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GEORGIAN:

Emerging Affluence

As the colonies prospered, residents developed a propensity for higher standards of comfort and style. Beginning in the early 18th century, a more formal architecture emerged: Georgian, named for the four Georges of the House of Brunswick who ruled England from 1714 to 1830.

Like many other things, this style of architecture came to America by way of England – through books and with the growing waves of masons, carpenters, plasterers and joiners emigrating to the New World. By 1720, the majority of finer houses along the Eastern Seaboard were being built in the Georgian style.

“After the first cares for the necessaries of life are over,” Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1763, “we shall come to think of the embellishments.” Georgian architecture reflects the Colonies’ emerging affluence.

The Crocker House Tavern on Route 6A in Barnstable and the Winslow Crocker House on Route 6A in Yarmouthport are examples of Georgian architecture. Built around 1754 by Cornelius Crocker, purportedly one of the wealthiest men of his day on Cape Cod, the Crocker House Tavern was once owned by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England), but was sold in the 1960s and has since reverted to a privately owned lodging establishment, available for group rentals. Along with the Winslow Crocker House, it exhibits many original features. Built in 1780 by a wealthy trader and land speculator, the Winslow Crocker House is owned by Historic New England and is open to the public for tours. It is an extraordinarily well-preserved example of the architecture of the period.

The symmetrical shape of the Georgian house represents a departure from earlier Colonial “accidents of internal asymmetries or of evolutionary growth,” writes Hugh Morrison in his book Early American Architecture. The Cape Cod house and the saltbox are examples of “evolutionary” styles, built and expanded as suited the homeowner’s needs.

In contrast, the Georgian style is deliberate and formal. It makes a statement. Or, as Morrison writes, “It stands tall against the earth, rather than appearing to grow out of it.”

Its stately front entrance generally features a paneled door flanked by pilasters carrying cornices or pediments. Above the door might be a rectangular transom. Interior doors are also paneled.

Georgian houses almost universally feature double-hung windows with pulleys, cords and counterweights. Early Georgian windows are divided into many small panes, or lights, 18 to 24 per window. Later in the century, the six-over-six window became the standard. Dormer windows were also used, primarily to permit attic rooms.

Georgian roofs are generally lower in pitch than earlier Colonial roofs. While the gabled roof remained popular, the pyramid-shaped hipped roof became the darling of the period.

Colonial construction materials in the 1700s remained largely unchanged from the 1600s, but they improved in quality and increased in quantity. Brick became a signature building material during the Georgian period, especially in public buildings. Christ Church – Boston’s Old North Church – built in 1723, stands as an example of early Georgian architecture. Frame construction with clapboard siding remained common, though, especially in smaller, more modest buildings. New England, particularly, adhered to the wood-building tradition.

Georgian houses reveal the greater wealth of the period by the larger number and size of the rooms. House plans of the period typically feature floors two rooms deep, separated by a central hall. First-floor rooms include a kitchen, dining room, library/sitting/drawing room and parlor. The second floor accommodates bedchambers. In New England, the kitchen was usually placed in a separate ell in the rear with its own stairs. For all the grandeur of Georgian architecture, sanitation remained primitive. Without running water, outdoor privies remained in general use.

Because fireplaces were used for heating rather than cooking in this period, they are smaller and shallower than their Colonial predecessors and often ornately trimmed. Wood trim and paneling were used liberally. The wide-board floor of oak or pine was replaced with polished hardwood floors of narrow, matched boards.

Stairways changed dramatically in the Georgian period. The narrow, steep stairs of the Colonial period gave way to wider, more gradually ascending stairs. The stairways are often well lighted with high ceilings.

Fine white lime plaster replaced the old sand and shell or horsehair plaster. Plaster ceilings covered ceiling timbers, left exposed during the Colonial period. Plaster walls were either white-washed or painted. Historical documents indicate that paint colors such as deep red, blue, olive, black and ochre were commonly used.

Landscaping also changed to reflect the architecture. Untidy, rambling Colonial gardens gave way to structured gardens with clipped boxwood and yew. It became clear by the mid-1700s that the Colonists had not only established themselves in America, but had also arrived.