Architectural Styles

Queen Anne

A number of the earliest houses in the Park Hill Historic District were designed in the Queen Anne. This style has its roots in the English architecture of the 1860s, when architect Richard Norman Shaw rejected the repetitive nature of Renaissance-inspired design and the light-colored stone or stucco facades then found on most buildings. Instead, Shaw and his followers designed asymmetrical buildings with projecting and receding facade planes, eccentric roofline silhouettes, and dynamic textured facades of brick, stone, and terra cotta. This style began to become popular in America in the 1880s. While it was frequently used on urban homes of masonry construction, it gained widespread popularity on suburban dwellings, often exhibiting an asymmetrically-placed tower, steep sloping roofs, front porches (often asymmetrical or curved), projecting bays and oriels, complex patterns or small square panes in the upper sash of double-hung windows, tall chimneys, and recessed loggias. Facades were often clad in a mix of clapboards, square-cut shingles, and novelty shingles. By the time that development began in Park Hill, the popularity of the Queen Anne was waning and few pure examples of the style were erected here. Rather, features of the style, notably the corner tower, are frequently found on Shingle style and Colonial Revival style homes.

Shingle Style

The Shingle Style was popular for the design of early buildings in the historic district. The style developed in America in the 1880s and 1890s as an outgrowth of the Queen Anne style and a new interest in American Colonial design. Architects who first began using the Shingle Style, with its large expanses of shingles on facade elevations and roof slopes, were among the first to examine seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century American Colonial buildings and they adapted motifs from these structures to their late-nineteenth-century residential designs. At its most sophisticated, Shingle Style homes are volumetric masses, with sloping roofs, with the entire structure clad in natural shingles. At Park Hill, Shingle Style houses often have a Queen Anne or Colonial Revival components, as well as rock-faced stone bases, derived from the Romanesque Revival designs popularized by Henry Hudson Richardson. The rock-faced stone bases frequently extend into the first story. Square-cut shingles cover the rest of the exterior, The houses often employ asymmetrical towers, front porches, complex roof slopes, windows in various shapes (including eyebrows) and a use of bays and oriels. Subtle Colonial-inspired ornament may be incorporated. on the facades.

Neo-Georgian and Neo-Federal

The largest number of homes in the historic district employ some form of American colonial massing and detail. Interest in America's colonial and early federal heritage was sparked by the centennial celebration in 1876, but colonial motifs did not begin to appear in architecture until about a decade later after architects, including Charles McKim and Stanford White, undertook sketching trips through New England and the mid-Atlantic states and began incorporating eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century architectural forms into their new buildings. By the 1890s, and especially in the early decades of the twentieth century, "colonial" architecture became the most popular source for American suburban homes. Houses designed in the Neo-Georgian and Neo-Federal styles tend to be relatively academic examples of the use of Colonial forms; i.e., buildings that are closely modeled after eighteenth-century Georgian and late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Federal design. These buildings tend to be rectilinear structures with symmetrical massing, a central entrance, columnar porticos or porches (occasionally two-stories high), symmetrically arranged windows with multi-pane sash, and peak or hip roofs with dormer windows. Many of these buildings are faced with brick, often laid in Flemish bond, while others are clad in clapboard; a few are clad in shingle. ‘Wood houses were almost always painted white. Neo-Federal structures tend to employ more elegant, attenuated forms than Neo-Georgian buildings. On many buildings the Federal style fanlit entrance is combined with eighteenth-century Georgian features.

Colonial Revival

Far more common in Park Hill than the academically-inspired Neo-Georgian and Neo-Federal styles are more generic Colonial Revival homes. In fact, the Colonial Revival was the most popular style for American suburban houses in the early twentieth century. Buildings in this style often freely mix motifs borrowed from mid-eighteenth-century Georgian and late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Federal design, as well as from the Greek Revival architecture of the 1820s and 1830s. Colonial Revival style structures are often asymmetrical and freely employ Colonial motifs including columnar porches; pilasters; multi-pane, double-hung, sash windows; entrances with sidelights and transoms or fanlights; balustrade railings; hip, peak, or gambrel roofs; hip, peak, gambrel, or swan's-neck dormers, etc. The buildings often also have towers (a holdover from the Queen Anne style), as well as rounded and three-sided, angled bays and oriels. The houses are almost always clad in clapboard or shingle or a mix of the two. Occasionally stone or brick is incorporated into the design, and, on rare occasions, brick is the major facade material. Because the style remained popular for so long, different features are apparent over time. For example, houses of the 1920s tend to be smaller and more symmetrical in their massing; few have towers.

Dutch Colonial Revival

In New York and other sections of the country with a strong Dutch heritage, Dutch Colonial Revival style buildings began to appear in the early twentieth century. The defining feature of these structures is a steep gambrel roof, with the slope often beginning above the second story level. The roof slope sweeps outward to form a pent eave (an eave with a ski-jump profile) over the first story, often extending, on the front facade, to form a porch. The roof slopes are often pierced by the projecting second story and they may also support dormers, although dormers were never employed on actual Dutch Colonial structures. Quaint details such as Dutch doors (doors split horizontally in the middle), builtin benches at the entry, and quarter-round windows on the side gables are also sometimes used on these buildings.

Neo-Tudor and Related Styles

Suburban homes designed in styles inspired by old English architecture were second only to American Colonial-inspired designs in popularity in the early years of the twentieth century. The most common English-inspired style employed at Park Hill is the Neo-Tudor. The most prominent feature of this style is the use of stucco and faux half timber, usually limited to the upper story gables. Unlike medieval Tudor buildings, in which the timber was actually structural, the timbers on Neo-Tudor buildings are almost always merely decorative. The materials on the lower stories of Neo-Tudor buildings varied, and includes brick, stone, or wood. In addition to stucco and half timber, Neo-Tudor buildings often have casement windows, with either leaded-glass or steel mullions; porches supported by posts, often with brackets; steep roofs with slate shingles; carved wood bargeboards; and tall chimneys with terra-cotta pots.

Large Neo-Tudor buildings were erected in Park Hill at the turn of the century. By the 1920s, smaller, homier structures were being erected. These smaller Neo-Tudor homes have stucco or brick and stucco facades, asymmetrical massing, entrance doors hung from heavy iron brackets, steel casement windows, and other medieval-inspired details. Many of these homey dwellings lack the medieval-inspired detail that defines the Neo-Tudor, but retain the asymmetrical massing, use of contrasting materials (brick, stucco, stone, and clapboard), use of steel casement windows, and other features inspired by English residential design. These English Cottage style houses are usually small, picturesquely massed structures.

Closely related to the Neo-Tudor style is the Neo-Elizabeth style. This style was relatively rare in suburban houses since it tends to lack the picturesque quality of the Neo-Tudor. Neo-Elizabethan style homes are often massive structures with rough-textured stone siding. While some of the ornament is similar to that on Neo-Tudor homes, Neo-Elizabethan houses often contain classical ornamental details and strapwork decoration.

Arts and Crafts

In the early twentieth century, some architects and clients rejected the use of historical styles, opting instead to erect homes in which the massing and use of materials were paramount and on which there was little applied ornament. These Arts and Crafts houses, inspired by the writings of Gustav Stickley, especially in his Craftsman Magazine, are often low-lying, asymmetrical houses that, if the plot was large enough, sprawl on their sites. The buildings are often faced with contrasting materials, including rock-faced stone, clapboard, and shingles. The shingles are sometimes applied in three-course bands. Windows are generally varied in shape and often include both casement and double hung sash. Multi-pane windows are common, as are windows with complex sash patterns.

Arts and Crafts Bungalow

The most popular form of Arts and Crafts house in Park Hill is the Arts and Crafts Bungalow. Bungalows were popular during the early decades of the twentieth century because they tend to be relatively small and affordable. Although the bungalow is often associated with the western United States, they were also extremely popular in the east. As Craftsman Magazine noted in its March 1909 issue, "The California bungalow may be and is easily adapted to Eastern climate requirements without losing in the least the peculiar features which make it so attractive and so popular." The most notable feature of the exterior of the bungalow is the steeply sloping roof, generally exhibiting a broad sweep that extends over the front porch; the roof slope is pierced by the second story. The roof frequently has deep eaves supported by brackets. Other common features are wood shingle or clapboard siding contrasting with rock-faced stonework; broad, short windows or bands of windows; doors and windows with their top moldings aligned; battered enframements, multi-pane windows; and heavy porch posts.

Mediterranean

American Colonial and English-inspired architecture were not the only historic styles favored for suburban homes. The Mediterranean style held great appeal in the 1910s and 1920s. Houses designed in this style borrow features from both the architecture of southern Europe and, occasionally from the American southwest. Mediterranean houses are generally symmetrical in their massing. They are almost always faced in stucco, have multi-pane windows, and hip or peak roof slopes covered in red Spanish tile.

Mission

Closely related to Mediterranean and Arts and Crafts buildings are houses designed in the Mission style. The most prominent feature of Mission style homes is the use of "Mission" gables; that is, gables with multiple curves that rise above the top story of the dwelling and are capped by an arch. Mission style homes almost invariably have stucco siding, as well as heavy, deeply shaded porches with thick piers, and multi-pane windows.

Other Styles

Since Park Hill was developed during a period of widespread architectural eclecticism, houses designed in other styles can be found in small numbers within the district. There is one large house that typifies the Neo-Renaissance style. Neo-Renaissance style houses are almost always symmetrical and often have stucco siding and open terraces. The homes are extensively ornamented with Italian Renaissance-inspired ornament around the entrance, on window spandrels, along the roofline, and elsewhere. Ornamental details can include balustrades, cartouches, lion's heads, griffins, cornucopias, classical moldings, etc.

Medieval and early Renaissance motifs were not the only English forms that were revived in the early twentieth century. In the 1910s and 1920s Neo-Regency homes also appeared. These houses were modeled after the architecture of early nineteenth-century Britain. They are often faced in brick or stucco and have steep roofs with slate shingles. Most prominent, the buildings have porches, porticos, verandas, bays, and/or oriels capped by concave roofs.

French architecture was also a popular source for revival architecture. Although there are few French-inspired buildings in Park Hill, there are several buildings in the French Cottage and French Chateau (or Chateauesque) styles. French Cottages resemble English Cottage design, except that the roof slopes are generally extremely steep and they are usually clad with flat red shingles. These homes also tend to have textured facades, with contrasting stone and brick. French Chateau style homes also often have textured facades and steep roofs. The houses almost always have round corner towers with steep conical roofs and the roof slopes are almost always clad in heavy, rough slate shingles.

Landscape Architecture

It is not only the houses themselves that create the character of the Park Hill Historic District. Many natural features are extant and provide the district with its rustic character, In addition, the designers of these subdivisions carefully planned the lot layouts, road patterns, and other features to complement the natural topography. Among the natural and planned features that contribute to the character of Park Hill are the curving streets, often laid out to preserve the natural contours of the site; the preservation of many boulders and rock outcroppings; the use of natural bluestone sidewalks and bluestone curbs, rather than concrete which had generally supplanted bluestone on urban sidewalks by the late nineteenth century; the extensive employment of rubblestone retaining walls; the use of cast-iron street signs, one of which survives at the northeast corner of Alta Avenue and Rose Lane (cast by Pentreath & Fink of Yonkers), and the preservation and careful planting of trees. Increasing the park-like feel of the district, created by the extensive plantings, is the presence of many landscaped side lots. This is an unusual feature of Park Hill, created because the lots are relatively shallow and homeowners had little open space in their rear yards. Owners who wished to have large gardens or open space generally purchased several lots, placing the house on one lot and creating large side gardens. Although some of these side lots were sold off for development in the post-World War II period, many survive and add a distinct character to the district.