With their roomy size and eye-pleasing symmetry, Colonial-style homes remain one of the most enduring residential architectural styles across the United States. Timeless in design, their exteriors feel at home in every region of the country, and their unfussy interior layouts make them endlessly adaptable to family life.
For these reasons and more, we here at Country Living like to think of Colonial-style homes as the crowd-pleasing apple pie of America’s most popular home styles. And just like apple pie (speaking of, you have to try this Brown Butter Apple Pie recipe!), Colonials have evolved throughout the centuries, and also come in many different shapes and styles.
Eager to learn more? Keep reading for a deep dive into Colonial-style homes, including their key design features and a guide to all the different types.
The history of Colonial-style homes
Perhaps the most important thing to know about Colonial-style homes is that “Colonial” technically refers to a time period, not an exact aesthetic. As European colonists arrived stateside in the 1600s and 1700s, they brought with them the architectural signatures of their home countries. (Dutch Colonials had their gambrel roofs and half-doors, for example, while Spanish Colonials continued the use of stucco siding and roofs of red clay tile.) These styles were simplified and often stripped of purely ornamental detailing due to scarcity of building materials as well as a lack of construction specialists, so a uniquely unfussy American vernacular naturally began to emerge.
Along the eastern seaboard, Colonial-style became most synonymous with English-inspired architecture for a few reasons. As Virginia Savage McAlister noted in A Field Guide to American Homes, “High-style Dutch, French, and Spanish dwellings remained rare in [this] area of the New World, for the Netherlands soon lost their colonies to England, and the centers of French and Spanish colonization were concentrated elsewhere. By contrast,” she continues, “the prospering English colonies of the eastern seaboard began in the early 1700s to import Renaissance-inspired Georgian fashion, which was to dominate these colonies for almost a century before being replaced by the closely related [Federal style] just as the American Revolution brought an end to British Rule.”
During the Centennial Exposition of 1876, a fondness for architecture styles of decades past lead to a renewed interest in Colonial-style homes. Layered in with the advances of the Industrial Revolution and the wealth of the Gilded Age, these new dwellings, dubbed Colonial Revivals, became more elaborate with roof dormers, column-lined front porches, and elaborate front door casing. The style remained popular through the 1950s, and today dots many of America’s suburbs.
Of course, it is important to note that the Eurocentric narrative of Colonial-era architecture does extensively diminish its impact on the native populations that Europeans colonized. In current-day conversations about how colonialism has shaped the design world, more nuanced views as well as recognition of where these architectural styles were and were not applied are needed to paint a more complete picture.
Key design features of Colonial-style homes
As mentioned above, America’s Colonial architecture style evolved to largely become synonymous with English Colonial homes. Key exterior features often include:
- A symmetrical rectangular shape
- A central front door with an equal number of windows on each side.
- A flat front exterior with minimal embellishment surrounding the front door
- Two or three stories tall
- A central brick chimney
- A steeply pitched gable roof with little to no overhang
- Open shutters abutting sash windows
- A minimally embellished exterior painted in a muted color
Interior design features of Colonial-style homes
The interiors of Colonial-style homes also reflect classic sensibilities. Inside you’ll often find:
- Common rooms downstairs, with sleeping quarters and private spaces upstairs
- A central staircase that often lends a formal note to the entryway
- Muted and historically-minded paint colors on the walls
- Millwork around windows, doors, and baseboards
- A first-floor fireplace
Types of Colonial-style homes
There are many different subgenres of Colonial architecture. A few you’re most likely to encounter include:
Saltbox
Most common across New England, a saltbox home is visually defined by a lopsided gable roof known as a “catslide” roof. It typically has two levels in the front, but just one in the back. The rear catslide roof often sits over a lean-to expansion that was added later on, after the house was built. (In these instances, you’ll often notice a slight change in pitch in the back roof line.)
RELATED: See Inside a Cozy Rhode Island Saltbox
Cape Cod
Named for the Massachusetts peninsula where they first proliferated, traditional Cape Cod homes are most often identified by cedar shake shingle siding—oft left unpainted to better weather the salty ocean air—and thick white trim around doors and windows. Half Capes situate the front door all the way to the left or right, with two windows on the other side, while a three-quarter Cape typically situates one window on one side of the door, and two windows on its other side.
RELATED: This Quaint Cape Cod Remodel Has Charm For Days
Georgian
In A Field Guide to American Houses, Virginia Savage McAlester notes that “Georgian is among the most long-lived styles of American building, having dominated the English colonies for most of the 18th century.” These grander homes benefitted from the arrival of more carpenters and building masters later on in the Colonial era, and are typically identified by a tall rectangular shape and a five-ranked window system symmetrically balanced with a center door surrounded by decorative pilasters.
Dutch Colonial
Thank colonists from the Netherlands for this more storybook riff on classic Colonial structure, which typically replaces the steep gable roof with a roomier gambrel style. The half-split Dutch door, which divides into upper and lower halves, was also introduced in America via Dutch Colonial homes.
RELATED: A Postcard-Perfect Dutch Colonial in the Catskills
Spanish Colonial
Common across Florida, California and other regions of America where Spanish Imperialists laid claim to the New World, this distinctive home style is marked by stucco walls, low-pitch red clay tile roofs, small-scale windows, and interior or side-sitting courtyards.
RELATED: This Small Spanish Colonial is Brimming With Big Style
French Colonial
Several narrow door openings (often enhanced with full-length shutters), delicately detailed wrought-iron balconies, and, in rural areas, raised porches underneath hipped roofs, are hallmarks of this Colonial style. It largely faded in popularity after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, but can still be seen in certain parts of the Southeast and, interestingly enough, in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, which was first settled by French Canadians.
Colonial Revival
Believe it or not, the Colonial Revival is actually a sub-genre of Victorian-era architecture, as it largely came in fashion post the American Centennial in 1876. Colonial Revivals benefited directly from advances of the Industrial Revolution and the wealth of the Gilded Age. The often added on roof dormers, columned front porches, and different sized addditions to the central rectangular house shape.
The differences between Colonial- and Federal-style homes
The primary difference between Colonial- and Federal-style homes is when they were built. Colonial houses were built during the Colonial era, when the United States was primarily under British rule, and Federal style architecture marked America’s first period of independence.
Aesthetically, you’ll notice Federal-style homes often appear a touch more polished and formal than Colonials. (That’s because they were intended to mimic the public buildings of the new nation.) Federals are more commonly box-shaped instead of rectangular, and rich red brick siding is more common than clapboard or stone. Curved ornamentation or a transom window may adorn the top of a Federal home’s front door, and the top level of windows are sometimes smaller than the first level.
Sarah Zlotnick is the Lifestyle Director at Country Living, where she covers a little bit of everything—small towns, life in the country, and, her favorite, antiques. A research buff at heart, she loves a deep dive into the history of vintage finds and uncovering the reasons behind old-as-time traditions.
