TO THE WINDOOOOOOW- Just to look, calm down.

This is a post about windows and doors.That's probably weird to you, but I often use windows to figure out what time period or style a house is.

It's not always accurate, as over the 100+ years these guys have been around, the doors/windows I look at have been swapped out (probably accidentally), but looking at the front usually helps me determine at least a starting point for age and style. 

Let's go back to the beginning. That's always a nice place to start.

Of course we know the French and Creoles were here building houses first. The Creoles used a mixture of French and Spanish styles on their houses (and American later on- even though they basically despised them). This was around the early 1700's.

French doors always point me back to..well, the French. Creoles used these doors on their Creole cottages and you can of course see them around the French Quarter and the Marigny on different style structures since that's where they resided. NO AMERICANS ALLOWED over here! 

I wouldn't say that the Creole did anything differently for their windows or doors, but I can give you a little tidbit on their chimneys. So, you can tell the American cottage and the Creole cottage by the chimney placement. If it's in the middle, that's a Creole. If it's on the outer wall of a house, that's an American. The image listed below ("American" even though it's in the FQ- I have a feeling this one has had some work done) is the closest thing that I'm trying to show you against the image seen above (Creole). 

Once you got out of the French Quarter, Marigny areas and got to the other parts of town where it was a melting pot of folks, things got interesting. Over time, lots of different styles and shapes started to appear. 

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Next we've got your Greek Revival period, which was around the 1830's (this is about the time you started seeing shotguns in the area, too). 

One way to tell if it's Greek Revival is to look for a Greek Key surround on a door. A lot of the times the cornice above the windows are pretty plain (flat), especially when compared to the buildings in the two Victorian Periods. Below are some images of the Greek Key. You can especially tell from the wall that separates the kitchen from the living area in the photo on the right (from the newly restored Straight University building on N Claiborne- going to be 3 condos and wow- what a historic treat!). Once you have identified that shape, you will be able to tell from a door way of the front of a house if that's the style or not. The front door (festive!) is from the Garden District. 

Side note: we were around for both periods, y'all. Some might say I'm a purist, but they're different, so I like to separate the two. High Victorian from (~1862-1880) and your Late Victorian (~1880-1900).

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's run through a few of those. 

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Second Empire (High Victorian ~1870-1885):

These are easiest to tell because A) they look the most like a haunted house and B) that ROOF! I love a Mansard Roof. Always makes me feel like the house is wearing a hat or has bangs or something. Anyway, it's a favorite of mine. I did a post about the house on the right in particular a while back. 

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Italianate (High Victorian~1860- 1885): 

I always think the Italianate houses look so elegant. They're busy, but not too busy like an Eastlake or Queen Anne. An easy way for me to tell if it's Italianate is by looking at the windows are doors. Typically, if they're arched (this is where people mismatch stuff- windows and door along a single floor must match), it's a pretty good bet that the house is in Italianate style.

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Eastlake (Late Victorian ~1880s-1905):

I feel like you've heard me talk about Eastlake SO much. It's a favorite of mine. Not just because it's pretty, but because it's also named after Charles Locke Eastlake who HATED the style of housing. He was absolutely NOT a fan of attaching wood pieces to the front or sides of a house. He believed that furniture (which is what this is modeled after) should all be cut from one piece of wood. His book is hilarious. It's from the mid 1800s and he's one of those who says "things just aren't made like they used to be!". If only he could see us now. I'm sure he's rolling over in his grave. 

You can see that some of the later styles are mixed. The first house has Italianate style windows and doors. So much to keep track of, huh? The houses during the Victorian Periods tended to mix and match details, so you'll see the same types of things on a larger Queen Anne house or on a Bracket style home, too. 

I also apparently love yellow because this is the third yellow house i've posted on this post.... 

The railing around the porch (balustrade) looks eerily similar to chair legs, doesn't it? 

Not sure if you can tell on the top photo, but if you look at the center, open part of the roof, there's sunburst panelwork going on in that space. Also popular during that time. I like all of the details that can be included in an Eastlake. 

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Queen Anne (Late Victorian ~1880-1905):

Do you like towers and turrets? I do! The Queen Anne is a magnificent piece of work. Stained glass, turrets, wrap around porches (verandas), dormers and more. You name it, she's probably got it. 

The Queen Anne can be a small cottage or can be a massive home like the photo pictured above. Love the shingle work on the smaller cottage found on Camp Street Uptown. Love that porch. 

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Bracket Style (Late Victorian ~1880-1905):

This one is easy to tell: It has brackets on the front. They're found in nearly every part of the city. This one is from the Marigny and they're in the French Quarter and Uptown, too. Very popular. Can have a porch or not. Just pay attention to those 

I think that's a pretty good amount of info for you, so hopefully i've helped you to be able to narrow down what you're looking at in the city.