Architecture Guide

Home features:
Arches
Columns
Dormers
Roofs
Windows
Classic Moulding

Architecture:
Art Deco
California Bungalow
Cape Cod
Colonial
Contemporary
Craftsman
Creole
Dutch Colonial
Federal
French Provincial
Georgian
Gothic Revival
Greek Revival
International
Italianate
Monterey
National
Neoclassical
Prairie
Pueblo
Queen Anne
Ranch
Regency
Saltbox
Second Empire
Shed
Shingle
Shotgun
Spanish Eclectic
Split Level
Stick
Tudor
Victorian

French Provincial - Balance and symmetry are the ruling characteristics of this formal style. Homes are often brick with detailing in copper or slate. Windows and chimneys are symmetrical and perfectly balanced, at least in original versions of the style. Defining features include a steep, high, hip roof; balcony and porch balustrades; rectangle doors set in arched openings; and double French windows with shutters. Second-story windows usually have a curved head that breaks through the cornice.

The design had its origins in the style of rural manor homes, or chateaus, built by the French nobles during the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-1600s. The French Provincial design was a popular Revival style in the 1920s and again in the 1960s.