Gothic Revival Houses In Cambridge, Somerville and Medford

 

The Gothic Revival, was one of the early Victorian Romantic architectural styles.

 

Most Gothic Revival houses were built between 1840 and 1870.

 

The development of the jigsaw led to the popularity of elaborate gingerbread trim.

 

The Gothic Revival style was particulary popular in the Northeast.  There are a number of great examples in our area.  Three of my local favorites are pictured here:

• The house in Cambridge is on Dana Street
• The brick Somerville Gothic Revival is on Morrison Ave. in Davis Square and was built for Nathaniel Morrison for whom the street was named
• The Angier House in Medford, built in 1842, is next to the library on High Street and is on the National Register of Historic Places

 

Gothic Revival Features

• Steeply pitched roof
• Typically has cross gables
• Gables often have decorative pendant trim
• Trefoil and quatrefoil ornamention is common
• Windows often have a Gothic-style pointed arch.
• If only one window has the Gothic arch it typically at the top of the most prominent gable – see the Somerville house
• Often has a one-story porch – either an entry porch or a larger porch that spans the width of the house

 

Other Architectural Styles Around Cambridge:

Greek Revival Houses In and Near Cambridge

Bungalows

Shingle Style Houses in Cambridge

Second Empire Mansards

Categories: Everything Else
Tags: Architecture

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 10:18 pm and is filed under Everything Else. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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