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What is a "cornice"?
The cornice is the uppermost section of moldings along the top of a wall or just below a roof.
What is a frieze?
A frieze is a horizontal band which runs above doorways and windows or below the cornice. The frieze
may be decorated with designs or carvings.
Cornice
Frieze
What is a pediment?
A pediment is a low-pitched triangular gable on the front of some buildings in the Grecian or Greek
Revival style of architecture.
What is a pilaster?
A pilaster is a rectangular support which resembles a flat column. The pilaster projects only slightly
from the wall, and has a base, a shaft, and a capital. Greek Revival homes often have pilasters.
What is a gable?
What is a dormer?
A dormer is a window which is set vertically on a sloping roof. The dormer has its
own roof, which may be flat, arched, or pointed.
What is an eave?
An eave is the edge of a roof. Eaves usually project beyond the side of the building. Some
buildings, such as Craftsman Bungalows, have very wide eaves with decorative brackets.
What is a "cupola"?
A cupola is a dome-shaped ornamental structure placed on the top of a larger roof or dome. In some
cases, the entire main roof of a tower or spire can be a cupola. More frequently, however, the cupola
is a smaller structure which sets on top of the main roof.
Often, you can reach the cupola by climbing a stairway inside the building. This type of cupola is
called a belvedere or a widow's walk. Some cupolas, called lanterns, have small windows which
illuminate the areas below.
What is a balustrade?
A balustrade is a row of repeating balusters -- small posts which support the upper rail
of a railing. Staircases and porches often have balustrades.
The term "mansard" comes from the French architect Franois Mansart (1598-1666) of
the Beaux Arts School of Architecture in Paris, France. Mansart revived interest in this
roofing style, which had been characteristic of French Renaissance architecture, and
was used for portions of the Louvre.
Another revival of the mansard roof occurred in the 1850s, when Paris was rebuilt by
Napoleon III. The style became associated with this era, and the term Second Empire is
often used to describe any building with a mansard roof.
Mansard roofs were considered especially practical because they allowed usable living
quarters to be placed in the attic. For this reason, older buildings were often remodeled
with mansard roofs. In the United States, Second Empire -- or Mansard -- was a
Victorian style, popular from the 1860s through the 1880s.
What
What
What
What
is a battlement?
is a crenellation?
are embrasures?
are merlons?
On a castle or fort, a battlement or a crenellation is a parapet with open spaces for
shooting. The raised portions of a battlement are called merlons, and the openings are
called embrasures. Masonry buildings in the Gothic Revival style may have architectural
decoration which resembles battlements.
What is a parapet?
A parapet is a low wall projecting from the edge of a platform, terrace, or roof. Parapets may rise
above the cornice of a building or form the upper portion of a defensive wall on a castle. In Mission
style homes, rounded parapets are often used as decorative features.
Oriel Window
What is a "column"?
A column is an upright pillar or post. Columns may support a roof or a beam, or they may be purely
decorative. The lower portion of a column is called the base. The upper portion of a column is called
the capital. The area which the column supports is called the entablature. Classical columns are built
according to the Classic Orders of Architecture as recorded in the late 1500's by the Renaissance
architect, Vignola. The classical column designs are:
A combined style, known as Composite, was developed in Ancient Rome.
What is stucco?
Traditional stucco is a cement mixture used for siding, usually on Mission or other
Spanish style homes. The cement is combined with water and inert materials such as
sand and lime. Usually, wooden walls are covered with tar paper and chicken wire or
galvanized metal screening. This framework is then covered with the stucco mixture.
Sometimes, the cement mix is applied directly to specially prepared masonry surfaces.
This Spanish style home in Miami Springs, Florida has stucco siding. The homeowner,
Kim, sent this photo for our Mystery House series, where you can see more views of the
house.
Although stucco-sided homes became popular in twentieth century America, the
concept of using cement mixtures in architecture goes back to ancient times. Wall
frescoes by ancient Greeks and Romans were painted on fine-grained hard plaster
surfaces made of gypsum, marble dust and glue.
Stucco techniques were elaborated by the Italians during the Renaissance and spread
through Europe. This marble dust compound could be molded into decorative shapes,
polished to a sheen or painted.
Many homes built after the 1950s use a variety of synthetic materials which resemble
stucco. Mock stucco siding is often composed of foam insulation board or cement panels
secured to the walls. Although synthetic stucco may look authentic, real stucco tends to
be heavier. Walls made of genuine stucco sound solid when tapped and will be less likely
to suffer damage from a hard blow. Also, genuine stucco holds up well in wet
conditions. Although it is porous and will absorb moisture, it will dry easily, without
damage to the structure.
One type of sythetic stucco, known as EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems),
has been associated with moisure problems. The underlying wood on EIFS sided homes
may suffer rot damage. However, other types of synthetic stucco are quite durable. It's
always a wise to have a professional inspection before purchasing a stucco-sided home.
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For more information about stucco problems, see EIFS Central from your Guide to Home
Repair. For close-up photos, check out his disturbing feature, Bad Stucco in a Good
Neighborhood.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, it became fashionable to imitate Medieval building techniques. Many
Queen Anne and Stick style houses were given false half-timbering. Timbers were applied to wall
surfaces as decoration. Tudor, or Medieval Revival, style houses were often lavishly covered with
ornamental half-timbering.
What is a bargeboard?
What is a vergeboard?
Bargeboards -- also called vergeboards -- hang from the projecting end of a roof.
Bargeboards are often elaborately carved and ornamented. Homes in the Carpenter
Gothic style have highly ornamented bargeboards. Other common terms to describe
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bargeboards and vergeboards include: fly rafters, gable rafters, gableboards and barge
rafters.
What is a buttress?
What is a flying buttress?
A buttress is a support -- usually brick or stone -- built against a wall to support or
reinforce it. A flying buttress is a free-standing buttress attached to the main structure
by an arch or a half-arch.
Flying Buttress
Illustration from ArtToday.com
Cob Houses
In Old English, cob was a root word which meant lump or rounded mass. Cob houses are made of
clay-like lumps of soil, sand and straw. Unlike adobe and straw bale construction, cob does not use
bricks or blocks. Instead, wall surfaces can be sculpted into smooth, sinuous forms. A cob home may
have sloping walls, arches and lots of wall niches.
Cob homes are possibly the most practical form of earth architecture. Because the mud mixture is
porous, it withstands long periods of rain without weakening. A plaster made of lime and sand may be
used to windproof the exterior walls from wind damage. Cob houses are suitable for the desert or for
very cold climates.
This Caryatid porch from ancient Athens, Greece has Ionic dentils
Illustrations from ArtToday.com
What is a gargoyle?
A gargoyle is a sculpture or rain spout carved to resemble a grotesque creature or monster. Gothic
cathedrals often have gargoyles.
This ancient "gargoyle" comes from the Acropolis in Greece.