Spanish Colonial revival style

The Spanish Colonial Revival Style, also known as the Spanish Eclectic style, is a remnant of the traditional Spanish architectural themes seen in Spain's early American colonial settlements.

The traditional elements like clay tile roofs, round arch openings, and carved wooden doors follow the form of the early Spanish missions and are very distinctive. Other ornate decorative features draw from later periods of Spanish architecture and show the influence of Moorish, Byzantine, Gothic, or Renaissance design.

This revival style became popular in the early 20th century after the Panama-California Exposition was held in San Diego in 1915. Exotic-themed architectural revivals (Egyptian, Moorish, Dutch Colonial, Swiss Chalet) were popular throughout the country in the period from 1920 to 1940.

This style was commonly used for houses, mansions, apartment buildings, institutional buildings and churches.

The most common identifiable features of the style include:

• Low-pitched, clay tile roof.
• Round arches at entryway, porch or windows.
• Porch arcade with columns.
• Low-relief carving at doorways, windows and cornices.
• Stucco exterior walls.
• Elaborately carved doors.
• Decorative window grills of wood or iron.
• Spiral columns.
• Multi-paned windows.
• Balconies or terraces.
• Curvilinear gable.

This article was written by PHMC.

--Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

[edit] Find out more

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki:

• Architectural styles.
• Art Deco.
• Art Moderne.
• Arts and craft movement.
• Bauhaus.
• Beaux Arts style.
• Chateauesque style.
• Chicago school of architecture.
• Classical orders in architecture.
• Classical Revival style.
• Colonial Revival style.
• Concept architectural design.
• English architectural stylistic periods.
• Exotic revival style.
• Gothic revival style.
• Italian Renaissance revival style.
• Metabolism.
• Polite architecture.
• Prairie School style.
• The history of fabric structures.
• Tudor revival style.
• Vernacular architecture.

[edit] External references

• PHMC - Spanish Colonial revival