Oval window = colonial revival??

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DavidP
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Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by DavidP »

Please help me out since I am confused.

My Queen Anne house (1904 or earlier) has an oval window on the front. You can see it in my avatar (if your eyesight is good, anyway). Yesterday someone said to me that this is a colonial revival feature, and I recall someone here saying the same a while ago.

I grew up in various places in New England and don't recall any 17th/18th houses with oval windows. I have seen other houses from about 1900 with these windows but don't get why a feature that didn't exist in colonial times came to be associated with colonial revival architecture, if this is indeed the case.

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Vala
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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by Vala »

I've seen Queen Anne and even Neoclassic style homes with oval windows.

There's one in town where I live that has that sideways oval window (though its in their attic).

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DavidP
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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by DavidP »

I had some time today so I poked around online. Seems to be something like the following:

American advocates of the Colonial Revival style in the late 1800s looked not only at vernacular colonial buildings but also at other antecedents, among which was the work of the Adam brothers. Their neoclassical architecture and decorative style was very influential in Britain during the second half of the 18th century, and it featured use of oval shapes to frame decorative elements. This seems to be the source of the oval windows that we see in circa 1900 American houses. There may well be American colonial buildings in the Adam style that I haven't seen that include these oval shapes and which might have been among the models for the 19th century revivalists. But it is certainly true that typical New England homes from the 18th century, of which I have seen quite a few, aren't big on ovals.

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Manalto
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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by Manalto »

I live in New England and have been all over its six states, noticing houses for many years. Never have I seen an 18th century house with an oval window. Palladian windows, yes, but not oval. Part of the problem may be that, once you tack "revival" onto an architectural style, all bets are off because you're saying the design was inspired by, rather than an authentic reproduction of, an earlier style. Labels are useful as a shorthand description but the details of an eclectic house demand individual description of its elements or, even better, photos. Round windows occur in so-called Colonial Revival houses pretty frequently, too.

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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by 1918ColonialRevival »

There were some one-off oval windows in the Federal era (very late 1700s and early 1800s), but they didn't really become popular until the 1890s, which was the late Victorian/Colonial Revival transitional era. One has to remember that most Colonial Revivals were only based on 18th and early 19th Century stylings (to include Federal) and were not 100% historically accurate copies.

Another thing that happened in those years was that pretty much anything and everything that was pre-Victorian was called "Colonial", whether is was or not. In publications from the 1900-1925 era, I've seen furniture in the Empire styling of the 1820s and 1830s referred to as "Colonial", even though it wasn't. It was near the end of the Federal era, but it was not Colonial.

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DavidP
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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by DavidP »

Thanks, Manalto and 1918ColonialRevival -- your comments are helpful in understanding what's going on with houses like mine. I'm an academic and tend to focus on details and historical correctness, which is not what the late 19th century revivalists were about; as you say, anything pre-Victorian was "colonial."

This has also been an issue in decorating my house, since it is from that transitional period of Late Victorian/Colonial Revival. It has Colonial Revival elements such as that oval window and some features that are more Victorian, such as the baseboards (taller and fancier than typically seen in later Colonial Revival houses). Neither fish nor fowl, so to speak.

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Manalto
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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by Manalto »

David, enjoy the flexibility that comes with living in an eclectic house. You can remain true to the period while indulging in some of the creature comforts of that later era. Also note that your house represents a time with a keen interest in "exotica;" design elements from far-flung places, particularly the Middle East and Asia (AKA the Orient). This found its expression in architectural elements somewhat but especially in interiors. Just recently I was discussing the Turkish Corner (or is it Persian Corner) of the late Victorian era with another THD member. An example:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/183381016051799874/

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Casey
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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by Casey »

They are hardly unheard-of in the neoclassical/regency/early Federal period.
example in Charleston SC ca. 1800
Image
The artist formerly known as Sombreuil

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DavidP
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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by DavidP »

Manalto wrote:David, enjoy the flexibility that comes with living in an eclectic house.

I do ‎–‎ I kind of stumbled into this approach when I started looking at historic wallpaper. I picked what I liked and thought would work well even though the rooms are in different styles. For instance, my parlor has a William Morris design while the dining room has a paper designed about 1905 that is half Art Nouveau and half Egyptian revival. Now I'm going through this again as I work on the upstairs. Flexibility is good but also a bit frightening for people like me who worry if they're doing things right. (First world problem, I know!)

Thanks also to Casey for the Charleston window.

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Re: Oval window = colonial revival??

Post by mjt »

We've got an 1895 "Georgian Colonial Revival" by Cass Gilbert with an oval window...

This photo is from the first year we were in the house. We were getting the exterior wood trim back into shape, hence the scaffolding. The curved portion of the wall is where the main staircase is located. The oval window is in the half bath located off the study and under the landing. The side lights, top sash, and semi-circular window are all leaded glass.

Image

Oval window from inside the half-bath:

Image

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