| Queen Anne style homes are often easy to spot, | | | | use high-pitched, irregular roofs, spindles and lookouts, |
| but hard to define. It's partially that elusivity combined | | | | decorative structure elements such as columns, and |
| with distinctness that makes the style so attractive | | | | covered balconies. Many Queen Anne homes also |
| to buyers and preservationists across the nation. | | | | employ stained glass, turrets, half timbering in the |
| Queen Anne homes are often referred to as the | | | | gables similar to the Tudor style, and patterned |
| most ornate buildings of the Victorian era, and | | | | masonry. Different sub-styles of the Queen Anne |
| combine a variety of aesthetics and building methods | | | | movement include Spindled, Free Classic, |
| from the late 1800s and early 1900s. | | | | Half-Timbered, and Patterned Masonry. |
| One of the reasons Queen Anne architecture looks | | | | While generally very attractive, Queen Anne homes |
| so different from other styles is that it was generally | | | | are often derided as being excessive, or |
| only used on houses. While other styles like Gothic | | | | "ginger-bread" like. It's true that Queen Anne |
| Revival and Federal were being adapted for | | | | architecture was the product of a rapidly changing |
| commercial buildings, churches, and public institutions, | | | | era, and many of the homes included features never |
| Queen Anne architecture was specifically made for | | | | seen before, so the criticism holds some weight. |
| upscale houses and mansions, using the latest | | | | The name for the Queen Anne style is often |
| materials and methods of the machine age. Another | | | | attributed to an 1852 novel by William Makepeace |
| developmental difference between Queen Anne and | | | | Thackeray entitled "The History of Henry Esmond, |
| other styles is that it didn't tend to draw on past | | | | Esq., A Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Queen |
| eras, but instead produced a new building school that | | | | Anne," which was popular for decades in the English |
| helped set the stage for 20th century homes. | | | | speaking world. By contrast, stylish and modern |
| The defining characteristics of the Queen Anne style | | | | furnishings from the historical reign of England's |
| are many and not always consistent, but there are a | | | | Queen Anne, came to be classified in a style known |
| few key elements. In general, Queen Anne homes | | | | as "William and Mary. |