In England, they call it "Black and White" for the stripes made
by the timber framing. In America, during the roaring '20s, it was known as
"Stockbroker's Tudor" because of its popularity among the new-monied
set as a statement of conservative good taste. Sparking fresh interest, a recent
book, Tudor Style, offers the first comprehensive look at American Tudor
Revival houses. And a new 15,000-square-foot Tudor Revival house designed near
Annapolis, Maryland, by architect Wayne Good for Bob and Mary Roggio attests
to the enduring popularity of the style.
Newfound prosperity gave birth to the original English Tudor architecture,
which spans the reign of Henry VII in 1485 to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.
Coming on the heels of the Gothic movement, the houses gained popularity among
the nobility who no longer felt the need to live in fortified castles. In fact,
the oak-paneled Tudor was a step up -- cozier and more elegant than a Gothic
pile of stacked stones.
In the 19th century, having fallen for the style's inherent romanticism and
craftsmanship, Victorian poet and designer William Morris, among others, helped
spark an English revival in the vernacular style. And during the early decades
of the 20th century, the style crossed the Atlantic. Developers constructed
entire Tudor neighborhoods in wealthy, fast-growing suburbs, such as New York's
Bronxville and Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill.
"Tudor style became popular in America as a means of suggesting ancestral
ties to England," explains Good. In the United States, it was -- and still
is -- popular for many reasons. In such a young nation, the houses add a patina
of age even to new neighborhoods. Informal and often rambling, Tudor-style houses
conjure associations of aristocracy, unstudied wealth, and genteel country living.
They're also very romantic. "People just fall in love with Tudor houses,"
says Good.
Visits to the English countryside fed the Roggios' infatuation with Tudor
style, which actually began amid the stately old Tudor manors of Main Line and
Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia. Searching for a place to retire, the couple bought
9 wooded acres bordering a saltwater creek near the Chesapeake Bay and hired
Good, an authority on eclectic residential architecture of the '20s and '30s
-- including Tudor Revival -- to design their home. They even tracked down the
same stone, called Wissahickon schist, that gives the Tudor houses of Philadelphia
their unique character. Flecked with mica, this native gray-brown stone "catches
the light and glimmers at sunset," says Good.
In the process of developing the plan for the Roggios' house, "we looked at both authentic English Tudor and American Tudor Revival houses," says the architect. "The result is a kaleidoscope of the most desirable elements from each."
