Italianate
After the Greek and Gothic Revival movements began to wane, the Italianate style, from which the American Foursquare would eventually be born, came along and ushered in a new architectural period. 
Italianate or the Tuscan-style emerged out of the competition between the Classical (Green, Roman) and Gothic styles. As the Gothic movement began to slow, those still leaning towards the picturesque moved towards the Italianate style with its American reinterpretation of Italian Renaissance villas. Italianate homes were generally constructed with local materials and the style could be adapted to fit most any budget. New technology allowed cast-iron and press-metal decorations to be easily and inexpensively created, allowing the new Italianate homes to be highly decorated. Italianate became, arguably, the most popular style of the mid-to-late 1800s and came in everything from modest town houses to extraordinarily ornate mansions of wealthy land barons and captains of industry.
The houses themselves were generally defined by the use of single or paired decorative brackets under wide cornices. Generally two or three stories and topped with relatively flat or hipped roofs, bay windows were common , as were stuccoed brick chimneys with elaborate chimney caps.
NW Portland Italianate
*Today most of the Italiante homes have either been torn down or turned into commercial buildings. Downtown SW Portland still has a number of these classic buildings, but the majority are now used for businesses or as apartments. At one time, though, SW Portland’s architectural landscape was dominated by the romantic Italiante style.
Stylistic elements:
- Symmetrical or asymmetrical
- Two story polygonal bays
- Low-pitched, hipped roofs or flat veranda roofs
- Arched or round topped windows
- Verandas
Agent Profile
Jesse Knight
Principal Broker
Rose City Real Estate
971-219-4939
1291 11th St.
West Linn, OR 97068