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19th Century Vernacular

Built by early settlers in the Evanston area, these houses are simple frame structures and farmhouses.  These early buildings generally do not fall into any distinct historic style and although many have been altered, it is still possible to find good examples. 

Vernacular homes are generally sheathed with wooden clapboard siding, have gently sloping uncomplicated roofs and little to no ornamentation. The early farmhouses of the area, built by immigrant farmers from Germany or Luxemborg, often featured a first story which was built of brick with the second floor having a wooden clapboard exterior.

Dutch Colonial Revival
(A Vernacular Style)
These homes are primarily characterized by gambrel roofs, roofs with curved eaves along the length of the house, often resembling a barn.  Most are set up as one and a half or two stories.  Shutters are commonly found on all the windows and exteriors are often wood shingles, clapboards, or brick.  This style became popular beginning in 1900 through World War II. 

English Cottage
(A Vernacular Style)
The Tudor and English Cottage style is notable for its steeply pitched, cross-gabled roof. Decorative half timbering is common in the gable and second story. Windows are usually tall and slender and have multi-pane glazing. You'll often find very large chimneys decorated with ornate chimney pots.  Common exteriors include brick, stucco, stone, and wood shingles.  Asymetrical floor plans are common in these one and a half to two story homes.  Rooms throughout are often irregular in size.

French Provincial
(A Vernacular Style)
Beginning during the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-1600s, the French Provincial home is noted for its steep gable roof with dormers.  This style had revivals during the 1920s and 1960s.  With all of these homes you'll find balance and symmetry, and often have brick exteriors.  Common front entrances are rectangle doors set in arched openings.  Tall second-story windows often have arched tops.

New England Colonial
(A Vernacular Style)
The New England Colonial is two stories, and can often be seen with the second story overhanging the first.  Windows most commonly have shutters and you'll find exteriors to be clapboard or a shingle or a combination of clapboard and brick or clapboard and stone.  These homes have steep roofs with side gables, and large chimneys.  The windows are usually small in size and you might commonly find diamond-shaped panes.  One of the most distinguishing features on these homes is that exterior ornamention is simple or nonexistent.

Bungalow (1900 - 1925)
The bungalow actually originated in India.  Most of the Evanston bungalows were built here between 1910-1940.  Most commonly they were built with bricks and were one and a half stories.  If a second story was added, it was generally a half story to give the home a one-story look.  Enclosed sunrooms and porches are prevalent in these homes as well as a massive chimney.  You'll find wide projecting roofs which usually show exposed rafters ends.  In the Chicagoland area, most bungalows sit on a narrow lot and the gables are parallel to the street.

Tudor (1895 - 1925)
The architects at the beginning of the 20th century began borrowing styles from 16th Century England during the Tudor period, where this style received its name.  These homes were fairly accurate reproductions of the English ones, but were equipped with modern plumbing.
Arches are common over the entrance and sometimes over first-floor windows.  Exteriors can be brick with stone trim or exposed framing which is much more common.  Very steep roofs, chimneys decorated with patterned brickwork, and bay windows are also common of this style.  The floor plans are generally irregular with wings and the homes are often at least two stories.  Some also have towers and turrets.

Italianate (1860 - 1874)
Balustrated balconies are common in this architectural style, which were the first residences in Evanston of any size and ornamentation.  Architects borrowed from the Italian country home to develop these models that are generally symmetrical, but can also be L-shaped and wrapped around a square three-story tower.  Roofs are either gabled or gently sloping.  Distinctive wide eaves with brackets are popular and you'll see the frequent use of polygonal or square belveders on top of the roofs.  Exteriors are often clapboard, brick, stone, or smooth stucco. 

Queen Anne (1882 - 1900)
This style is often more romantic or feminine in nature, yet started during the industrial revolution, when Queen Victoria reigned in England.  Builders named the style Queen Anne because associated that queen with elegance.  The Queen Annes have wood, brick, or stone exteriors, often in combination, so you'll usually see a variety of different walls.  Roofs have many intersecting gables, and many have turrets.  Windows come in many shapes and sizes and bay windows are popular.  These homes feature different towers, turrets and have irregular plans.  Noted for elegance, the details in these homes are usually classical and tend to be small in scale.

Shingle (1885 - 1895)
Shingle style homes evolved from the Queen Anne style.  They have shingles throughout the exterior of the upper and ground stories with a simpler style than the Queen Anne.  With these homes you'll find less variety in color.  The lowest story is generally not shingled, but has stone coverings and sometimes brick.  Windows are grouped generally in horizontal bands and are small paned.  Details are very subtle if there are any, and the architecture is strikingly geometrical.  A horizontal emphasis is common.

Chateauesque (1890 - 1900)
Based on the French chateau style from the 1400s, this architecture generally features vernacular buildings with spires, elaborate towers and roofs.  They're always built with masonry construction.  Archways are seen in doorways and windows and the chimneys are oftentimes extremely elaborate.  The roofs above the turrets take on a cone-like fashion.  The roofs have many dormers and are often surmounted by metal railings.  Another common factor in these homes are their vertical proportions.

Classical Revival (1895 - 1910)
Taking notes from Greek buildings, many details were copied in the architecture of these buildings.  With the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 held in Chicago, there was a revival of interest in classical architecture.  These buildings usually feature Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian columns.  The columns and other ornate details are most commonly white of masonry construction.  Roofs are generally gently pithced and heavy looking compared to later styles.  You will not find archways on any of these buildings, but rather styles that are much more symmetrical and formal.  Porticos are often a central feature.

Georgian and Federal Revival (1898 - 1930)
These homes were built in Evanston between 1910 and 1930.  Features that make them distinguishable from colonial period houses of the similar style of the early 1800s are elaborate front doors, often with decorative crown pediments and overhead fanlights and sidelights.  Machine-made woodwork that had less depth than earlier versions contributed to the overhead lights. Symmetrically located on either side of the front entrance, window openings were usually hung in either pairs or threes instead of as single windows.  A palladiun window can also be commonly used as a front focal point.  Other common features of these homes were side porches or sunrooms. Also distinctive in this style are multiple columned porches and doors with fanlights and sidelights.  A lot of these buildings were built with red bricks and white trim.

Prairie (1897 - 1914)
This style of home was the first in America that did not get its root from the Europeans.  Architects using this model believed they were living in a new age where they needed to use new expressions so this style was created based on the reduction of shapes and forms to their most essential.  Frank Lloyd Wright was probably the most recognized architect of this time and his house designed at 2420 Harrison can still be seen in Evanston.
These homes generally have low roofs with large eaves.  Horizontal bands of windows with wooden casements are common and stylized geometric patterns in leaded-glass windows are another feature often found in these homes.  Chimneys are not prominent, unlike many of the other European styles. 

Victorian Gothic (1866 - 1870)
This is a revival style that used medieval forms.  Pointed and bay windows are very common and wooden clapboard siding is one of the most popular exteriors used.  The entrance is not centered in these homes, but rather located to one side of the front facade.  Roofs are steep and sloping and generally have a prominent central gable that's carved and decorated.  A lot of the homes have clover-shaped windows and grouped chimneys.  Architects stressed the qualities of truth and reality in their buildings.  A common example of this style is the Frances Willard Rest Cottage, located in Evanston.