allow you to create a cozy and comfortable home in this peculiar style, so that its popularity remains the same. Entire districts in the Tudor style are still appearing in the most unexpected corners of the globe, for example, in China, Singapore.
In California, USA, in the coastal town of Oceanside there is a gated community of St. Malo, consisting entirely of Tudor mansions. At the end of 19In the 1920s, the architect Canyon Keith came up with the idea to recreate the French village of Saint-Malo on the California coast, and this idea resonated in the hearts of the American rich. Until now, the Californian Saint-Malo is inhabited by wealthy American families, carriers of the so-called "old money".
Tudor-style houses can often be found in Australia. Most of them were built in the 1930s by settlers from England, for whom the characteristic architecture of the houses served as a reminder of their distant homeland. In Toronto, Canada, there is a fashionable suburb of Rosedale, the main part of which is Tudor mansions built 1900s.
It sounds unexpected, but in Asia the Tudor style is also known and popular in places. Tudor houses are also not uncommon in the central region of Singapore. The local land administration leases these mansions to wealthy emigrants. In Shanghai, as part of the "9 cities in one city" project, a whole "Thames Town" was built. Critics accuse the Chinese of vulgar copying of English architecture, however, the area is thriving and is very popular with local honeymooners and tourists from other countries.
Content:
- 1 House in the style of Tudor
- 1.1 Fachwerk (supporting structure)
- 1.2 Foundation of the Tudor house
- 1.3 Roof
- 1.4 Many windows
- 1.5 The main entrance
- 1.6 TUDER in the style Adjoining area
- 1.8 Interior arrangement of a Tudor house
All of these places have in common that real estate in these areas is sold at high prices, attracting wealthy people. And what is the secret of popularity? Consider the main characteristic features that create the unique charm of the Tudor style.
Half-timbered (bearing structure)
The basis of the Tudor cottage is a wooden frame, consisting of vertical posts, horizontal beams and diagonally arranged braces. This wooden structure was load-bearing, while the beams were visible from the outside, becoming a recognizable style element. The walls were built of brick, stone, insulated with straw, branches mixed with clay. The design turned out to be compact, which was caused by the need to save space by building houses in the narrow streets of the cities of England in the 16th century.
Today, the walls of houses are made of modern materials - aerated concrete, frame and structural panels, equipped with an insulating layer.
At the same time, fachwerk can either be a supporting structure or simply perform a decorative function in a house built using a different technology.
Tudor house cladding
Traditionally, brick, stone and light plaster in various combinations are used for this purpose.
The decoration with these materials gives the house a peculiar Tudor look. Stone and brick, as a rule, finish the first floor, and the second with the help of plaster acquires a light shade. Dark beams and window openings stand out against a light background.
Roof
The shape of the roof of the house is important. In a Tudor house, she is tall and has a complex shape. A gable, hip or half-hip roof covered with tiles gives the Tudor house its famous "fairy tale" romantic look. The roof, as a rule, has a complex shape, broken edges, decorated with several pediments of different heights. It is also characteristic that the roof has rather steep slopes. An indispensable element of the Tudor roof is a large brick chimney pipe, which has a unique shape and pattern.
Lots of windows
A Tudor house has lots of windows to let in light. Two- or three-leaf windows of the first floor are large, located low, in a row. On the second floor, the windows are smaller and are complemented by small dormer windows of various shapes - both square and round.
Main entrance
Of great importance in a Tudor home is the appearance of the main entrance. As a rule, it has the shape of an arch, lined with stone or brick, and in general has an imposing appearance, as it should be in a respectable English house. For greater importance, a family coat of arms (if any) is located above the entrance. Many modern houses still follow this ancient tradition.
Tudor house design
Most often, the house has a free, asymmetrical layout based on a rectangle. A characteristic element of the facade is a bay window ("lantern") - a protruding part with a window, round or rectangular in shape. The floor in such houses is made of stone or wood, located almost at ground level. The second floor protrudes slightly, creating a ledge.
House territory
It is impossible to imagine an English mansion standing in the middle of empty space. Cosiness is created not only by the characteristic features of architecture, but also by the design of the space adjacent to the house, therefore, in any self-respecting English house there is a gardener.
Mandatory well-groomed garden with flower beds, lawns, benches, borders and paths, lined with stone or brick. On the territory there may be playgrounds for recreation and games. In the garden, as a rule, there is a fountain, a sundial.
The interior of a Tudor house
The first floor of an English cottage is a hall and utility rooms: a kitchen and pantries. The living quarters are located on the second floor. A hall is usually a large hall intended for receptions. Its design is intended to demonstrate the viability and high position of the owner. The characteristic elements of the main hall are well known to us from English literature: the walls are decorated with carved oak panels, portraits of ancestors, and collections of weapons. On the ceiling, as a rule, beams of floors are visible, or it is decorated with stucco.
The fireplace located opposite the entrance to the hall is of great importance. It must certainly be real, massive, lined with brick or stone.
