Architectural Styles - Queen Anne

Queen Anne houses grew organically from the inside out, with the inner function and room arrangement giving form to the outer shell. The simple rectangular box of previous years was exploded and replaced by protrusions in the form of balconies, overhanging gables, towers, turrets, and wraparound porches. Asymmetry was the rule, with dormers, gables, and towers extending in all directions. Roofs were steep, with numerous gables, roof-peak ornaments, and different-sized dormers placed asymmetrically. Towers and turrets were round, octagonal, or square.

The main decorative feature of the style was texture, accomplished through variety and contrast in materials and ornamentation. Construction was generally wood frame on brick piers with weatherboard siding, with as many as three or four different types of decorative shingles frequently incorporated into a single design. Porches were supported by turned-wood or classical-influenced columns, the latter often paired and frequently mounted on pedestals. Porches and balcony balustrades were composed of decorative turned-wood balusters.

The above description was taken from "New Orleans Houses, a House-Watcher's Guide" by Lloyd Vogt.


Some Examples of Queen Anne Houses at the Bay
(Past and Present)

502 North Beach Boulevard
National Register # 23

"Ada Villa" Built 1889.1½-story 5x7-bay house with gable roof and central entrance. 3 dormers, 1 polygonal. Bracketed porch posts. Cut-out bargeboards. Shingle enrichment and patterned clapboarding.
(Destroyed by Katrina in 2005)

616 North Beach Boulevard
National Register # 13

"Breath Monet House" Circa 1820 with Queen Anne style additions ca. 1880. Rectangular plan gable-roofed main block with added central gable, polygonal bay and turreted porch. Bracketed undercut gallery. Shingle and scroll-sawn decoration.
(Destroyed by Katrina in 2005)

226 North Beach Boulevard
National Register # 28

Built 1970 Queen Anne cottage reproduction. 1½ 5-bay façade house with undercut gallery, central entrance and gable roof. Survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was restored.

712 South Beach Boulevard
National Register # 73

"Sycamore Hill" Circa 1890. 1½-story 6x2 frame dwelling with irregular plan. Projecting gable with Palladian window. Polygonal bay. Undercut porch. Cut-out vergeboards.
(Destroyed by Katrina in 2005)

107 Citizen Street
National Register #152

Ca. 1880. 1½-story frame dwelling with projecting polygonal bays, recessed central entrance and front-gabled roof. Polygonal bays are also gabled. Main gable contains round-arched windows. Entrance porch with turned valence and balustrade.
(Destroyed by Katrina in 2005)

111 Citizen Street
National Register # 153

1-story 5x3-bay dwelling with central entrance, gable-on-hip roof and undercut gallery. 3-bay porch supported on paired posts with capitals. Area betweren posts filled by arched-wood screens. Spool-turned verge screen. Polygonal bay on side elevation.
(Destroyed by Katrina in 2005)

916 South Beach Boulevard
National Register # 80

"Ballard House" Circa 1850 with Queen Anne and Colonial Revival additions. 1½-story 5x2-bay house with central entrance and undercut gallery. 3 pedimented gable dormers, the central one with turned balustrades, carved arched openings and shingled pediment. Balustraded polygonal bay windows on side elevation.
(Destroyed by Katrina in 2005)

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