Building architectural style as a clue to building age:

Here we provide a photo guide to determining the age of a residential or light commercial building by examination of the architectural style of construction or the building materials and components that were used in the structure.

Here we list some helpful clues to answer the question "how old is the house?" and we provide photographs of key visual clues useful for determining the age of a building.

For more details about identifying and dating building or building component see the building component or construction method article links listed at the ARTICLE INDEX the bottom of this article

Photo Examples of Architecture & Style Providing Typical Dates of Construction

The age of a building can be determined quite accurately by documentation, but when documents are not readily available, visual clues such as those available during a professional home inspection can still determine when a house was built by examining its components, building materials, even nails, fasteners, and types of saw cuts on lumber.

Our page top photo shows a Mid-Victorian multi-floor structure built in Hudson, NY, USA ca 1874.

The entire building exterior facade is made of cast iron, including the window parapets and sills and the faux stone exterior walls and corner quoins.

While building architectural styles such as "Victorian" continue to be built into the present, the combination of a recognizable architectural style with an inspection of the building materials which have been used provide considerable information about the age of a home as well as its history of changes and additions.

Article Contents:

• ARCHITECTURE, STYLE, & BUILDING AGE
  • ADOBE STYLE
  • AMERICAN COLONIAL STYLE
  • COLONIAL STYLE
  • DUTCH COLONIAL STYLE
  • EARLY VICTORIAN STYLE
  • GOTHIC REVIVAL STYLE
  • LOG CABIN STYLES
  • NEO-VICTORIAN STYLE

Adobe construction

A traditional adobe structure in Tucson, Arizona in 1990, photo by the author.

Details and more photos of adobe construction, both modern and antique in North America are at ADOBE CONSTRUCTION

American Colonial Architecture ca 1774

The home shown below is the Suffolk Resolves house in Randolph, MA, USA, a historic house built ca 1774.

Photograph of Gothic Revival Style Architecture ca 1840

This is the Justin Morrill Smith homestead in Strafford, VT, USA.

You can see window hardware from this home at  WINDOWS & DOORS, Age, Types.

Photographic Example of Early Victorian Style Architecture ca 1850

This frame building in Hudson New York is dated ca 1850.

We are not sure why "Victorian" is applied to this home based on its exterior, other than the window type and size and entry door design.

Photographic Example of Mid-Victorian Style Architecture ca 1874

This photo shows a Mid-Victorian multi-floor structure built in Hudson, NY, USA ca 1874.

The entire building exterior facade is made of cast iron, including the window parapets and sills and the faux stone exterior walls and corner quoins.

See also

• Waite, John G., AIA, & Margot Gayle THE MAINTENANCE and REPAIR of ARCHITECTURAL CAST IRON [PDF] Preservation Brief No. 27, U.S. NPS, retrieved 2022/10/07, original source: https://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs/27-cast-iron.htm

Photographic Example of Colonial Style Architecture ca 1875

This photo shows a Colonial style home built in Newburg, NY, USA ca 1875. You can also see some of the framing details of this home

at FRAMING MATERIALS, AGE, TYPES and

at SAW & AXE CUTS, TOOL MARKS, AGE

Example Photographs of Neo-Victorian Style Architecture ca 1900

The home shown just above was constructed at 57 South Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie, NY ca 1900 and includes numerous Victorian architectural designs as well as turned barrel stave porch columns made in Brooklyn, NY.

(Later restored by the author, photo above right shows copper-lined eaves trough gutter reconstruction in process.) by 1984 the home had been covered with aluminum siding and indoors ceilings by ceiling tiles and other newer materials that were removed during restoration work.

This house at 57 South Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie, NY and the work at which I am shown pounding away (above) back in the 1980's is shown (in sadly deteriorated condition) below and is discussed thirty years after that job,
at PORCH COLUMN REPAIR or REPLACEMENT

Photographic Example of Modern Dutch Colonial Style Architecture ca 1939

This home was constructed in Poughkeepsie, NY ca 1939. While the basic shape follows a two story Dutch Colonial design, the building exterior has been covered by a PermaStone veneer, probably applied during the 1960's.

Log Home Styles

Log homes (1640 - est U.S.): solid logs usually felled and prepared at or close to the building site, set on ground level, on flat stones on ground, or on a stone foundation, corners joined using various notch and overlap methods.

Antique and pre-colonial log homes and log cabins are described

at ANTIQUE & OLD LOG CABINS as is the sod-roofed home shown just below.

This antique sod-roofed log structure is located in Oslo, Norway.

Below is a more recent but traditionally-constructed log home:

See LOG HOME CONSTRUCTION.

20th century log homes such as this Michigan home are discussed

at LOG HOME GUIDE

Contemporary spline system solid log homes are described separately

at SPLINE & GASKET DESIGNS for LOG HOMES

...

Continue reading at ARCHITECTURE & BUILDING COMPONENT ID where we aid in identification of building architecture, components, and styles, many of which also can help date the era of construction of a building. or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

For detailed guides to identifying building architectural styles and building roof, dormer, window, and other component styles see

• AGE of a BUILDING, HOW to DETERMINE - home
• ARCHITECTURE & BUILDING COMPONENT ID - home
  • ARCHITECTURAL STYLES- Illustrated Guide
  • ARCHITECTURE, STYLE, & BUILDING AGE
  • ARCHITECTURE DICTIONARY of buildings, Components
  • BUILDING AGE & Architectural Style
  • BUILD YOUR DREAM HOME
  • CHIMNEY ARCHITECTURAL STYLES - Photo Guide
  • KIT HOMES, Aladdin, Sears, Wards, Others
  • MOBILE HOMES, Modulars, Panelized, & Factory-Built
  • ROOFS & ARCHITECTURAL STYLES - Photo Guide
  • ROOF DORMER TYPES - Photo Guide
  • SIDING TYPES, INSTALLATION, DEFECTS
  • WINDOW TYPES - Photo Guide

Suggested citation for this web page

ARCHITECTURE, STYLE, & BUILDING AGE at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING ARCHITECTURE

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Or see

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING DAMAGE, DISASTER, REPAIRS

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Citations & References

In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.

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