Maintaining the Integrity of Your Victorian Home (2024)

FAQs

What makes a Victorian house a Victorian house? ›

“Recognizable characteristics are steep, tiled roofs, painted brick, bay windows, and asymmetrical design,” Dadswell says. “Wooden floorboards, plaster cornicing, sweeping staircases, wooden sash windows, and tiled entrance hallways would have been incorporated into most Victorian homes.”

In the U.S., it costs, on average, $350,000 to build a Victorian-style house. Typically, most homeowners spend between $250,000 and $600,000. The average cost per square foot to build a Victorian-style home is $100 to $200.

A Victorian house is any home built during the reign of Queen Victoria (1830-1901). However, 'Victorian' architecture wasn't widely seen until the mid 1800s. Victorian houses built after Georgian and Regency styles faded in popularity during the mid-1800s were more heavily influenced by gothic styles.

Or, nix simple window treatments and opt for heavy drapes instead. Other ways to bring in a bit of Victorian dramatic flair include sticking to fine art instead of modern prints (the more ornate the frames, the better) and bringing in plenty of jewel tones and other dark and intense hues.

The houses were cheap, most had between two and four rooms – one or two rooms downstairs, and one or two rooms upstairs, but Victorian families were big with perhaps four or five children. There was no water, and no toilet. A whole street (sometimes more) would have to share a couple of toilets and a pump.

As the Arts and Crafts Movement began to hit America, critics accused the Victorians of needless complexity and clutter, advocating a more streamlined, handcrafted home. The style fell out of fashion, but is still very prevalent in historic communities around the country.

The Victorian era, thanks to industrialisation, saw a massive expansion of cities and towns, and with it a rise in disease, poverty and unemployment.

Gabled roofs: Victorian houses are designed to draw the eye upward with their steep, gabled roofs. Intricate millwork: If you look closely at Victorian era houses, you'll see the intricate millwork around windows, doors and other areas of interest.

What is the difference between a Victorian house and a Georgian house? ›

Whilst Victorian properties do often retain some of the features introduced by the Georgians, such as a balanced exterior and sash windows, the Victoria era also inherited styles from the Gothic revival architectural movement which really make them stand out from Georgian properties.

Darker & highly saturated colors are some of the most popular and most traditional with Victorian-style homes. Traditionally quite dark, olives, browns, greens, dark reds and maroon were all quite common.

Old Louisville in Kentucky has the highest concentration of restored Victorian homes in the US. Originally called the Southern Extension, Old Louisville was built in the 1870s as a suburb, which was 48 city blocks long and filled with Victorian mansions.

Beach Houses and Mediterranean-style homes are the most expensive in the U.S. and are often found on prime land close to the ocean.

Yes, you can still build Victorian houses. As stated earlier on this page, Victorian technically refers to a period rather than a style, so any home built in the present day would be in the style of a Victorian house.

Features of a Victorian House

The houses usually have two to three stories with steep, gabled roofs and round towers. On the exterior, there are towers, turrets, and dormers, forming complex roof lines as architects sought to create designs that would pull the eye to the top of the house.

Dates: Victorian houses were built between 1837 and 1901 when Queen Victoria was on the throne.

Victorian homes were originally a British architectural style. They originated during the reign of Queen Victoria in 1837 – 1901, which is where the name comes from. This style, although now so iconic in and of itself, actually borrows from many different architectural styles before it.

Queen Anne buildings almost always have a steep roof with cross gables or large dormers, an asymmetrical front façade, and an expansive porch with decorative wood trim. A round or polygonal front corner tower with a conical roof is a distinctive Queen Anne feature on many buildings of this style.