
Full Answer
What is Shingle Style architecture?
Shingle architecture broke free from lavish, decorative designs popular in Victorian times. Deliberately rustic, the style suggested a more relaxed, informal style of living. Shingle Style homes could even take on the weather-beaten appearance of a tumble-down shelter on the craggy New England coast.
What makes a shingle home different?
Many Shingle homes include a distinct parlor room that borrows from old country European interior design. Furniture follows either an English or early American colonial style antique setting, and many of the items are hand-crafted wicker, wood, or a combination of the two.
Is there a Shingle style house in Australia?
Shingle style overseas. In Australia, it was introduced by the Canadian architect John Horbury Hunt in the nineteenth century. Some of his Shingle Style homes still survive and are heritage-listed. Some of his most notable examples of the style are Highlands, a home in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, and Pibrac, in the nearby suburb of Warrawee.
Why do Victorian houses have roughhewn shingles?
The roughhewn siding and the rambling shape suggest that the house was thrown together without fuss or fanfare. In Victorian days, shingles were often used as ornamentation on houses on Queen Anne and other highly decorated styles.

What makes a house shingle?
Shingle Style homes are distinguished by their wood cladding, asymmetrical façades, gambrel roofs, and welcoming verandas. Classic yet informal, the look remains popular for country homes and beach retreats, with current architects adding contemporary influences to the historic aesthetic.
Where did shingle style homes originate?
Developed in New England, the style was most popular in seaside resorts. Although indisputably of American origin, the Shingle Style borrowed liberally from other Victorian styles. Its porches, shingles, and asymmetrical forms, for example, were from Queen Anne.
What is a shingle Victorian house?
The Shingle Style is one of the variations to come out of the Victorian era, with a completely asymmetrical plan similar to that of the Queen Anne Style. The exterior detailing typically completed in wood shingles, added a touch of whimsy exploring and celebrating the natural beauty of wood through applied decoration.
What are New England shingles called?
Blankinship House // c. 1840 The home is clad in cedar shingles, a hallmark of many coastal homes in New England. White Cedar shingles are so popular historically as the species is such a hard wood that pieces are naturally insect and rot resistant and hold up amazingly well to salt air.
What makes a Queen Anne house?
Queen Anne buildings almost always have a steep roof with cross gables or large dormers, an asymmetrical front façade, and an expansive porch with decorative wood trim. A round or polygonal front corner tower with a conical roof is a distinctive Queen Anne feature on many buildings of this style.
What style is Cape Cod?
Cape Cod architecture is one of the most instantly recognizable home styles in the U.S. At its core, an original Cape Cod house is a small, rectangular, unadorned one to one-and-a-half-story cottage with side gables and a steeply pitched roof to keep snow from piling up.
When were Craftsman homes built?
Craftsman homes are an American architectural tradition that emerged and spread primarily between 1900 and 1929. It was a backlash against the mass-produced, Industrial Revolution-fueled Victorian architecture boom that prized ornament and decoration made all the more accessible by new technologies.
What is Folk Victorian style?
Unlike the Queen Anne style, Folk Victorian houses tend to have square, symmetrical shapes with el-shaped projections. But they share characteristics such as a prominent front-facing gable, porches with spindlework, brackets under the eaves and ornate trim.
What defines Tudor architecture?
Tudor architecture refers to the period between 1485 to 1558 when craftsmen built sophisticated two-toned manor homes with a combination of Renaissance and Gothic design elements. This transitional style continued to pop up in villages throughout England until Elizabethan architecture took over in 1558.
What is a Nantucket style house?
0:132:00The Prototype Nantucket Style Home - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThere on a small road on the islands main cliff is a house that is the archetype of Nantucket style.MoreThere on a small road on the islands main cliff is a house that is the archetype of Nantucket style. The home is clad in cedar shingles which turned gray with.
Why do Cape Cod houses have shingles?
The roof and sides of Cape Cod homes are typically covered with clapboards or cedar shake shingles. These are a low-maintenance alternative to modern home siding and protect the house from harsh weather.
What makes a house a Colonial Revival?
Colonial Revival is essentially a mixture of styles, all uniquely American. Varied roof forms such as gabled, hipped, and gambrel signify the style's diversity, allowing a greater degree of adaptation when remodeling than more rigidly defined styles.
What is Folk Victorian style?
Unlike the Queen Anne style, Folk Victorian houses tend to have square, symmetrical shapes with el-shaped projections. But they share characteristics such as a prominent front-facing gable, porches with spindlework, brackets under the eaves and ornate trim.
Why is it called Georgian architecture?
Georgian architecture is a popular style named for the reigns of the first four King Georges of England. These graciously proportioned classical buildings are marked by an understated elegance.
What is Second Empire architecture?
Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, was a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which used elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as iron frameworks and glass skylights.
What defines Tudor architecture?
Tudor architecture refers to the period between 1485 to 1558 when craftsmen built sophisticated two-toned manor homes with a combination of Renaissance and Gothic design elements. This transitional style continued to pop up in villages throughout England until Elizabethan architecture took over in 1558.
What is shingle style architecture?
The shingle style is an American architectural style made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the Eastlake style in Queen Anne ...
What is the shingle style?
The shingle style is an American architectural style made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the Eastlake style in Queen Anne architecture. In the shingle style, English influence was combined with the renewed interest in Colonial American architecture which followed ...
Where was the famous shingle house built?
Perhaps the most famous shingle style house built in America was " Kragsyde " (1882) the summer home commissioned by Bostonian G. Nixon Black, from Peabody and Stearns. Kragsyde was built atop the rocky coastal shore near Manchester-By-the-Sea, Massachusetts, and embodied every possible tenet of the shingle style.
What type of roof do shingles use?
Shingle style houses often use a gambrel or hip roof.
Where did the shingle style originate?
The shingle style eventually spread beyond North America. In Australia, it was introduced by the Canadian architect John Horbury Hunt in the nineteenth century. Some of his shingle Style homes still survive and are heritage-listed. Some of his most notable examples of the style are Highlands, a home in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, and Pibrac, in the nearby suburb of Warrawee. The latter house has been featured in a television commercial. Gatehouse, also in Wahroonga, was not one of Hunt's designs, but is heritage-listed.
When was the Low House demolished?
William G. Low House, Bristol, Rhode Island (1886–87, demolished 1962), McKim, Mead & White, architects. Now an icon of American architecture, the Low House was relatively obscure at the time of its 1962 demolition.
Who were the famous firms that helped to popularize the shingle style?
McKim, Mead and White and Peabody and Stearns were two of the notable firms of the era that helped to popularize the shingle style, through their large-scale commissions for "seaside cottages" of the rich and the well-to-do in such places as Newport, Rhode Island and the village of East Hampton on the southeastern tip of Long Island.
What is a shingle style house?
Shingle Style House (Design Guide) Here’s our shingle style house design guide covering popular architecture features & types. Known and designed for the wealthy in the United States, this “cottage” style home embarks its journey from New England and spans across the country up to the west coast. Back in 1876 when the United States was celebrating ...
When did the Shingle style homes come out?
Back in 1876 when the United States was celebrating the 100 years of independence, the Americans also glorified the newly added Shingle Style Architecture. Reflecting a more relaxed and informal style of living, these homes thrived to become a highly imaginative yet comfortable solution for the population.
Where is Shingle style housing?
One of the best examples of a Shingle Style residence in Washington, DC, can be found in Cleveland Park at 3030 Macomb Street N.W.
What is the Shingle style?
Appearing on the American scene between 1880 and 1900, the Shingle Style is distinctly American in its wood construction typically blending into natural surroundings. The houses were often built on stone foundations that seem to emerge from bedrock. Thus, the massive, horizontal structures appeared to hug the ground. Porches, balconies, and large windows encouraged a tactile interaction with the out-of-doors; today, they evoke a slow and romantic lifestyle that most of us can only dream of. Developed in New England, the style was most popular in seaside resorts. Although indisputably of American origin, the Shingle Style borrowed liberally from other Victorian styles. Its porches, shingles, and asymmetrical forms, for example, were from Queen Anne. Palladian window, gambrel roofs, and complexity of the forms and stone are often attributed to the Richardsonian Romanesque style popular at the same time.
What type of windows were used in a shingle house?
Shingle Style houses had numerous windows, some of ample proportions, some rather small. The typical double-hung window was commonly arranged with a single-pane sash at the bottom and a multipane sash above. For large wall areas, windows were arranged in rows of two, three, or even more. Palladian windows, as popular then as they are today, were a common eclectic ingredient. For the more complex designs, large windows were placed in bays of one, two, or three stories. Transoms or decorative windows in round, square, or rectangular shapes were also used.
What was the roof covered in?
Roofs and walls were covered in shingles, which could be stained, painted, or allowed to weather naturally, depending on the weather and location. Occasionally, the roof shingles would be a different color from the wall shingles. More expensive homes had rough-hewn stone foundations and even stone porch columns and stone walls for the first floor.
Why do shingle homes have porches?
Most Shingle Style homes had porches, possibly because people actually had the time to relax on them. Porch supports were often plain with simple straight balusters used for railings. Other support options were classical columns, shingle-clad columns, or stone supports. All porch designs related in some way to the adjacent wall or trim material.
What is a gambrel roof?
The gambrel roof form, used in nearly one quarter of Shingle Style homes, allowed a full second floor to be incorporated into the steeper roof shape, while giving the appearance of only one floor. Dormers were sometimes used to add visual complexity to the roof.
What is Shingle Home Style?
Shingle Style home design tends to be one of the top three true American home construction designs dating back to the 1800s, and it represents an evolution from the original architecture much of the colonial American cities brought over from England as communities and building styles adapted to American materials, conditions, climate and far more ample space available in terms of land.
When was the Shingle style home made?
First created in the late 1800s, it still evokes the traditional American feeling in residential building. Welcome to the Shingle-style home decor style guide where you can see photos of all interiors in the Shingle-style including kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, foyers, and more.
What color cabinets are used in a kitchen island?
The kitchen is dominated by the pure white shaker cabinets lining the walls and the matching shaker drawers on the large kitchen island contrasted by its black counter. These are then complemented by the beige backsplash and exposed wooden beams of the ceiling.
What is the primary bedroom?
The primary bedroom has a white skirted bed, comfy tufted seats, and a full-length mirror. These are then complemented by the white walls, multiple windows, arched white ceiling and beige carpeting of the floor.
What color is the exterior of a shingle house?
This is a close look at the front exterior of the shingle-style home with gray exterior walls, white accents on the windows and doors along with tall brick chimneys that match the fences of the front lawn.
What is the front of a shingle house?
This is an aerial view of the front of the shingle-style house that has a large lawn, shrubs and tall trees that complement the light-tones shiplap exterior walls of the house along with its various windows, hipped rooftops, turrets and arches.
When did shingles start to fade?
By the 1920s the style was exiting desired builds and began to fade from demand. That said, after the World Wars and a re-focus back into normal life, the Shingle style began to show up again in experiments and retro architecture.
Where was the Shingle style house?
A famous Shingle style house in San Francisco of 1901.
Who is the photographer of the San Francisco shingle house?
Now a wonderful new book from Rizzoli – Shingle Style: Living in San Francisco’s Brown Shingles, by architects Lucia Howard and David Weingarten, and beautifully shot by photographer David Duncan Livingston, opens the door to some of the Bay Area’s most distinctive shingle examples and shows how remarkable these houses remain (disclaimer – yours truly wrote the introduction).
Does shingle live on wood?
Ballard, above, show. Moreover, the shingle lives on in more than wood, such as the all-weather, fire- and pest-resistant cementitious version from the James Hardie Company . Long live the shingle in all its forms and functions!
What is the shingle style?
Shingle Style. A rarefied style in the 19th century, the Victorian-era Shingle Style is one beloved today. Architects cherish the Victorian-era Shingle Style’s grand informality, Colonial Revivalists appreciate its simple forms and classical allusions, and neo-Victorians exult in its embrace of Islamic and Japanese forms alongside Georgian.
Who designed the shingles?
In New England, both H.H. Richardson and William Ralph Emerson were designing in what would become known as the Shingle Style by the 1870s. Many examples are more obviously Colonial Revival, with classical porch columns and Palladian windows.
What was the first modern American house style?
THE SHINGLE STYLE, 1874–1914. THE HOUSES ARE A BRIDGE FROM VICTORIAN TO EARLY MODERN DESIGN. The Shingle Style has variously been described as the first modern American house style, Richardsonian Romanesque done in shingles instead of stone, the first wave of the Colonial Revival, and as a subset of the Queen Anne Revival.
What is the style of wood paneling in a house?
Wood paneling in main rooms is almost universal. It might be raised-panel mahogany to the ceiling in the fine examples. In other houses it’s oak, and in Shingle-influenced seaside or mountain cottages, merely wood battens or beadboard. Built-in window seats and staircase benches, or an inglenook by the fire, contributed to the informal, old-cottage feeling. • Parlors might be done in European or Aesthetic Movement styles; the Colonial Revival formal dining room is a Shingle Style convention. Furnishings included good English and American antiques, lesser pieces removed from the city house, English Arts & Crafts furniture (and wallpaper), Victorian and Mission wicker, and American Craftsman furniture. Islamic carving, Colonial Revival staircases and mantels, and Moorish lanterns were common motifs.
What are hallmarks of shingles?
The Hallmarks of Shingle Style. The Shingle Style was highly interpretive and imaginative, exhibiting a range of motifs from Gothic to Georgian. Furthermore, variants include post-medieval, French Norman, Free Classic or Colonial, and Tudoresque. Certain hallmarks usually apply:
When was the grand staircase built at Naumkeag?
The grand stair shows the generous proportions at Naumkeag, dating to 1886.
Where was the summer cottage style popular?
The genre was born in New England but was popular in the Mid-Atlantic and influential in Chicago and, later, on the West Coast. It is informal and highly imaginative—a “summer cottage” style—and yet the houses were built for wealthy clients.
What is the Shingle style?
Shingle Style has variously been described as “the first modern American house style, “Richardsonian Romanesque done in shingles instead of stone, ” “the first wave of the Colonial Revival,” and “a subset of the Queen Anne Revival.”. As a vernacular style self-consciously rendered by leading architects, it’s hard to pin down.
What are the subtypes of houses that have shingle skin?
Rambling massing, a shingle skin, and an era may be all these houses have in common; medieval, free classic, Norman, and suburban subtypes are evident.
What are the hallmarks of shingle style?
But certain hallmarks apply: Wood shingle skin: Shingles wrap the house, undulating over oriels, corners, and eyebrow windows.
What style of furniture was used in the Colonial Revival?
Parlors might be done in European or Aesthetic Movement styles; the Colonial Revival formal dining room is a Shingle Style convention. Furnishings included good English and American antiques, lesser pieces removed from the city house, English Arts and Crafts furniture (and wallpaper), Victorian and Mission wicker, and American Craftsman furniture. Islamic carving, Colonial Revival staircases and mantels, and Moorish lanterns were common.
What is the Queen Anne house?
The Queen Anne House: America’s Victorian Vernacular. By Janet Foster (Abrams, 2006) Queen Anne, Shingle, and early Tudor Revival houses in this country all owe a debt to the English Queen Anne movement that brought back vernacular forms. With some houses, it’s hard to tell where Queen Anne ends and Shingle begins.
Where were seminal houses built?
From 1879 to 1912, the firm designed over 300 houses in places like Newport, the Hudson Valley, and Long Island. Many were Shingle Style. Here we see exteriors and rooms inside.
Who wrote the Colonial Revival House?
The Colonial Revival House#N#By Richard Guy Wilson (Abrams, 2004)#N#The early years of the Colonial Revival in America and its motifs closely overlap those of the Shingle Style. This is a one-of-a-kind, smart, beautiful volume that includes 275 photos for inspiration.
What is a shingle roof?
Shingles are merely small segments of building material installed above the underlayment, sheathing, and trusses of a roof to beautify and protect your property from outdoor elements. You’ll find they come in a wide variety of materials, each with unique benefits and drawbacks. We’ll cover six types of shingles here and lay out ...
How long do wood shingles last?
Wood shingles are machine-cut from cedar, spruce, or pine to offer a trim yet natural-looking and environmentally-friendly option that lasts 20 to 25 years. Plus, this type of shingle comes at an economical price point: It costs more than asphalt and less than clay/concrete and composite tiles, at $350 to $450 per square according to HomeAdvisor.com. Following installation, it’s easy to power-wash mildew- or mold-ridden shingles, but damaged individual shingles often need to be replaced rather than repaired, and the plywood decking required below the shingles makes them more difficult to replace on your own than asphalt shingles.
How much does asphalt roofing cost?
These types of shingles are the least expensive and most widely available, costing around $90 per square (a roofing measurement equivalent to 100 square feet of material)—not including any additional insulation, underlayment, or labor—and lasting 15 to 30+ years. Of the two styles, dimensional shingles cost half as much and last twice as long as three-tab.
How much does composite shingles cost?
Composite shingles —made of polymer, rubber, or plastic and sold in a variety of colors and styles starting at $300 per square —convincingly mimic the look and feel of shingles made of natural materials such as wood or slate.
How much does it cost to replace metal shingles?
Overall, metal shingles cost more than either asphalt or wood shingles, on the order of $265 to $375 per square. However, you can potentially save money using metal shingles to re-roof by installing them directly over your old, in-good-condition shingles and avoiding the costs associated with the tearing down a roof to start fresh. In addition, both the repair and replacement of individual shingles are DIY-friendly thanks to their light weight (half that of asphalt shingles) and ability to be secured to the roof with just screws.
Which type of shingle is the most energy efficient?
Metal shingles —consisting of aluminum, steel, copper, or an alloy stamped into a variety of shapes—are among the most energy-efficient of all shingle types due to their ability to reflect sunlight rather than absorb it and thereby lower cooling costs.
Can you powerwash shingles?
Following installation, it’s easy to power-wash mildew- or mold-ridden shingles, but damaged individual shingles often need to be replaced rather than repaired, and the plywood decking required below the shingles makes them more difficult to replace on your own than asphalt shingles.

Overview
The shingle style is an American architectural style made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the Eastlake style in Queen Anne architecture. In the shingle style, English influence was combined with the renewed interest in Colonial American architecture which followed the 1876 celebration of the Centennial. The plain, s…
History
McKim, Mead and White and Peabody and Stearns were two of the notable firms of the era that helped to popularize the shingle style, through their large-scale commissions for "seaside cottages" of the rich and the well-to-do in such places as Newport, Rhode Island and the village of East Hampton on the southeastern tip of Long Island. Perhaps the most famous shingle style house built in Ameri…
Characteristics
Architects of the shingle style emulated colonial houses' plain, shingled surfaces as well as their massing, whether in the single exaggerated gable of McKim Mead and White's Low House or in the complex massing of Kragsyde. This impression of the passage of time is enhanced by the use of shingles. Some architects, in order to attain a weathered look on a new building, had the cedar shakes dipped in buttermilk, dried and then installed, to leave a grayish tinge to the façade.
Shingle style overseas
The shingle style eventually spread beyond North America. In Australia, it was introduced by the Canadian architect John Horbury Hunt in the nineteenth century. Some of his shingle style homes still survive and are heritage-listed. Some of his most notable examples of the style are Highlands, a home in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, and Pibrac, in the nearby suburb of Warrawee. The latter house has been featured in a television commercial. Gatehouse, also in Wahroonga, was n…
Examples of the shingle style
• William Watts Sherman House, Newport, Rhode Island (1875–76), Henry Hobson Richardson, architect
• Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island (1879), McKim, Mead & White, architects
• Horseshoe Courtyard, Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island (1879), McKim, Mead & White, architects. Circa 1900 postcard.
See also
• List of architectural styles
• Queen Anne style architecture in the United States
• Victorian architecture
Further reading
• Scully, Vincent. The Shingle Style Today. New York: George Braziller, 1974. ISBN 0-8076-0760-6
• Ike, John and Thomas A. Kligerman, Joel Barkley, with Marc Kristal, The New Shingled House, New York: The Monacelli Press, 2015.
External links
• A Look at Shingle Style Architecture: Reflections of the American Spirit, article at ThoughtCo.
• Definition with examples at Phorio Standards