Bought a book on Victorian architecture in the used book store the other day. So interesting to put a name to architectural features.
The Victorians were very big on ornamentation, even bold decoration, to the point of pure whimsy (the circular tower structure with a “witch’s cap” on top, for instance). Their architecture, therefore, has so much more character than the utilitarian, 20th-century architecture that superseded it.
Do you know what a finial is? A bay window? Everyone know what a cornice is, no?
Three types of architecture worth exploring, in my opinion: Victorian, Queen Anne, and Gingerbread.
