A Table of Contents

This site was put together from notes and pictures I had saved from the many books I’d read over the years.
As a favor to members of several online forums, I started putting my notes into cohesive sentences and paragraphs, and I put together this website. It just grew and grew.
Recently I had planned to spruce up and add a bit more, but I found I just didn’t have the free time.
Please check the  From the Bookstore Section. Much, but not all, of the information on this site came from those books. If you want to learn more, read them.

Malfunctioning links have been repaired.

FROM THE BOOKSTORE
A few good books about Victorian life and decor, available from libraries and bookstores.

DOING THE LAUNDRY

PUTTING UP THE STOVE-1871

CONTENTS OF A HOUSE IN THE 1850'S

THE VICTORIAN KITCHEN

VICTORIAN DINING Food of the middle class

THE DINING ROOM CIRCA 1880

THE FRONT HALL CIRCA 1880

VICTORIAN DECORATING 1830-50

VICTORIAN DECORATING 1850-70

VICTORIAN DECORATING 1870-1890, PART 1 AND INTRODUCTION

1870-90 PART II, COLORS, WALLPAPERS, FLOORS & WINDOWS

DECORATING IN THE 1890'S
Colors, wallpapers, flooring and window treatments.

THE BEDROOM AND BOUDOIR CIRCA 1880

THE VICTORIAN BEDROOM

THE VICTORIAN BATHROOM

GREEK REVIVAL & 19TH C. HEATING, PLUMBING, ETC.

WHAT A HOUSE SHOULD BE???
A humorous excerpt from the book, THE HOUSE THAT JILL BUILT AFTER JACK’S HAD PROVED A FAILURE, published in 1882

IN THE VICTORIAN DRAWING ROOM, a bit about Victorian life.

THE VICTORIAN HOME, perhaps not quite what you thought it was
A general background about life in the Victorian home.

LIFE IN A MAINE HAMLET 1894-1904

LIFE IN LONDON, 1849

A VIEW OF 19TH C. ARCHITECTURE AS SEEN FROM 1907

VICTORIAN VIEW OF THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE

MISCELLANY

THE SERVANT'S QUARTERS

THE PARLOR AND DRAWING ROOM, CIRCA 1880

19TH C. AMERICAN TOWNHOUSES

PORTABLE WAINSCOTING 1869

A DINING ROOM CEILING DESIGN, 1869

PORTIERS,1897

INTERIOR TRIM AND WOOD FINISHES 1897

AN 1890'S MODEL KITCHEN

MAKING A BEAUTIFUL HOME 1870

A WOMAN'S IDEA OF WHAT A KITCHEN SHOULD BE, 1870

USING A NEW KIND OF TACK, 1870

THE AMERICAN WOMAN'S HOME, 1869

CONTENTS OF A HOUSE IN THE 1850'S

Contents of a house in the 1850's

Some time ago I found a site that listed personal belongings of some early 19th century Virginians as culled from wills or other legal documents.
Following are the listed contents of two wealthy men both of whom died in the 1850's.
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Personal estate of the late Samuel Alsop, 1859,Spotsylvania Co, VA

Samuel Alsop Jr was born in Spotsylvania County in March of 1776.
Alsop began to accumulate land beginning with an inheritance of acreage from his grandfather. He continued to acquire large land holdings in Spotsylvania and Caroline Counties as well as in other parts of the state.
A noted architect and builder, he oversaw the building of the Old Berea Church in Spotsylvania and is buried in the cemetary.
(original spellings are used)
Household furniture
Parlors
1 Mahogany sofa
1 Cane seat rocking chair
30 ditto chairs
1 small Mahogany table
1 Spring seat sofa
2 small sofas
2 mahogany rocking chairs
16 curtains & fixtures for 6 windows
1 carpet & rug
fender, andirons, shovel & tongs
carpet & rug
fender, andirons, &c.
mantle lamps
Hall
1 Side board
2 lounges
1 chair
carpet & matting
2 candle stands
Chamber
1 wardrobe
1 bureaw
looking Glafs
1 mantle mirror
1 lounge
bed & furniture (the bedding,sheets,etc)
6 cane seat chairs
2 rocking ditto
1 small table
wash stand &c.
3 window curtains
carpet & rug
Nursery
1 Bed & furniture
1 lounge
5 flag chairs
1 clock
1 case
1 looking glafs
1 wardrobe
1 bureaw & medicine stand
pine chest,
table & candle stand
2 pair andirons & fenders
6 sad irons
2 small pine tables
3 old chairs
matting in crofs pafsage
Upstairs
Room 1
3 bedsteads, beds & beding
1 set draws & looking glafs
1 wash stand, pitcher & Ewer
1 table & 2 slop buckets
andirons, fender, &c.
carpet
4 curtains
10 chairs
Room 2
2 bedsteads, beds & beding
9 chairs
1 wash stand, Pitcher &
1 small table, pitcher & Ewer
1 table & water bucket
andirons, fender, shovel, & tongs
mantle mirror & pitcher
drefsing table & glafs
carpet & rug
window curtains
Room 3
2 beds, beding &c. at
1 trumble bed &c.
1 bureaw & mirror
1 settee
4 chairs
andirons, fender, &c
carpet, rug &c.
wash stand, pitcher, basin
table & bucket
window curtains
Room 4
2 Beds, beadsteads, & beding
2 chairs
table & looking glafs
wash stand &c.
andirons & fender &c.
carpet
curtains
1 corner table in crofs pafsage 1
1 wardrobe
2 trunks & stand
Passage?
1 bed &c.
2 wardrobes
1 crib &c.
1 walnut chest
1 box
matting
1 arm chair & 6 common ditto
2 half round tables
Cellar
2 silver ladles
22 table spoons
12 desert ditto
3 Sugar tongs
2 butter knives & 2 pickle ditto & forks
4 salt spoons 2
12 plated forks
2 plated cake baskets
20 glafs
castors (sugar castors,mustard pots, spice dredgers, oil & vinegar bottles)
12 knives & forks (horn handles)
12 ditto & ditto (buckhorn handles)
24 ivory handle ditto
6 plane ditto
2 tea set, China & glafs
common castors
ditto cups & saucers
2 sets white China
1 set common blue ditto
goblets, wine glafses &c.
Bratania coffee & Tea pots &c.
Preserve bowl & salver
14 waiters (trays)
side board & glafs prefs
3 tin safes (probably a food keeper)
1 glafs prefs
1 walnut dinner table & half rounds
1 pine table
14 chairs & small table
1 clock
fender, andirons & shovel & tongs
carpet & mat
6 brafs candle sticks
tin safe, tables & water stand

To read the complete listing, go HERE.
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Below is a listing from the personal estate of Warren A. Wiglesworth, died 1853, Spotsylvania County
He too, was a wealthy man, though not as rich as S.Alsop Jr.

New Room
1 bedstead & furniture
toilet table
1 pr andirons, glass,
3 chairs,
underbed & matrass
Chamber
1 Bedstead & furniture
1 Bed, stead & furniture (his children were planning on taking both of these beds)
1 secretary & bookcase
1 easy chair
1 bedstead
candlestand
1 miror
4 chairs
1 pr andirons
shovel & tongs
Books in bookcase
Dining Room
1 sideboard
2 folding tables
clock
andirons,
3 chairs
1 shotgun
Passage
1 crib
8 chairs
1 bench
old books &c
Parlour
2 Mahogany Tables
andirons
old sofa
8 chairs
Large map of U.S.
1 bench
Table ware, Stone & Tin ware
old books &c
Room over Parlor
4 beds with bedsteads & under beds
candlestand
washstand
looking glass
carpet
andirons & Tongs
Passage
1 Chest
5 white counterpanes
4 table cloths
1 table
old trunk
2 chairs
Old Stairs
2 Beds, steads & underbeds
washstand
andirons
table
tongs & poker
Garrett
3 chests
2 fenders
old barrels
tin boiler &c
Kitchen
4 pots
4 ovens
tea kettle
Preserving stove
2 trivits
2 pails
3 trays
1 churn
pothooks
ladles
gridles
skilletts
copper kettle &c

To read the complete listing go  HERE.

The American Woman's Home 1869

This book, by Catharine E.Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe included a chapter about the ideal home, one which I've always found interesting.
I've reprinted most of this chapter below.

In the following drawings are presented modes of economizing time, labor, and expense by the close packing of conveniences. By such methods, small and economical houses can be made to secure most of the comforts and many of the refinements of large and expensive ones. The cottage at the head of this chapter is projected on a plan which can be adapted to a warm or cold climate with little change. By adding another story, it would serve a large family.
Fig. 1 shows the ground-plan of the first floor. On the inside it is forty-three feet long and twenty-five wide, excluding conservatories and front and back projections. Its inside height from floor to ceiling is ten feet. The piazzas each side of the front projection have sliding-windows to the floor, and can, by glazed sashes, be made green-houses in winter. In a warm climate, piazzas can be made at the back side also.
In the description and arrangement, the leading aim is to show how time, labor, and expense are saved, not only in the building but in furniture and its arrangement. With this aim, the ground-floor and its furniture will first be shown, then the second story and its furniture, and then the basement and its conveniences. The conservatories are appendages not necessary to housekeeping, but useful in many ways pointed out more at large in other chapters.

The entry has arched recesses behind the front doors, (Fig. 2,) furnished with hooks for over-clothes in both--a box for over-shoes in one, and a stand for umbrellas in the other. The roof of the recess is for statuettes, busts, or flowers. The stairs turn twice with broad steps, making a recess at the lower landing, where a table is set with a vase of flowers, (Fig. 3.) On one side of the recess is a closet, arched to correspond with the arch over the stairs. A bracket over the first broad stair, with flowers or statuettes, is visible from the entrance, and pictures can be hung as in the illustration.


The large room on the left can be made to serve the purpose of several rooms by means of a movable screen. By shifting this rolling screen from one part of the room to another, two apartments are always available, of any desired size within the limits of the large room. One side of the screen fronts what may be used as the parlor or sitting-room; the other side is arranged for bedroom conveniences. Of this, Fig. 4 shows the front side; covered first with strong canvas, stretched and nailed on. Over this is pasted panel-paper, and the upper part is made to resemble an ornamental cornice by fresco-paper. Pictures can be hung in the panels, or be pasted on and varnished with white varnish. To prevent the absorption of the varnish, a wash of gum isinglass (fish-glue) must be applied twice.

Fig. 5 shows the back or inside of the movable screen, toward the part of the room used as the bedroom. On one side, and at the top and bottom, it has shelves with shelf-boxes, which are cheaper and better than drawers, and much preferred by those using them. Handles are cut in the front and back side, as seen in Fig. 6. Half an inch space must be between the box and the shelf over it, and as much each side, so that it can be taken out and put in easily. The central part of the screen's interior is a wardrobe

This screen must be so high as nearly to reach the ceiling, in order to prevent it from overturning. It is to fill the width of the room, except two feet on each side. A projecting cleat or strip, reaching nearly to the top of the screen, three inches wide, is to be screwed to the front sides, on which light frame doors are to be hung, covered with canvas and panel-paper like the front of the screen. The inside of these doors is furnished with hooks for clothing, for which the projection makes room. The whole screen is to be eighteen inches deep at the top and two feet deep at the base, giving a solid foundation. It is moved on four wooden rollers, one foot long and four inches in diameter. The pivots of the rollers and the parts where there is friction must be rubbed with hard soap, and then a child can move the whole easily.
A curtain is to be hung across the whole interior of the screen by rings, on a strong wire. The curtain should be in three parts, with lead or large nails in the hems to keep it in place. The wood-work must be put together with screws, as the screen is too large to pass through a door.

At the end of the room, behind the screen, are two couches, to be run one under the other, as in Fig. 7. The upper one is made with four posts, each three feet high and three inches square, set on casters two inches high. The frame is to be fourteen inches from the floor, seven feet long, two feet four inches wide, and three inches in thickness. At the head, and at the foot, is to be screwed a notched two-inch board, three inches wide, as in Fig. 8. The mortises are to be one inch wide and deep, and one inch apart, to receive slats made of ash, oak, or spruce, one inch square, placed lengthewise of the couch. The slats being small, and so near together, and running lengthwise, make a better spring frame than wire coils. If they warp, they can be turned. They must not be fastened at the ends, except by insertion in the notches. Across the posts, and of equal height with them, are to be screwed head and foot-boards.
The under couch is like the upper, except these dimensions: posts, nine inches high, including castors; frame, six feet two inches long, two feet four inches wide. The frame should be as near the floor as possible, resting on the casters.

The most healthful and comfortable mattress is made by a case, open in the centre and fastened together with buttons, as in Fig. 9; to be filled with oat straw, which is softer than wheat or rye. This can be adjusted to the figure, and often renewed.
Fig. 10 represents the upper couch when covered, with the under couch put beneath it. The coverlid should match the curtain of the screen; and the pillows, by day, should have a case of the same.

Fig. 11 is an ottoman, made as a box, with a lid on hinges. A cushion is fastened to this lid by strings at each corner, passing through holes in the box lid and tied inside. The cushion to be cut square, with side pieces; stuffed with hair, and stitched through like a mattress. Side handles are made by cords fastened inside with knots. The box must be two inches larger at the bottom than at the top, and the lid and cushion the same size as the bottom, to give it a tasteful shape. This ottoman is set on casters, and is a great convenience for holding articles, while serving also as a seat.
The expense of the screen, where lumber averages $4 a hundred, and carpenter labor $3a day, would be about $30, and the two couches about $6. The material for covering might be cheap and yet pretty. A woman with these directions, and a son or husband who would use plane and saw, could thus secure much additional room, and also what amounts to two bureaus, two large trunks, one large wardrobe, and a wash-stand, for less than $20--the mere cost of materials. The screen and couches can be so arranged as to have one room serve first as a large and airy sleeping-room; then, in the morning, it may be used as sitting-room one side of the screen, and breakfast-room the other; and lastly, through the day it can be made a large parlor on the front side and a sewing or retiring-room the other side. The needless spaces usually devoted to kitchen, entries, halls, back-stairs, pantries, store-rooms, and closets, by this method would be used in adding to the size of the large room, so variously used by day and by night.
Fig. 12 is an enlarged plan of the kitchen and stove-room. The chimney and stove-room are contrived to ventilate the whole house, by a mode exhibited in another chapter.

Between the two rooms glazed sliding-doors, passing each other, serve to shut out heat and smells from the kitchen. The sides of the stove-room must be lined with shelves; those on the side by the cellar stairs, to be one foot wide, and eighteen inches apart; on the other side, shelves may be narrower, eight inches wide and nine inches apart. Boxes with lids, to receive stove utensils, must be placed near the stove.
On these shelves, and in the closet and boxes, can be placed every material used for cooking, all the table and cooking utensils, and all the articles used in house work, and yet much spare room will be left. The cook's galley in a steamship has every article and utensil used in cooking for two hundred persons, in a space not larger than this stove-room, and so arranged that with one or two steps the cook can reach all he uses.
In contrast to this, in most large houses, the table furniture, the cooking materials and utensils, the sink, and the eating-room, are at such distances apart, that half the time and strength is employed in walking back and forth to collect and return the articles used.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged plan of the sink and cooking-form. Two windows make a better circulation of air in warm weather, by having one open at top and the other at the bottom, while the light is better adjusted for working, in case of weak eyes.


The flour-barrel just fills the closet, which has a door for admission, and a lid to raise when used. Beside it, is the form for cooking, with a moulding-board laid on it; one side used for preparing vegetables and meat, and the other for moulding bread. The sink has two pumps, for well and for rain-water--one having a forcing power to throw water into the reservoir in the garret, which supplies the water-closet and bath-room. On the other side of the sink is the dish-drainer, with a ledge on the edge next to the sink, to hold the dishes, and grooves cut to let the water drain into the sink. It has hinges, so that it can either rest on the cook-form or be turned over and cover the sink. Under the sink are shelf-boxes placed on two shelves run into grooves, with other grooves above and below, so that one may move the shelves and increase or diminish the spaces between. The shelf-boxes can be used for scouring-materials, dish-towels, and dish-cloths; also to hold bowls for bits of butter, fats, etc. Under these two shelves is room for two pails, and a jar for soap-grease.
Under the cook-form are shelves and shelf-boxes for unbolted wheat, corn-meal, rye, etc. Beneath these, for white and brown sugar, are wooden can-pails, which are the best articles in which to keep these constant necessities. Beside them is the tin molasses-can with a tight, movable cover, and a cork in the spout. This is much better than a jug for molasses, and also for vinegar and oil, being easier to clean and to handle. Other articles and implements for cooking can be arranged on or under the shelves at the side and front. A small cooking-tray, holding pepper, salt, dredging-box, knife and spoon, should stand close at hand by the stove, (Fig. 14.)
The articles used for setting tables are to be placed on the shelves at the front and side of the sink. Two tumbler-trays, made of pasteboard, covered with varnished fancy papers and divided by wires, (as shown in Fig. 15,) save many steps in setting and clearing table.
Similar trays, (Fig. 16,) for knives and forks and spoons, serve the same purpose.

The sink should be three feet long and three inches deep, its width matching the cook-form.


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Fig. 17 is the second or attic story.

The main objection to attic rooms is their warmth in summer, owing to the heated roof. This is prevented by so enlarging the closets each side that their walls meet the ceiling under the garret floor, thus excluding all the roof. In the bed-chambers, corner dressing-tables, as Fig. 18, instead of projecting bureaus, save much space for use, and give a handsome form and finish to the room. In the bath-room must be the opening to the garret, and a step-ladder to reach it. A reservoir in the garret, supplied by a forcing-pump in the cellar or at the sink, must be well supported by timbers, and the plumbing must be well done, or much annoyance will ensue.

The large chambers are to be lighted by large windows or glazed sliding-doors, opening upon the balcony. A roof can be put over the balcony and its sides inclosed by windows, and the chamber extend into it, and be thus much enlarged.
The water-closets must have the latest improvements for safe discharge, and there will be no trouble. They cost no more than an out-door building, and save from the most disagreeable house-labor.
A great improvement, called earth-closets, will probably take the place of water-closets to some extent; though at present the water is the more convenient. A description of the earth-closet will be given in another chapter relating to tenement-houses for the poor in large cities.
The method of ventilating all the chambers, and also the cellar, will be described in another chapter.
Fig. 19 represents a shoe-bag, that can be fastened to the side of a closet or closet-door.

Fig. 20 represents a piece-bag, and is a very great labor and space-saving invention. It is made of calico, and fastened to the side of a closet or a door, to hold all the bundles that are usually stowed in trunks and drawers. India-rubber or elastic tape drawn into hems to hold the contents of the bag is better than tape-strings. Each bag should be labeled with the name of its contents, written with indelible ink on white tape sewed on to the bag. Such systematic arrangement saves much time and annoyance. Drawers or trunks to hold these articles can not be kept so easily in good order, and moreover, occupy spaces saved by this contrivance.

Fig. 21 is the basement. It has the floor and sides plastered, and is lighted with glazed doors. A form is raised close by the cellar stairs, for baskets, pails, and tubs.

Here, also, the refrigerator can be placed, or, what is better, an ice-closet can be made, as designated in the illustration. The floor of the basement must be an inclined plane toward a drain, and be plastered with water-lime. The wash-tubs have plugs in the bottom to let off water, and cocks and pipes over them bringing cold water from the reservoir in the garret and hot water from the laundry stove. This saves much heavy labor of emptying tubs and carrying water.
The laundry closet has a stove for heating irons, and also a kettle on top for heating water. Slides or clothes-frames are made to draw out to receive wet clothes, and then run into the closet to dry. This saves health as well as time and money, and the clothes are as white as when dried outdoors.
The wood-work of the house, for doors, windows, etc., should be oiled chestnut, butternut, whitewood, and pine. This is cheaper, handsomer, and more easy to keep clean than painted wood.
In Fig. 21 are planned two conservatories, and few understand their value in the training of the young. They provide soil, in which children, through the winter months, can be starting seeds and plants for their gardens and raising valuable, tender plants. Every child should cultivate flowers and fruits to sell and to give away, and thus be taught to learn the value of money and to practice both economy and benevolence.
According to the calculation of a house-carpenter, in a place where the average price of lumber is $4 a hundred, and carpenter work $3 a day, such a house can be built for $1600. For those practicing the closest economy, two small families could occupy it, by dividing the kitchen, and yet have room enough. Or one large room and the chamber over it can be left till increase of family and means require enlargement.
A strong horse and carryall, with a cow, garden, vineyard, and orchard, on a few acres, would secure all the substantial comforts found in great establishments, without the trouble of ill-qualified servants.
And if the parents and children were united in the daily labors of the house, garden, and fruit culture, such thrift, health, and happiness would be secured as is but rarely found among the rich.
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NEXT
The kitchen stove
Another chapter dwells on the care of stoves, furnaces and chimneys. The section about the kitchen range is rather interesting.
Those who are taught to manage the stove properly keep the fire going all night, and equally well with wood or coal, thus saving the expense of kindling and the trouble of starting a new fire. When the fuel is of good quality, all that is needed in the morning is to draw the back-damper, shake the grate, and add more fuel.
Another remarkable feature of this stove is the extension-top, on which is placed a water reservoir, constantly heated by the smoke as it passes from the stove, through one or two uniting passages, to the smoke-pipe. Under this is placed a closet for warming and keeping hot the dishes, vegetables, meats, etc., while preparing for dinner. It is also very useful in drying fruit; and when large baking is required, a small appended pot for charcoal turns it into a fine large oven, that bakes as nicely as a brick oven.
Another useful appendage is a common tin oven, in which roasting can be done in front of the stove, the oven-doors being removed for the purpose. The roast will be done as perfectly as by an open fire.
This stove is furnished with pipes for heating water, like the water-back of ranges, and these can be taken or left out at pleasure. So also the top covers, the baking-stool and pot, and the summer-back, bottom, and side-casings can be used or omitted as preferred.
Fig. 37 exhibits the stove completed, with all its appendages, as they might be employed in cooking for a large number.
A large stove that includes a roaster, range, hot water reservoir, and baking compartment, among other amenities. The various features of the stove are labeled in the illustration.

Its capacity, convenience, and economy as a stove may be estimated by the following fact: With proper management of dampers, one ordinary-sized coal-hod of anthracite coal will, for twenty-four hours, keep the stove running, keep seventeen gallons of water hot at all hours, bake pies and puddings in the warm closet, heat flat-irons under the back cover, boil tea-kettle and one pot under the front cover, bake bread in the oven, and cook a turkey in the tin roaster in front. The author has numerous friends, who, after trying the best ranges, have dismissed them for this stove, and in two or three years cleared the whole expense by the saving of fuel.

from
The American Woman's Home: or, Principles of Domestic Science

Using a new kind of tack, Jan 1870

The first illustration shows how carpet or matting was put down without sewing the pieces together. Recall that in 1870 even even if carpets completely covered a floor wall to wall, they still came in separate rolls that were pieced together in the home.

The second illustration shows the edge of a carpet being secured to the floor with the new type of tacks.

The picture shows a window shade secured with the new style tacks. The tacks were also recommended as an excellent substitute for stair-rods.

Portieres, 1897

Also from How to Build Furnish and Decorate...

In portieres, change the color for each opening, even if in the same room, unless an entire color scheme is carried throughout the room in decoration and furniture. Half the artistic effect of an apartment depends upon its portieres, and so it behooves the wise woman to look well to the selection of her draperies. In buying portieres it is not so much a question of money as of good taste. Some of the inexpensive denims answer the purpose quite as well as more costly material. It can be obtained in quite a number of colors ; blue, green, etc. By using the right side for the curtain and the reverse side for a border a very pretty effect is obtained. In many of the new fabrics for portieres changeable effects are seen. A new material called satin lambell shows the two-toned effect. This fabric is much like damask, but it has a wide border and dado, with a design in detached figures in the center It may be bought in a variety of soft shades. In dull rose and reseda green it is most effective. Damask will be much used for portieres for the parlor, and also embroidered silk velours.
As for the beautiful liberty velvets they are more in fashion than ever. Dark grounds are used with large designs in lighter shades.
A material which looks much like the dress fabric called Bedford cord will be much used for inexpensive portieres. Many of the old-style shawls make very handsome hangings, their soft texture drapes well and in many cases their colors are exquisite.

Interior Trim, Wood Finishes, 1897

from How to Build Furnish and Decorate, 1897
The staining of wood is oftentimes necessary when we use whitewood or pine trim to relieve the monotonous or commonplace look which so much woodwork of one color is apt to produce. For a dining-room mahogany makes a rich color. Cherry for parlor and bedrooms is appropriate and harmonizes with most any furniture. Oak stain looks well if the wood has a well marked grain; when this is not the case, or if the woodwork has been painted, we will find it necessary to call the grainer to our assistance. Cherry was a very popular color for interior finish in the line of graining some years ago, and is still imitated to quite an extent in the rural districts. A combination of cherry and oak is a very harmonious and rich finish and relieves the monotony of a continuous color. Walnut has kept pace, side by side, with cherry and oak for the past quarter of a century. The kitchens are generally done in oak or maple. The halls and front doors in walnut, the parlor in white. It is impossible for us to give any set rules in regard to colors for the painting of interior woodwork. You must use your individual judgment, and most of us possess sufficient knowledge, obtained by experience, to choose wisely with a few suggestions from the architect and painter.

An 1890's Model Kitchen

Maria Parloa was a very popular cookbook author and teacher in the 19th c. The following is her description of a model kitchen.

The size of the kitchen is an important matter. Although the room should be spacious enough to contain sink, range, table, dresser and chairs, and to give ample opportunity for free movements, it should not be so large as to oblige one to make many steps to and from sink, table, range or pantry. A good size is 15x17.
The ventilation is a prominent factor of the comfort of not only those who work in the kitchen, but of the entire household. If the room lacks good ventilation, the strength of those who work in it will become exhausted sooner than it should, and they will become unnecessarily irritated. Besides, the odors of cooking, which should pass to the open air, will instead escape to all parts of the house.
Every part of the kitchen, pantry and closet, except the ceiling, should be finished in such a way that it may be washed. Nothing is better for the flooring than hard wood. If the floors are to be covered, no better material than lignum can be used. It is soft, clean and durable. Oilcloth is very cold and is the cause of a great deal of rheumatism.
It is well to have the woodwork such as to require oiling only, and the walls should be painted a rather light color. When possible, the walls about the sink, tables and range should be tiled. Tiles seem to be rather expensive at the outset, but in the long run it is true economy to use them, as they will last as long as the house. They may be easily kept bright and clean. The time will come when few people will think of finishing a kitchen without them. The English or Dutch tiles should be used, and blue and white should predominate.
Lack of table room is a drawback met with in most kitchens. There ought to be an abundance of such room, so that when a meal is being prepared or served there need be no crowding or confusion, and it may be obtained by having two or three swinging tables in the room. When they are not in use they may be dropped.
The sink should be large,there is nothing better than iron,with a sloping and grooved shelf at one end, on which to drain dishes. It should not be enclosed. Every dark, enclosed place in a kitchen is a source of temptation to the slovenly. Let the light reach every part of the room. At the right hand of the sink have a long, narrow table containing two drawers for towels. Unless the walls above, below and at the sides of the sink be tiled, they should be finished with hard wood. If tiles be used, have a broad capping of hard wood extend across the upper edge of the top row, in which to put hooks for various small utensils that are in frequent use about the sink. Under the sink have more hooks for dish-pans, dish-cloth, etc.
In the center of the kitchen have another table about 3 ½ x 4 ½ feet. This should contain a drawer for knives, forks, spoons and other utensils that are in frequent use in that part of the kitchen. Have a small table also, about the height of the range. This is for use as a resting place for utensils used when griddle-cakes, omelets, waffles, etc., are made. When not in use it may be moved aside. Between the door to the hall and that to the china-closet have a swinging table or a settee table; the latter being that kind which serves as a seat when not in use for ironing or other purposes. Above the table have two shelves for cook-books and other books, and a clock.
A portable range can be so placed that it will be possible to walk all around it. It can be run with about half the quantity of coal required for a set range. It responds quickly to the opening or shutting-off of a draught. One's feet do not become heated by standing near it. There are no dark corners. It does away with the necessity of much lifting of heavy utensils. And it can be so managed that there shall be a hot oven at any time of the day.
Convenient to the range and sink there should be a large pantryabout 12 ft. x 8 ft. The window should have a wire screen and inside blinds. A large strong table, with two drawers, should be placed before this window. Have hooks on the ends of the table on which to hang the pastry-board, the board on which cold meats are cut, and that on which bread and cake are cut. The rolling-pin, cutters, knives and various small
utensils may be kept in one drawer, and spices, flavoring extracts, baking-powders, etc., in the other.
The wall at one end of the room should be covered with hooks on which to hang saucepans and other utensils. About one foot from the floor there should be a strong, broad shelf, on which to place heavy pots and kettles. Two feet above it there should be a narrow shelf for the covers of the pots and saucepans. By this arrangement all of these utensils may be kept together and always in sight, and no time need be lost in searching for any of the articles.
A number of shelves may be placed between the window and this end of the room, on which to keep materials used very frequently, such as sugar, salt, rice, tapioca, etc.
In the frame of the window, but within easy reach, put hooks, on which to hang spoons and an egg-beater.
At the lower end of the room have wall-closets built about four feet from the floor. The shelves within them should be about twenty inches wide and the doors should be supplied with locks. Under the closets have a strong rack, four inches high, on which to keep barrels. The rack secures a free circulation of air under the barrels, thus keeping their contents sweet.
On one side, running the length of the room, have shelves, beginning a foot from the floor and running as high as the top of the wall-closets. On the lower shelves may be kept buckets and jugs, while the upper ones will accommodate mixing bowls, measuring cups, baking and mixing pans, and, indeed, all of the utensils for which space has not already been provided.
At the end of this row of shelves have a place for a towel, so as to avoid the trouble of going to the kitchen whenever the hands require wiping.
With this arrangement of the kitchen and pantry the cooking and the washing of dishes can be done in a small space, steps and time can be saved, and half of the kitchen will generally be unused and ready for the servants' table or any other purpose. The points kept in view throughout areconcentration of work, good light and ventilation, ample table room, cleanliness, and the giving of an attractive appearance.
It is understood that there is a cellar or cold room convenient to the kitchen.

from How To Plan Furnish and Decorate 1897

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Making A Beautiful Home 1870

MANUFACTURER AND BUILDER showed this window display in its May, 1870 issue. the article stated that any room could be improved by cutting the window larger, to make a low sill, then fill in the window with large panes of clear glass, training flowers and vines to grow about it.

A Ward Case stands in front of the window. Today we might refer to it as a terrarium. Here's an example from the April issue.

The April issue also included the following instructions for making the rustic frames that had recently become so popular.

"All that is necessary to construct one of these, or any similar frame, is to get the foundation, a thin board, of proper size and shape, with the inner oval or rectangular form to suit the picture. The edges are ornamented by nailing on branches of hard, seasoned wood, or gluing on pine cones. The corners may receive some device, both to cover the rude joint and to enhance the general effect.
One of the frames illustrated is made of either light or dark wood, neat, thin, and not very wide, with the ends simply broken off; or cut so as to resemble a rough break. The other is white-pine, sawn into simple form, well smoothed, and traced with delicate black lines.
This should be also varnished, when it will take a rich yellow tinge, which harmonizes admirably with chromos, and lights up engravings finely."

Another home beautification project was a fern basket...

"To make this fern-basket, take a flat piece of board, sawed out to something like a shield, with a hole at the top for hanging it up. Upon the board nail a nice pocket, made of an ox-muzzle, flattened on one side, or make a sort of basket out of stiff wire. Line this with a sheet of close moss, which appears green behind the wire net-work. Then fill it with loose, spongy moss, such as is found in swamps, and plant in it plumes of fern, and various swamp-grasses. They will continue to grow there, and hang gracefully over. It is only necessary to keep the moss damp, and sprinkle the ferns occasionally with a small broom."
And finally..."a flower-stand made of roots scraped and varnished."

A Womans Idea of what a Kitchen should be , 1870

To begin with, I would have a kitchen well lighted; come, yes a great deal of the broad, expansive sunlight coming in boldly, as if it had a perfect right to be there. That would, of course, necessitate large windows. And then I would give as much attention to the ventilation of a kitchen as I would to a sleeping-room. I would have a large circular device suspended over the cooking-stove, with a hole in the centre, and a tube leading to the top of the house, to carry off the savory smells which the process of cooking generates, and prevent them from permeating the whole house.

For these smells, however savory and agreeable, are apt to take away something from the keenness of our appetite; or, at least, cause us to anticipate something better than the reality. Then I would have a large sink, with a permanent soap-stone or marble wash-bowl for washing the dishes, and another for draining. I would also have an adjustable pipe, leading from the hot water tank to either of these basins. Besides this, I would have sundry cupboards and closets arranged upon the wall, so as to be tasteful and decorative as well as convenient.

Then I would have a space devoted to tiny drawers, such as one sees in a drug store, and labeled in this manner: soda, allspice, nutmegs, cream of tartar, etc., so that at a single glance I could discover just what I wanted, without rummaging to find these things in some out-of-the-way corner, placed there by some careless, untidy Bridget. This would save one a world of care now devoted to instructing every new servant as to all the places of things. Cooking is becoming so complicated nowadays, that one needs all the arrangements, and as many utensils, as a chemical laboratory; and the good architect should give the mater familias a place for everything.

from the May 1870 issue of MANUFACTURER AND BUILDER

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Portable Wainscoting, 1869

Portable Wainscoting

The image shows the product in use on the wall, stairs and floor.
A new product in 1869, strips of wood were glued to a length of flannel cloth. The wainscoting was generally 1/8 inch thick, while that used for flooring was generally 2/3 to ¾ inch thick.
It could be rolled, unrolled and kept on stock for sale like carpets. The wood strips were generally narrower than tongue and groove, and combinations of several hardwoods could be used to a pleasing effect. It was noted that it always required a baseboard.
Used as a floor covering, it could be laid in various ways.
It was described as easy to put up, “being fastened to the wall from the top with a rabbeted moulding or a fixture underneath, and firmly secured by screws or nails through the moulding or nosing to the studding. A rabbeted base secures the wainscoting at the bottom.”
It cost about half the price of tongued and grooved hardwood, and slightly more than oil-cloth, and since it was portable, it could be taken up when the owner moved. It could also be used as a countertop material.
To clean it, it was advised to use a damp cloth once or twice a week.

A Dining Room Ceiling design, 1869

A decorated wooden ceiling for a dining room.

The room is 18 x 22 feet. The ribs are of clear pine, with a head chamfer covered with narrow pine ceiling, headed, tongued, and grooved. These latter are two inches wide. The four small circular centre pieces consist of carvings in wood; likewise the large centre piece in the middle. The panels are bordered and finished with leaf pattern moulding. The various strips are covered with a coating of shallac of a light color, while the ribs are stained of a darker hue. The carved moldings as well as the raised work of the centre pieces are in gilt. The moulding in the panels consists of a half-round, gilt strip. The effect produced by a combination of a little gilt with the natural colors of wood in one of the most beautiful that can be obtained. Of course, in carrying out a design for a ceiling of this description, the side walls are made to correspond.

from...MANUFACTURER AND BUILDER, May 1869

19th C. American Townhouses

The following is information about townhouses in several eastern American cities. Most of it dwells on the houses of 1830, with a bit about the changes wrought in floorplans later in the century. Strictly speaking, 1830 is not Victorian, as Victoria was just a princess at the time. I've tried to stay away, for the most part, on the subject of Victorian exteriors on this site, but I found this segment of a book interesting, as I hadn't found anything like it before.

New York
Exterior of an 1830’s style house, still standing in 1890’s. on the N. side of Washington square.


The New York city houses of 1830 tended toward high stoops. To those unfamiliar with the term stoop, it’s the term for the stone steps leading from the pavement to the front door. A small landing would be found at the top. The stair of 1830 would be built with 8 to 13 risers.
The front was of plain brick, often with white marble lintels and stoops . Others were of Connecticut brown stone.
The design of exteriors and even interiors was simple. The use of extensive plaster or stucco decoration of 30 years before, applied to cornices and ceilings in the Classical style, etc., had disappeared. These elaborate decorations were replaced by one or two handsome details. In many of the houses the doors on the parlor story, and sometimes on the bedroom story, were of mahogany or rosewood veneer. The woodwork around them was of white pine, simply painted white, unornamented.


In both larger and smaller homes, the front basement room served as the dining room.
These town houses were similar to those found in London at the time with one difference. In New York, instead of entering the house on the dining room floor and then going upstairs to the drawing room, you entered on the drawing room floor and went down to the dining room.
The kitchen would be found in the back half of the basement, with closets and pantries dividing it from the dining room. Sometimes there would be a pass-through in the wall between kitchen and dining room, in other houses there would be a door.
In later years, the back yards were dug down so that they were 6 or 8 inches below the kitchen floor, but in 1830 they remained at their original level. Instead, a sunken area was dug out, with stone retaining walls to hold back the earth, and steps leading down into it so that one could enter the kitchen by a back door.

The second floor held a large front bedroom with two windows and an adjoining smaller room. The rear of the house had a similar arrangement . The space between the larger bedrooms would hold closets, called “pantries” in those days.
When city water was introduced, the small back hall-bedroom, as it was called, was often used as a bathroom. The supply of piped in water was generally limited to this bathroom and a kitchen sink.
There were, as yet, no dumb waiters in use, since dining was expected to be done in the basement level next to the kitchen.
A cellar would be found below the basement level. It was generally paved with cobblestones. It would be set up with some shelves and perhaps some “hanging shelves”, which were light wooden platforms, hung by strips of wood nailed to the beams overhead.
Things were stored in the cellars, as there were few attics. This was because there had begun a trend toward building with what were commonly known as flat roofs. They actually weren’t quite flat. they had a very slight incline to drain away rainwater and they were at the time, usually covered in metal sheathing. Access to the roof was by means of a movable ladder.

A house like this, if it had 2 stories of bedrooms above the parlors was called a “two-story house with finished attic”. The parlor story counted as one, the second bedroom story was still called an attic, even if the ceilings were nine or more feet high and there was no slope. Some houses however, did have a slop on the back side roof, making an upper floor bedroom with one 5 or 6 foot high wall on the back and a sloped ceiling.

Baltimore and Richmond


From the plan you can see that the lot was wider, since lot prices were cheaper than in New York.

The front part had one room and the staircase hall , and was usually three stories high with a ground floor 2 or 3 steps above ground level, the drawing room floor and 1 or 2 bedrooms on the 3rd. Floor.
The back section would have bedrooms on the second floor. The back stairs in the kitchen lead to these bedrooms and a sort of attic. Sometimes there were 2 stories of bedrooms above the kitchen wing.
These houses had no water except for a pump at the end of the back yard. Later, when a city water supply was available, the pump was replaced by a hydrant.


The ground floor plan of a Richmond house shows a modified, more expensive version of the above Baltimore house.



Both the Baltimore and Richmond plans show a more spacious and conveniently planned house than the New York model. New Yorkers were stuck with limited space, and therefore smaller, more expensive lots.

Boston

Here’s a plan for a typical Boston town house . Boston had a severe land shortage before they started filling in the Back Bay.

The arrangement of the entrance flight of stairs within the front wall of the house is a Boston feature. The first story was raised 5 or 6 steps above the sidewalk. The front room was almost always used as a dining room, with the back room being the kitchen.
Beneath this floor was a cellar, raised up halfway out of the ground.
The cellar story held the “archway”, which was a way into the kitchen. A delivery boy could ring the bell, and when the door was opened, go down the steep flight of stairs. He’d then go down a corridor, partitioned off of the rest of the cellar, and mount a second flight of steps into the back yard, just opposite the kitchen door.
This was Boston version of the Baltimore or Philadelphia alley. The alley was placed under the house instead of beside it. Some Boston houses kept the street level alley, but built upper stories of the house over it.


This shows the drawing room floor plan of the same house
The room back of the staircase was often arranged as a china closet, which may have meant that the Boston family often dined in the back parlor. There was no dumb waiter, but the author of the source book was inclined to think that since Boston tended to take after London ways, that a maid would probably bring the dishes up and down to and from the kitchen, as they did in London at that time. He espoused the view that “ a New York maid or man would consider quite out of the question“.
This 1830 Boston house would have had no plumbing or water supply except in the kitchen, and no furnace. When city water appeared in Boston, a bathroom would have quite possibly have been fitted into the ground floor extension or upstairs on a bedroom floor.
The cost of this sort of house was about the same as a New York house of the same size, but Boston lots were usually not as deep. Since Boston back yards were much smaller, the laundry was dried on the roof of the one story extension on specially built frames and racks.

This is a view of an old style Boston town house, much like the shown plans, only reversed. The steps leading up to the front door were often of wood because they were partially protected from the effects of the weather. In the very expensive homes, the steps would more likely be stone.



Philadelphia
In the three previous houses the dining room was generally on the floor below the drawing room, but in Philadelphia the living rooms were all placed on the same floor, and this floor was usually at or close to street level.

The Philadelphia town house had access to a back alley that ran the length of the block. Each back yard had a gate into this alleyway through which deliverymen could reach the kitchen.

The front, therefore would have only one door, with no more than 5 marble steps leading to it. The front end of the hall tended to be only as wide as necessary, allowing for a large parlor. The hallway would widen towards the back to allow for the stairs to the upper floor, making the back parlor somewhat narrower. This back parlor was often used as the dining room. Often there would be a pair of facing closets between the front and back room, forming a sort of short passage. Two sets of doors were also sometimes used.
More expensive homes had a larger back building, and the dining room would often be placed there. These larger examples could also have a service or butler’s pantry between the dining and kitchen spaces.
The back building was usually only one story high, so the staircase hall was usually well lit from the windows on the landings.
Philadelphians also had more building room than New Yorkers and Bostonians with more spacious rooms and more natural light.

Rear View of Houses at Eighth and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia.

The house on the left is the corner house on the block. The entrance has been placed on the side street shown here. The long brick wall running along the street encloses a somewhat larger than normal back yard and the back building is larger than most, apparently constructed in 3 sections.
Group of Houses at Third and Locust Streets, Philadelphia; built about 1810.
These houses are from an earlier period.


Double houses
Wealthier families in cities could afford double houses, or houses with rooms on both sides of the entrance hall. Their lots tended to run from thirty-seven to fifty feet in width.
Apparently not nearly as many examples of those were built in New York, compared to cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore. Even crowded Boston had more of them than New York.
C. Astor Bristed, author of The Upper Ten Thousand: Sketches of American Society, put his typical wealthy New Yorker into a house 3 rooms deep and 27 feet wide. He explained that the house stood on a corner lot, and so had windows in the second of the three bedrooms. The author of the source for this article notes that;"anyone who knew New York about 1845, will remember how unusual was the house with four or five windows in one story of its front. Still, such houses were known."
This example of a New York double house stood on Washington Place and in the 1890’s was no longer a private dwelling.



Here is an example of a Boston double house. The lot was about 40 feet wide. A New York double house would be similarly set up, but without the rounded bow window. The windows were described as “swell fronts” and are mainly a Boston feature, though there were a few built in New York.



You can compare the Boston and other houses to the drawing room floor of an old London house.



This shows the first floor, while the entrance to the house would be on the ground floor, together with the dining room. This particular example shows a very long extension because it was used as an art gallery. Normally the extension would only be about 15 feet long.

The Next Step
The next step in the evolution of the new York town house was basically the same plan as the first one shown at the top of this page, with the addition of a vestibule and a back room.
This room was called the "third room," the "tea-room," and often the " extension." This room originally was a one story addition, though later on it became a part of the original conception of the house.

New York, 1860, ground floor
This sketch shows the abandonment of the wall between the two parlors. In place of the wall, we see columns dividing the space. One reason for this was the fact that the central room no longer had windows, so that by removing the wall, it was now part of the windowed front room. At first there was an arch or transom in this divider, but eventually that disappeared leaving one long room, with one centered fireplace.
The back room eventually came to be used as a dining room, and cupboards and a dumb-waiter would be installed in the enclosed back end of the hall.


This photo is from a later period, but happens to illustrate the 2 parlors becoming one with the use of dividing columns. The fireplace in the inner room seems to be unused. The area has no windows. To gain more light, and give the feel of a more open space, the homeowner has installed a set of French doors on the back wall. One opens to the “back room” which has been set up for dining. It’s unclear if the stationary section is clear glass or mirrored.
In older houses, where there were 2 parlors and a back room, the house would be about 57 feet long, but once the two parlors started being replaced with one longer room in newer houses, the longer room tended to shrink to a length of 34 feet or less. The additional 15 feet or so of back room brought the total length to about 50 feet.
At the same time that these changes were being made on the first floor, the upper floors were also extended to the full length of the house, making 3 bedrooms on each floor.
The use of this floor plan predominated in New York for about 30 years
The second floor of an 1860 New York townhouse

The small center rooms were easily equipped with sinks for washing. The passageway connecting the bedrooms was lined with cupboards. The two small rooms could be used either as bedrooms, a sewing or sitting room, or, as shown here, a bathroom.

If the house was deeper, the space between the front and back bedrooms was increased. Often the bathroom would be placed in the middle of the house between the closets. In this case a light shaft was installed for light and ventilation.

Finally, a townhouse plan from 1893


From
HOMES IN CITY AND COUNTRY, Russell Sturgis
1893

VICTORIAN VIEW OF THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE

The house of the 20th c. as described by a visionary of the 19th

The Twentieth-Century Dwelling

The typical dwelling of the twentieth century has not been built yet, but we are near enough to it to be able to forecast, at least in a general way, what it will be like. It will be made of concrete, or some similar material that will be comparatively unaffected by the weather and that will provide thorough protection
against changes in the external temperature. On the outside the building will, of course, be tinted and decorated to suit the taste and means of the owner. Inside it wi1l be given a hard, durable, smooth finish that will not hold dust and that will be impervious to moisture. Not only walls and ceilings but floors will be finished in
this way, and at a moment's notice the furnishings can be taken out and a room or the whole house washed down with a stream from a hose and wiped dry with the utmost ease.
The lighting of the twentieth century dwelling will be by diffusion from tubes of electrified vapor that will give an even and soft illumination all over the house- an illumination that, in many respects, will be better than daylight. But it is in respect to the regulation of atmospheric conditions that the twentieth century
house will possess the most decided advantages over the houses we live in now. The heating and cooling of the air as it will be brought in through screened openings will be done automatically by electricity. There will be electric heaters in winter and refrigerating coils in summer, and the interior of the dwelling, if the occupants so desire, will be kept at an even temperature the year round. Thus it will be possible to have any climate to order- warm or cool, moist or dry - and no doubt the adjustment of these conditions to individual needs will be an important part of the therapeutics of the future. If families cannot agree upon a uniform
climate for the entire house, each member of the family can have the sort of climate he or she requires in his or her individual apartments.
The twentieth-century kitchen will delight the heart of the careful housewife. It will be as clean and perfect in all its fittings as a laboratory for the most delicate chemical processes, and, indeed, it will be a laboratory rather than a kitchen. Cooking by electricity will be an exact science. Along one side of the tiled room will be a series of asbestos-lined doors, with thermometric indicators on each door. Put in your materials properly prepared- that is where the art
will come in- set the thermostat at the given mark for simmering, stewing, boiling or baking, leave it so for a stated time, and there you are! Food cooked to perfection, and no dust, no dirt, no surplus heat, no steam, no odor. Who would not be a cook in the electric kitchen when the twentieth century house shall be built?

this was published in Harper's Weekly in 1896.

MISCELLENY

INTERIORS

A well equipped Victorian kitchen should have a pot board or shelf between the legs of the table. Often equipment also hung on rack above. If possible, a marble topped table for rolling pastry should be included.
Kitchen dressers, or as we would call them in America today, cabinets, were usually built in to the walls of the room or fitted into an alcove. In England they were often painted chocolate brown or bottle green.

Plasterwork was expensive well into the 1700’s, but by the Victorian era it had become the cheapest most reliable finish. Wooden paneling had become a status symbol, and if one could not afford the real thing, one could simulate it with paint effects or anaglyptic paper embossed with wood-grain patterns. The full height paneling of the gothic revival
period was rare for most of the 19th c., because it made the room so dark. Towards the end of the century, with the introduction of electric light, the very wealthy could and did have oak paneling.
The Queen Anne revival introduced a new kind of paneling that was often painted off-white to complement bright chintzes and William Morris papers. They were the smallish
square panels that ran ¾ up the wall with a display rail on top. This was first done in Britain, America lagged behind in returning to painted woodwork.

The ideal for woodwork was the authoritative oak, but since it was expensive cheaper woods were often grained to look like it. Doors were often grained or stenciled to imitate marquetry. Upstairs doors would not be grained.

For door and window trims and other interior woodwork, white pine was often recommended by architects because it was the cheapest. Quoting a source from 1884: “It may be stained, if too light the transparent stains merely darken the wood and do not conceal the natural grain. Under no circumstances try to imitate oak or walnut by graining. Such shams deceive no one and are in the worst taste. If we use paint for interior work let us use it frankly, carefully selecting the color, and avoiding a shiny surface, a flatted or dull finish being preferable“.

Another source, published the same year declared; ‘The panels of doors, etc., may be tinted to give a good effect, It is fashionable just now to lay on a pale French gray to the principal parts of the woodwork, and then make the panels a shade or two darker‘.

I thought it interesting that several books noted that a bedroom should have space for a bed, so that it need not be placed in front of a window or a closet, which leaves one to believe this must have been a not unusual condition.

EXTERIORS

The final quarter of the 19th c was the era of the wide front or side porch, called in those days, a veranda, and it was regarded as a “particular American feature”

From a mid 1880’s source….
“……Naturally the more expensive houses were the first to get the benefit of the architectural inspiration drawn largely from England. But now that English gables and dormers have spread so widely, now that we realize the beauty of our own colonial architecture, and that the Queen Anne craze is subsiding, so that only its best features remain, the less ambitious dwellings must not be left to the mercy of those builders whose ideas of beauty are limited to scroll-saw brackets and French roofs. ……”

“We have discovered that considerations of cleanliness do not require us to paint our houses white, which, even with the addition of green shutters, is hardly satisfactory. “

Writers had been criticizing the monotony of white houses with green shutters, or blinds, for the past 30 years. They would continue to do so for another 30, during which time householders continued painting their houses white with green shutters.

The Gothic style was more correctly known as Pointed, and the Greek was also called Horizontal, though a source from the day pointed out that the American house was built more in the Roman style than the Greek. Moreover, the Italianate style had subcategories like Tuscan and Venetian. During this period of architectural history people were also building in the Colonial, or more properly known, Georgian, the Queen Anne and in something that was referred to in several books as the American style. Just quite what the American style was has eluded me.


In a book published in 1908, the author looked back with modern eyes at the styles of just a few years past.
“The houses of 1880-1900 had only portholes punched through the side of the house wherever there seemed to be a chance to destroy a restful space, and these holes were sometimes accentuated by making all the sash lines invisible from the outside by painting them in dark colors.”

I’ve enjoyed the writings of a noted 19th c American architect, E.C.Gardner.
From 1875

. You may have learned that life is a succession of compromises. Building in New England certainly is. No sooner do we get nicely fortified with furnaces, storm-porches, double windows, and forty tons of anthracite, than June bursts upon us with ninety degrees in the shade. Then how we despise our contrivances for keeping warm, and bless the ice-man! We wish the house was all piazza, and if it were not for burglars and mosquitoes, would abjure walls and roof and live in the open air. Just here is our dilemma. We go "from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strands" and back again every twelve months, whether we will or no, and are obliged to live in the same house through it all. It's really a desperate matter. I've been to the ant and the beasts and the birds. They recommend hibernating or migration, but our wings are too short for the one, our fur too thin for the other!
Seriously, you must not forget to prepare for extremes of climate. Fortunately the walls that most thoroughly resist the cold are effective against the heat. The doors and windows—the living, breathing, seeing, working part of the house—demand the twofold provision. You must have double windows in winter, to be taken off (laid away and more or less smashed up) in summer; outside blinds to ward off the summer sun, which may, in their turn, be removed when we are only too glad to welcome all the sunshine there is. The vestibules—portable storm-porches are not to be tolerated—must also be skilful doorkeepers, proof against hostile storms, but freely admitting the wandering zephyrs.