Page 113 - State College, PA Design Guidelines

• 06.28.2018

Appendix B: Historic Architectural

Styles in State College

State College’s historic districts exhibit a variety of architectural styles,
which defines the character of the historic districts. The most commonly
seen architectural styles are described below. Dates, identifying features
and subtypes are included for each style. The information is paraphrased
from A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia Savage McAlester. More
information and graphic examples for each style can be found in the book.
Example photos are included for each style described; some photos are
from State College’s local historic districts and others are from around the
country.

COLONIAL REVIVAL
(1880-1955)

More popular than Tudor Revival, this was the dominant style for domestic
building throughout the country during the first half of the twentieth
century. This style was particularly popular from 1910-1930. A variety of
subtypes exist for this style, and it continues to be used today in many New
Traditional homes.

Identifying features of the Colonial Revival style include:
• Accentuated front door, normally with decorative crown
(pediment) supported by pilasters or extended forward and
supported by slender columns to form entry porch

• Doors commonly have overhead fanlights or sidelights
• Facade normally shows symmetrically balanced windows and
center door

• Windows with double-hung sashes, usually with multi-pane
glazing in one or both sashes
• Windows frequently in adjacent pairs

Nine principles subtypes can be distinguished:
• Asymmetrical: About 10 percent of Colonial Revival houses have
asymmetrical facades, a feature rarely seen on their colonial
prototypes. These asymmetrical examples range from rambling,
free-form houses to simple boxes with asymmetrical window or
porch arrangements.

• Hipped roof with full-width porch: About one-third of Colonial
Revival houses built before about 1915 are of this subtype.
These have a one-story, full-width porch with classical columns,
attached to a symmetrical, two-story house of square or
rectangular plan. Sometimes these are American Four-Square in
form. Two-story pilasters are common at the corners; dormers

CHAPTER 9 • APPENDIX • INFORMATIONAL 107