Arches

centering - the wooden scaffolding that was set up so a true arch could be
made.
flat arch - An arch having a horizontal intrados with voussoirs radiating from
a center below, often built with a slight camber to allow for setting. Also
know as a jack arch.
French arch - A flat arch having voussoirs inclined to the same angle on each
side of the center keystone.
French arch a flat arch having voussoirs inclined to the same angle on
each side of the center
intrados - the inside curve or surface of an arch or vault.
keystone - the central, topmost stone of an arch. It locks in the voussoirs
before the centering scaffolding can be removed. (p. 22 in the window
arches, p. 28 - left window arch, p.38-first floor arches, p. 42 - ornamented
keystones in all arches).
1

lancet arch - A Gothic or pointed arch. (p. 18 - all windows and doorway).
ogee arch - S-shaped double curve in Gothic architecture.
round arch - (False arch) equal to half a circle. A semicircular arch without
voissoirs. Keystones are sometimes used for decoration but has nothing to
do with the structure of the arch. (p.20-both porch doors, p.40-doors and
windows, p.48-dormer windows).
Roman arch (True Arch) - An arch made of voissoirs and a keystone
(p 22 see keystone).
segmental arch - a section of arch that equals the arc of a circle less than a
half circle (p.22-all window arches, p.24-all upper floor window arches, p.28first floor porch arches).
soffit - underpart of an arch, architrave, or overhanging cornice.
spandrel - space between an arched opening and the rectangle formed by
the outer moldings above and to one side - often filled with painted
decoration (p.40-spaces between door and window arches. ( p.38-space
between the arches on first floor).
fretwork spandrels - were made with intricate cutwork, skillfully joined
with Ball & Dowel or Spindle sections. The lacy scrollwork was first handcut,
one piece at a time. Then, Ball & Dowel or Spindle sections were combined
with this cutwork to create just the length required. Installed in positions of
importance. See examples of Victorian fretwork spandrels below:

fan spandrels

Tudor arch - a triangular arch with soft curves at the bottom two corners.
voussoir - (voo-swar) wedge-shaped stone of which an arch or vault is built.
(p. 28 - stones around the right window arch, p. 38 - voussoir-like rustication
around first floor arches, p. 42 - middle level and top level arches have
voussoirs).

Bargeboard/
vergeboard
bargeboard/vergeboard - the extended boards from a gable end-often
decorated in Victorian and Gothic architecture.
(p. 30, p. 34).
bullseye - a small round decorative piece with a smaller circle inside of it
resembling an eye.
chevron - a zigzag molding (like an upside down V) in Norman architecture,
Romanesque.
crocket - decorative feature in Gothic arch, carved in a variety of leaf
shapes and projecting at regular intervals along a spiral or vergeboard.
(p.30).
foil -leaf in Gothic architecture.
gingerbread - a word to describe any kind of decoration on a home found in
such places as the gables, vergeboards, porches, eaves, and around windows
or doors. The decoration is generally created with a sawn scroll work
technique. However, when the word gingerbread is used, it can also refer
3

to homes that are distastefully and gaudily ornamented without much regard
to the specific ornament used. It is a word I would use sparingly because of
its negative connotations. (See sawn scroll work).
mouchette - a teardrop-shaped Gothic tracery design.
pendant - a decorative piece (made of masonry or turned wood) suspended
from a roof or vergeboard: used especially in Gothic architecture (p. 30
-roofing gable tops, p. 32 - atop the two towers).
quatrefoil - four-leafed Gothic design found in tracery.
sawn scroll work- when the scroll saw was invented many decorative
features for homes were made for vergeboards, brackets, tympanums. The
term gingerbread often refers to this type of external architectural
decoration. (p. 34, p. 28 - above dormer windows, second story porch, above
sunburst ornamented window and above arched window).
tracery - elaborate ornamental pattern-work in stone subdividing the upper
part of a Gothic window.
trefoil - three-leafed as in Gothic tracery design.
vergeboard - see bargeboard.

Construction
acropolis - the high, fortified part of an ancient Greek city.
apse - the semicircular end of a basilica, often has a statue within it.
balloon frame - introduced in the 1830s, a system of framing a building in
which wood studs extend in one piece from the top of the foundation sillplate to the top roof plate; floor joists are nailed to the studs and are
supported by horizontal boards. Fell out of style when it was noted that fires
which broke out inside these buildings spread easily upwards through the
walls. (p. 24).
barrel vault - or tunnel vault; a series of pressed-together arches, they were
heavy and had enormous thrust or pressure downward and outward, usually
had heavy walls because of this.
basilica - long halls serving a variety of civic purposed - beginning in
Hellenistic Greece. They became standard in every Roman town for courts of
law.
4

battered chimney - a brick or masonry chimney with sides that are

graduated so that its rectangular shape is wider at the bottom than the top.
bungalow - A bungalow is modest in size and scale; is one or one-and-onehalf stories high;-is low to the ground in appearance; has a rectangular or
square shape; has deep roof overhangs and wide eaves; has a porch across
the facade, in front, and/or on two or three sides; has an exterior typically
composed of different materials; has natural wood related to the region or
area; has colors and tones related to nature and the immediate environment;
is affordable; is integrated with natural materials, colors and forms; is an
example of art combined with form and function. (p. 46 & 47).
buttress - a heave added vertical part of a Gothic or Romanesque cathedral
that contains the outward pressure of the vaults. Eventually these were
separated from the building itself yet still anchored to the vaults and were
called flying buttresses.
cantilever - a beam or other structure projecting from a wall and supporting
an extension to a building, as on a cantilevered balcony or upper store. (p.
50, second story is cantilevered).
cast iron - a hard, brittle, nonmalleable iron-based alloy containing 2.0% to
4.5% carbon and 0.5% to 3% silicon, cast in a sand mold and machined to
make many building products.
cella - the main room of a temple - the narrow hall that ran the entire length
of the temple.
choir - Believed to be the most important part of the church in early Gothic
cathedral architecture. It is the part between the nave and the main altar
reserved for the choir and clergy.
coffer - an ornamental sunken panel, especially in a ceiling. Used to save
weight on domed ceilings in ancient architecture.
coquina - A material used with early Spanish Colonial styled buildings. It is
made of limestone made of shell aggregate the Spanish discovered in 1583.
5

clerestory - the row of large windows in a church, basilica, or cathedral.

column - A vertical, usually circular pillar, generally used as a support for a
beam or other structure, such as an entablature. (p. 16, p. 32, p. 34, p. 44, p.
48, p. 52, p. 58, p. 59).
dome-on-drum construction - The Romans used this method to construct
their domes. The dome section was placed on top of a round drum (like a low
cut cylinder) section which often was placed over a square or rectangular
section.
engaged column - like the reed bundles and wooden supports that came
before them that were set into mud-brick walls to strengthen them.
facade - the front face or elevation of a building. (All buildings have a facade
though some are decorated more than the rest of the building).
furring walls - "Furring Out, " means setting off a new wall in front of one
already built. This provides for dead air space the extra protection of the
surface of the ":furred out" wall. The water proofing of the the builidng wall
and the air space left between is a good guarantee against destruction due
to moisture. Furred out panels can be emplyed by the fresco painter to great
advantage giving her a practical and perfectly safe wall to work on if certain
precautions are taken to ensure a stable and strong surface.
groin vault - or square vault, made by intersecting two barrel vaults at
right angles. The spaces created by this vault were called bay areas. (See
barrel vault)
Greek order columns - Doric (plain capital, fluted, with no base), Ionic (a
capital with opposing spiraling volutes) and Corinthian (ornate capital with
stylized acanthus leaves). (p. 58).
incised - cut into, carved, engraved - used in Greek black figure art.
limestone - An ancient building material often covered with a coat of stucco
to provide a smooth surface and painted.
lintel - a horizontal beam over an opening in a wall that carries the weight of
the structure above. (p. 52).
nave - upper walk of the center track of a church or basilica.
newel cap and post - the end post of a balustrade, the cap is on the top of
the newel; an ornamented post at the top, bottom, or landing of a stairway
that supports the handrail. (p. 16, p. 20, p. 22, p. 24, p. 28, p 32 p. 34, ).
6

order - Greek temple architecture was divided into three orders (Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian), then the Romans added three more (Composite, Roman Doric,
Tuscan). Each order had its own set of proportions and ornamental
requirements (most apparent in its column and entablature) that the
architects had to adhere to. (p. 44 & 59 -Ionic, p. 52 - Corinthian, p. 58 Doric).
palazzo - an Italian palace, or any large extravagant building of a similar
style.
pier - solid masonry supports with no base or capital; Romanesque and
Gothic pillars; the solid support between openings in buildings. ( p. 36, p.
40).
prairie house a house style associated predominantly with the early work
of Frank Lloyd Wright, the design was influenced by the open prairie of midwestern American. The houses featured open plans with a low, horizontal
emphasis.
quonset - a half-cylinder on the ground that is covered with corrugated
metal. The frame of the original 16 x 36 foot Quonset was curved steel T-ribs,
its floor tongue-and-groove and its exterior galvanized. Subsequent design
revisions included flat welded ribs 2 x 3 5/8 inch, lighter plywood flooring,
and a less-visible olive-drab exterior. The standard size came to be 30 x 48
feet plus 4 foot overhangs on each end. Fuller produced more than 153,000
Quonsets for the Navy.In 1941 the United States Navy considered options for
housing men and operations in far-flung stations. The George A. Fuller
construction company, at its facility near Quonset Point, Rhode Island,
produced the Quonset for the navy.

Roman order columns - Composite (capital is half Corinthian and half

Ionic), Roman Doric (similar to Greek Doric), and Tuscan (non-fluted, not
decorated).

saltbox - A type of wood-frame building, one-and-a-half or two stories in the

front and one story in the rear. The double-pitched roof is short in the front
and long in the rear, extending close to the ground.
square-boxed column - a supporting column that is square. The capital
and base are also square and unornamented. Can be found in Federal styled
buildings. (See Ermatinger House in Oregon City).
tabby wall raised by setting two boards on edge. Into this frame was then
poured limeshell mortar mixed with sand and oyster shells. When that
section had set, the boards were raised a level and the process repeated.
Used as a kind of cement to coat Spanish Colonial architecture. Early Spanish
Colonial homes in St. Augustine, Florida, were built of coquina and then
coated with tabby.
thermae - Roman baths
wrought iron - a tough, malleable, relatively soft iron that is readily forged
and welded, having a fibrous structure containing approximately 0.2%
carbon and a small amount of uniformly distributed slag.
villa - A house in the country, often large and luxurious. (p. 20 - modeled
after Italian villa style)
ziggurats: platforms with the temple of the local god on them - shops,
houses clustered around them. Found in Mesopotamia, built by the
Sumerians.

Dormers
eyebrow - roof windows that look like eyebrows.
facade dormer - used in Gothic domestic architecture. It is a dormer that is
featured in the center roofline of the facade. Usually has a lancet window
and vergeboard scroll sawn decor.
gabled or hipped - roof windows that are gabled or hipped.(p. 28-left side
of roof, p. 36, p. 48, p. 50).
shed - a dormer with a flat roof that slopes down from the roof attachment
to the front. (p. 46, p. 54).

Molding
cable molding - molding that looks like rope.
8

drip molding - (eared) a projecting molding over doors, window, and

archways to direct rain away from the opening. The earedextensions at the
head casing trim approximate stone details found in Greek and Roman
Classical architecture. (p. 22 - above most of the windows)
hood molding - a decorative molding over a window or door frame (p. 22, p.
24).
swans neck - a pediment with an open apex; each side terminates in curves
resembling a swans neck.

Ornament
acanthus - a plant found on the shores of the Mediterranean and
particularly admired by the Greeks and Romans for the elegance of its
leaves. Found on many classical designs such as the Corinthian and
Composite columns.
acroterion - A classical ornament or crowning adorning a pediment usually
at gable corners and crown, generally of monsters, sphinxes, griffins or
gorgons, sometimes massive floral complexes.
acroteria - plinths for statues or ornaments placed at the apex and ends of
a pediment: also, more loosely, both the plints and what stands on them.

amorino - ornament from the Renaissance; little Italian chubby naked

cupids.
anthemion - Greek ornament of alternating palmettes and lotus motifs or
two types of palmettes (one open, one closed) usually found on a cornice or
neck of Ionic capital; used a lot in the 1700s.
antefixae - Ornamental blocks on the edge of a roof to conceal the ends of
the tiles.

arabesque - geometric intricate surface decoration; no human figures; has

interlaced patterns.
architrave - the lowest part of an entablature, or the molded frame around
a door or window opening. (p. 59).
Art Deco - popular in the 1920s-30s, decorative arts after the war,
geometric, stylized, derived from Art Nouveau, bright colors, sunbursts,
Egyptian motifs.
Art Nouveau -popular in England in the 1880s. It was the name of a shop
that opened in Paris in 1895 to sell objects of the modern style, a decorative
arts design: flowing expressive lines, whiplash curves, flower and leaf motifs,
female figures with long undulating hair, came from the Arts and Crafts
movement in Britain. It was influenced by Japanese art, Rococo and Celtic
art.
Arts and Crafts - a movement protesting industrialization, infusing the
crafts back into the world we see and live in. (p. 54 -55).
ball flower - three leaves embracing a ball; 14th century Gloucester English
design; also called bell flower.
baluster - It is a small column or a little, round, short pillar that is part of a
balustrade. The word baluster comes from the Italian word blausto or
balaustra meaning the flower of the pomegranate. (p. 16-these balusters are
not bulbous, p. 20, p. 22, p. 24, p. 28, p.30, p. 32. p. 34, p. 48, p. 52).
balustrade - handrail supported by balusters; any of the small posts that
support the upper rail of a railing, as in a staircase or porch rail (See baluster
for examples).
Baroque - started in Italy and Spain, a post-Renaissance style, popular in
Europe in the 1600s - 1750s. It represented dynamism, movement. Baroque
means irregular, contorted, grotesque. This was a time of theatre on a
grander scale. Domes were big, facades were highly ornamented which
found its total cartharsis in the Rococo Period which pushed the style to its
most extreme. (p. 42, see Rococo)

10

Bauhaus A style of architecture that reflected the push towards

functionalism and industrial design. A German design school (1919-33)
promoted this style of modernist architecture and design. It was closed by
the Nazis in 1933. The New Bauhaus opened in Chicago in 1937.
battlements - slotted or alternating solid and open parapet that originally
appeared on castles and other ancient fortified buildings.
Beaux Arts - The American Renaissance period which ran from 1885 to the
1920s that encompassed Italian Renaissance and Neoclassical revival styles.
Ornament and facades were featured in limestone, buff-colored or yellow
brick, and accented with enormous cartouches and sculptural ornamental
works.
belt-course - a horizontal belt formed by a projecting course (or courses)
in a masonry wall for decorative purposes.
(p. 26, p. 38, p. 40).
bracket - a small projection, usually decorated, that supports or appears to
support a projecting eaves or lintel.
(p. 20, p. 22, p. 24, p.26, p.28, p. 30, p. 32, p. 34).
Brutalism This style began in England in 1954 coined to characterize the
style of Le Corbusier and others who were inspired by such buildings.
Brutalism nearly always used concrete exposed at it roughest and handled
with overemphais on big chunky member which collide ruthlessly. The old
Oregon Historical Society Building on the park blocks in Portland, Oregon is
an example of Brutalist architecture.
capital - The head or top of a column or pilaster. (p. 16, p.44, p. 48, p. 52, p.
58 & 59).
cartouche- an oval tablet with an elaborate scroll-carved frame, used as
ornamentation for building moldings, borders, panels, etc. (p. 38)
caryatid - sculptured female figure used as a column to support an
entablature. (p. 42 - on either side of the tower).
corbel - a block of stone, elaborately carved, projecting from a wall and
sometimes supporting a load like the beams of a roof, floor or vault, or
sometimes used for decorative effect only. Also: a projecting block
supporting a beam or other horizontal element. A vault or arch can be
constructed from a series of corbels each projecting from the one below it.
11

cornice - the upper element of an entablature, molded and projecting, or

any continuous molded and projecting cap to a wall or window or door
opening. (p. 16 - along the roof top and around the gable ends making the
gables into pediments, p. 20 roof line porch, and bay window roof lines, p. 22
- along bay window and buildings roof lines, p. 24 - along all roof lines of first
and second floors, p.26. belt cornice under clock, p. 28, p. 32, p.34, p. 38 belt cornices and along roof lines, p. 40, p. 42, p. 44, p. 48, p. 52, p. 58 &
59).
dentils - Greek classical feature of a row of small rectangular shapes placed
closely together beneath the cornice. Teeth-like in appearance. (p. 28 - first
and second floor dentils under cornices, p. 32 - under first floor roof cornice,
p.34 - under cornice of gable second from the left, p. 42 - under cornice of
tower, p.44, under rood cornice, p. 59).
egg n dart - (also leaf and dart, also alpha and omega - beginning and
end) Classical ornamental design that forms a course of alternating oval
shapes and arrows.
(p. 59 - in between the volutes of the capital).
entablature - a feature that is part of an Order of classical Greek
architecture. The entablature is above the capital of the column and
encompasses the architrave that simulates the beam across the columns or
posts, the frieze, an area left plain or highly sculpted or decorated, and the
cornice, the projected border for the roof line. (all the buildings with columns
have an entablature though none are ornate except the Hollywood on p. 42,
p. 58 & 59).
entasis - slight convex curve applied to columns in Classical architecture to
counter the illusion that would otherwise occur of the columns being slightly
concave.
(p. 16, p. 32, p. 44, p. 52, p. 58 & 59).
exedrae - A portico or open room with seats in ancient Greece. Renaissance
architect, Brunelleschi added this to cathedral architecture.
festoon - A carved ornament in the form of a garland of fruit and flowers,
tied with ribbons and suspended at both ends in a loop; commonly used on a
frieze or panel also called a swag. (p. 42 on the right and left sides just
above the marquee).
fleur-de-lis - French lily flower; heraldic flower with three petals forming a
stylized lily.
12

fluted - curved indentations that run up and down along a columns shaft.
(p. 44, p. 52, p. 58 & 59).
fresco - A technique of painting in which paint, generally watercolors, is
applied on fresh wet stucco or plaster, with the colors being absorbed into
the surface.
fret work/key/meander - Greek repeated rectangular pattern design only
using straight lines throughout.
frieze - the middle division of an entablature, below the cornice (all buildings
with an entablature and columns have a frieze though most are not ornate as
they were in ancient times, see p. 58 & 59).
Gothic Revival - This style is the opening act for the Victorian Age. It is a
reflection of the Picturesque movement (an aesthetic point of view
celebrating the variety, texture, and irregularity inherent in nature) that
began in Europe. Gothic Revival buildings often had vaulted ceilings,
battlements, lancet-arched windows and doorways, and tracery (shapes
found on vergeboards and windows that look like cutouts in stone.) Gothic
Revival elements are based on architectural ideas from the Middle Ages.
Gothic Revival was popular in the 1830s and 40s. English architecture,
Augustus Pugin, was the innovative architect of the Gothic Revival style of
architecture. Gothic Revival buildings a featured pointed or lancet doorways
and windows, spire, and vertical features. (p. 18).
Greek Revival - a phase of Neoclassicism that spread the idea of noble
simplicity and calm grandeur."
guilloche - an ornamental border formed of two or more interlaced bands
around a series of circular voids.

impasto - a thick rough application of paint

intonaco - is the old Italian name applied to the last mortar layer upon
which a fresco painting is made. The kind of surface finishing the intonaco
13

should have is a matter of personal taste and often involves the use
particular types of plastering materials and troweling techniques such as a
marble dust intonaco - a dry marble dust is sifted through a 34 mesh or
finer sift and then is miexed with 5 parts lime and 7 parts marble dust, or a
sand intonaco - which is made up from finely sifted banksand (about 7
parts to 5 parts of lime.
Italian Renaissance - popular in 1800s-1920s. This is a revival architecture
directly inspired by the great Renaissance houses of Italy. Many of these
design features were copied from actual Renaissance landmarks of Roman,
Florentine, and Venetian pillazzis and villas, and then translated into
American palaces primarily in our cities.
loggia - passage or gallery colonaded on 1 or 2 sides.
meander -a running ornament consisting of an intricate variety of Greek
fretwork.

modillion - Greek classical feature of large rectangular shapes closely

placed beneath the cornice, that are similar to a bracket in use, although
modillions are purely ornamental as they formalize the look of beams
protruding from beneath the roof of a early wood-framed building. (p. 26under the circular roof, p.38 - under first roof cornice, p. 40 - under roof
cornice).
Neoclassical - This was a time of classical revival in Europe during 1700s
through the 1800s.
oxbow - a large rounded design usually found inside porch posts made of
one piece of wood that is placed on a mold and steamed into shape. (p. 34).
Palladian Revival - 1720s. Palladio influenced a classical revival that
encompassed the ideals of, simple, geometric forms. It was the opposite of
Baroque pomposity. Palladianism launched by Lord Burlington in England
spread to the American colonies and became known as Georgian style after
King Georges.
palmette - A stylized palm leaf shape used as a decorative element in
classsical art and architecture.

14

pergola - covered walk in a garden.

phialai - a Greek shallow bowl with small raised centers (navelsmesomphalic) beneath which the fingers would fit. The shape was Eastern,
where handleless round-bottomed cups were preferred to Greek shapes. In
Greece they were commonly used in pouring libations.
pieta - during a time when emotional appeal and realism was important in
religious sculpture, the pieta (which means pity) was designed to serve
private devotion. It became a contemplation image.
pilaster - a rectangular column projecting slightly from a wall. In classical
architecture it conforms with the order used. (p. 44 - on the left and right
sides, and right behind the portico columns of the facade).
plinth - The square that comes below the base of a column.
Renaissance - a period in history that was the first to become aware of its
own existence and coin a label on itself. People knew they were no longer in
the Middle Ages and had reached a time of rebirth of individualism,
humanism, of intellectual activity, revivals of ancient architectural styles.
The goal was not to duplicate but to equal the great works for antiquity by
studying Classical architecture.
Rococo - Late Baroque era - buildings were whimsical, playful, full of
fantasy, and more lighthearted that the typical Baroque buildings.
Romanesque - a pre-Gothic (pre-1200s) medieval architectural style with
links with the Mediterranean tradition. Round arches were used, and
buildings were solid and heavy like buildings in ancient Rome, hence the
name.
Romanticism - Part of the Enlightenment; the age of reason and the
common good. It was more an attitude of mind than a style of art and
architecture. All revival styles fall into the Romantic Picturesque ideal.
scroll brackets - brackets in the shape of scrolls.
spool-and-spindle - Eastlake ornament of turned wood, shaped like wooden
spools (rimmed cylinders) and spindles (rounded tapering sticks). (p. 30 -

15

under both porch roofs, p. 34 - under first floor frieze and around the window
under the gable second from the left).
sunburst - an Eastlake decorative element shaped like a sun with radiating
rays; often only a semi or quarter circle of the motif is used. (p. 28 - around
the largest window of the facade).
swag - a decoration resembling a garland of fruit, flower, or leaves draped
between two points;a festoon. (See festoon).
triglyph - In the frieze of a Doric entablature, a rectangular block that has
three vertical strips formed by two grooves.
trumeau - a center post supporting the lintel that spans the width of an arch
in a Romanesque portal ensemble.
Tudor Age - This time period includes the styles called Tudor (a style
developed during the reign of Henry VIII in the 1500s), Elizabethan,
Jacobean, and Jacobethan (styles developed during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I and King James I of England during the 1500s and 1600s). These
buildings were derived from English Renaissance buildings of the 16th and
17th centuries. The Jacobethan style refers to the mixture of Jacobean and
Elizabethan styles. (p. 50).
urn - large ornamental bulbous containers often containing floral
arrangements that became a decorative end piece on roofs and newel posts
in classical Greek architecture. (p. 22 - four atop the doorway portico, p. 42 two at the very top of the tower).
Victorian - This style represents a break with the classical restrictions of
proportion and order. The Victorian era was a time of free expression in
architecture. On Victorian buildings you often see a loose interpretive style of
Italian Renaissance design that is sometimes called free classical. Buildings
were highly detailed and were built during the reign of Queen Victoria of
England, hence the name Victorian. (all the buildings from p.16 through p.
36).
volute - A spiral scroll-like ornament commonly found on Ionic, Composite
or Corinthian columns. (p. 44, p. 52, p. 59).
wave or running dog - Greek ornamental design to look like a course of
waves.

16

Roofs
cresting - A decorative fence-like ornament on the ridge of a roof.
(p. 20, p. 24, p. 34).
cupola a small dome, a rounded roof on a circular or polygonal base
crowning a roof or turret. Also, a small, often squarish tower on a roof.
dome a convex covering over a circular, square, or polygonal space.
Domes may be hemispherical, semi-elliptical, pointed or onion-shaped. Also,
a large rounded roof or ceiling on a circular or many-sided base, cupola.
finial - formal ornament at the top of a newel or gable. ( p. 24 - on either
side of the roof cresting, p. 34 - atop all gable apexes).
gambrel roof - a double-sloped roof, characteristic of Dutch Colonial
architecture.
hipped roof - a roof which slopes upward on all four sides . (p. 28 - the
middle roof though you cant see all the sides, p. 32 - second porch roof, p.
40 - low pitched hipped roof, p. 48 - cupola roof, p. 50 - rambling hipped
roof).
imbrication - a pattern or design resembling the regular overlapping of tiles
or shingles.

jerkin head roof/clipped gable - a gable roof, truncated or clipped at the

apex.
lantern - An upright structure on a roof or dome for letting in light and air or
for decoration
mansard roof - a roof having two slopes on each of its four sides; the lower
slope is steeper than the upper. Mansard roofs have dormers in them so that
a usable third floor is created as opposed to an attic. (p. 22).

17

parapet - a low wall used as protection in any location where there is a drop
like at the edge of a roof, balcony or terrac.
rafter An inclined timber which forms the side of a roof, to which the roof
covering is attached..

Siding
board and batten - a form of wood siding for exterior walls, consisting of
long vertical boards and thin strips, or battens, which extend over adjacent
boards or joints (the spaces between adjacent surfaces).
brick work - Stretchers are full-sized bricks, headers are half-sized
bricks, and a course is a single horizontal line of bricks. A bond is any of
a variety of arrangements of bricks having a regular, recognizable, usually
overlapping (or staggered) pattern to increase the strength and enhance the
appearance of the construction.
A running bond or stretcher bond is composed of overlapping
courses of stretchers. This is the most common kind of brickwork we see.

The common bond or American bond has a course of headers

between every five or six course of stretchers.

English bond has an alternating course of headers and stretchers in

which the headers are centered on stretchers. The joints between stretchers
line up vertically in all courses.

Flemish bond has alternating headers and stretchers in each

course, each header being centered above and below a stretcher.

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There are many other kinds of bonds in brickwork. To see these and learn
more about masonry and brickwork, I suggest taking a look at architectural
manuals and masonry manuals in the library or at book stores which will
illustrate and explain brick design work.
clapboard - horizontal or vertical siding that overlaps.
coping - When used to describe architectural features coping refers to the
top layer of a brick or stone wall. It is usually built with a slope to shed
water.
curtain wall - a protective wall around a castle. A star-shaped curtain wall
has six angles projections or alients where the soldiers fight enemies. One
example is Braemar Castle in Scotland. (See below) Currently a curtain wall
is the outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural,
but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can
be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is
used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is that natural light can
penetrate deeper within the building. The curtain wall faade does not carry
any dead load weight from the building other than its own dead load weight.
The wall transfers horizontal wind loads that are incident upon it to the main
building structure through connections at floors or columns of the building. A
curtain wall is designed to resist air and water infiltration, sway induced by
wind and seismic forces acting on the building, and its own dead load weight
forces.

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Another famous star curtain wall is around the Statue of Liberty in the USA.
See Below:

example of a modern curtain wall:

This castle is also a great example of what a turret (from Italian: torretta,
little tower; Latin: turris, tower) is. These are the circular semi-towers on the
corners that do not go to the ground. Turrets were used to provide a
projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the
days of military fortification. As their military use faded, turrets were adopted
for
decorative
purposes,
diamond shingles - ornamental shingles that when overlapped form
diamonds.(p. 32 - on the towers, p. 33 - shingle work above the star, comet
and man on the moon).
diaper pattern - all-over surface decoration of a small repeated pattern
such as squares or lozenges. (p. 28, under roof of bay window on the right
first floor).
dog tooth - a small square decoration that slopes to a point in the middle of
the square.
Eastlake - a style of ornamentation using numerously variegated Victorian
designs including stick work, spindles and knobs, brackets, sawn scroll work,
free classical detailing, Gothic additions, finials, roof cresting, towers and
cupolas, oxbow, any number of scalloped styled siding. (p. 34).
facade - the front elevation of a building.
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free classical - classical ornamental forms that are not constricted to

Classical proportions but are used freely.
gable - The portion above eaves level of an end wall of a building with a
pitched roof. The gable is triangular in form. Sometimes it refers to the
entire end wall. (p. 30, p. 34, p. 36, p. 46, p.48 - cant see these but each
side has a gable, p. 50, p. 54 - cant see them but each side has a gable).
half-timbering - in late medieval architecture, a type of construction in
which the heavy timber framework is exposed, and the spaces between the
studs filled with wattle-and-daub, plaster or brickwork. The effect of halftimbering was imitated by the Stick, Queen Anne, Tudor and Jacobethan
styles-architectural styles fashionable in the 19th-20th C. (p. 50).
herringbone - a decorative pattern of stone, brick or tile that looks like the
spine of a herring with the ribs extended from opposite sides in rows of
parallel, slanting lines.
(p. 30 - siding under first floor bay window).
panel - any flat, rigid support prepared with a ground for painting on, can be
recessed or protruding. (p. 20 - the rounded shapes under the roof of the
house and the cupola, p. 22 - below the bay windows, p. 24 - under the roof
lines and the windows and the porches, p. 26 - between windows of circular
second floor, p. 28 - under bay windows, p. 40 - bas-relief panels, p. 42 - on
the left and right sides over the marquee).
quoin - cornerstone of a building, rising the entire height of the wall, and
distinguished from the main construction material by size, texture, or
conspicuous joining. In masonry construction, they reinforce the corners,; in
wood construction, they do not bear any load, are made of wood and imitate
the effect of stone or brick.
rustication - masonry characterized by smooth or roughly textures block
faces, and strongly emphasized recessed joint. (p. 38 - bottom floor siding).
sawtooth shingles - shingles in the triangular shapes of teeth in a
horizontal row.
scalloped, fish scale, or circle siding - siding shaped like the round
overlapping scales of a fish. The siding may be rounded or segmentallyshaped. (p. 28 - right side of facade, p. 30 - at main gable, p. 32 - on parts of
the tower siding)
shingle - a thin wedge-shaped piece of wood, slate, etc. laid with others in a
series of overlapping rows for roofs and sides of houses.
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shiplag siding/tongue and groove - siding that fits together and doesnt
overlap like clapboard.
stick work - the decorative stick-like pieces of wood placed in diagonal,
vertical, and horizontal patterns of the outside of a wood-frame building;
usually found in gable ends and around windows. (p. 30).
stucco - An exterior wall covering consisting of a mixture of cement, sand,
lime, and water or of cement, sand, and hair.
terra cotta - A red-brown fired, but unglazed clay used for roof tiles and
decorative wall covering. Glazed terra cotta was frequently used for exterior
decoration on buildings of the early 20th century. (p. 38 - siding of lower
floor, p. 42 - some ornaments are made with terra-cotta).
tympanum - the area within a pediment, often decorated with scroll sawn
ornaments, scalloped siding or sculpted figures as in Greek and Roman
buildings. p. 16 - where the gables are, p. 28 - inside all the triangular
pedimented areas, p. 34 - within the upper gables that are also pediments).

Towers
belvedere A tower or turret built for the purpose of giving a view.
campanile - bell tower
cupola house on top - a small domelike structure on top of a roof or tower.
(p. 20, p. 48).
tower - a building or structure, usually round or square in plan and
characteristically taller than its diameter. (p. 26 - the clock tower, p. 32 - two
bell towers, p. 36 - one bell tower, p. 42 Byzantine rococo tower, p. 50).
turret (like oriel window) - a small, slender tower, usually corbelled from a
corner of the building - it doesnt touch the ground.

Windows
bay window - a projecting bay with windows that forms an extension to the
interior floor space. On the outside, the bay should extend to ground level, in
contrast to an oriel window which doesnt touch the ground. (p. 20, p. 22, p.
24 - two story bay windows, p. 28 - first floor on left side, p. 30, p. 34).

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broken pediment - a pediment over a a door, window or on a gable that is

incomplete in the center of the bottom part of the triangle.
dormer - A structure containing a vertical window(or windows)that projects
through a pitched roof and has a roof of its own. (p. 22, p. 28, p. 32, p. 36, p.
44, p. 46, p. 48, p. 50, p. 54).
casement A window frame that opens on vertical hinges. A casement
window contains two such vertical-hinged windows, separated by a mullion.
eyebrow dormer - a dormer that has a bell curve shape on top and a
straight horizontal bottom. It looks a lot like an eyebrow, hence the name. (p.
44).
fanlights-a window, often semicircular, over a door, with radiating muntins
suggesting a fan. (p. 52 - over front door).
lancet window - a Gothic pointed window. (p. 18).
louvered - a window shutter or door fitted with slanting fixed or movable
slats to admit air, but exclude rain, snow, or to provide privacy. (p. 22, p. 48).
mullion - A vertical bar on a window or door that divides and supports the
panes or panels.
muntin - A thin strip of wood or metal that holds the panes within a window.
oculus - round window (p. 28).
oriel window - a bay window that projects from the building above ground
level. In medieval architecture, a bay window is corbeled out from the wall of
an upper story.
Paladian window - a window divide into three parts: a large, arched central
window, flanked by two smaller rectangular windows. It is sometimes called
Venetian window.
pediment - a low triangular gable in classical architecture, surrounded by a
cornice.
sidelights - a framed window on either side of a door or window.
transom-horizontal glazed opening above a door or window. (p. 16 - over
front door,

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For more information about Alice Cotton, her home

portraits, architectural tours and classes, book talks,
and free articles, go to
www.artemisillustration.com
or
Contact
503-254-3173
email: alice@artemisillustration.com
Fax: 503-254-3173
P.O. Box 16331
Portland, OR 97292

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