Tudor

Tudor with half-timbering

As with many architectural styles, the Tudor (more properly, Tudor Revival*) movement was an outgrowth of previous styles, primarily Queen Anne and other Victorian Styles. Tudors built off the Queen Anne style’s unique design versatility, while capturing the fantasy and fairytale nature essential to Victorian and Gothic architecture.

Mostly built in the early-to-mid 20^th century, Tudors are easily recognizable by their steeply pitched, multi-gabled roofs and half-timbered exteriors. Much like the Craftsman movement, Tudor houses were built to fit the environment, hence the steeply-pitched roofs that are well suited for rain and snow. The half-timbering, in most cases, is purely ornamental in modern Tudor houses and are designed to mimic the structures framing. Tudor interiors are renowned for multiple fireplaces, sometimes one in every room, so it is not surprising to see multiple tall majestic stone or brick chimneys standing out above the roof line. The distinctive Tudor exterior comes from the use of half-timbering along with exteriors constructed from the “noble materials”, namely stone, slate, stucco and brick. Roofs often feature “false thatch” in which the roof rolls over the edge to mimic real thatch.

*Tudor actually refers to England’s Tudor Dynasty period of the 1500s. Portland’s more modern Tudor architecture is more accurately referred to as Tudor Revival.

**Disclaimer 2: For the moment, English and Tudor listings will be treated as one.

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