Throughout the South, no architectural style has endured more than the one we call Georgian. A natural choice for the tradition-minded, Georgian houses are well-proportioned and elegant and bespeak nobility and grandeur. “The style is simple, rational, and easy on the eyes,” says Atlanta-based architect Norman Askins, a master of the modern-day Georgian.
Origins
Georgian architecture was popular throughout the English colonies for most of the 18th century, during the reigns of Kings
George I, II, and III. It is rooted in the classical design principles of ancient Rome as interpreted by Renaissance architectural
scholars, notably Andrea Palladio, who incorporated columns, entablatures, and pediments into his designs and advocated symmetry
and proportion. British architects later studied his work, filling pattern books and influencing carpenters and masons. As
those books and craftsmen arrived in America, the Georgian style quickly took hold this side of the Atlantic.
Characteristics
Often built of brick or stone, Georgian houses typically feature a centrally located entry and a symmetrical façade with windows aligned horizontally and vertically. The façade is understated, with much of the ornamentation congregating around the entry. You might see fluted columns or pilasters
topped by decorative capitals and an elaborate pediment. A row of windowpanes, or lights, sometimes runs above the door. Inside,
the center-hall plan is equally uniform. Earlier rooms are smaller and plainer, but as the 18th century progressed, improved
plastering techniques led to more ornamentation, such as cornice moldings and ceiling medallions.
Georgian Today
When designing a modern-day Georgian home, says Askins, the biggest challenge is making that buttoned-up floor plan meet the
needs of the clients. “People want a big, juicy Georgian, but they want to adapt it to their lifestyle,” he says. For one house, Askins created a façade that recalls the early Georgian period. But as much as the clients loved that sturdy, unadorned look, they also wanted
more light and free-flowing circulation. His solution? Askins enlarged the windows and added a rear loggia to draw sunlight.
And he put columns between the living room and library. “You never would have found that in an early Georgian house,” he says, “but we made the rear late Georgian, so it all worked.”
Residential designer Yong Pak agrees. “Classical houses tend to be very compartmentalized. The Georgian homes I design still have formal parlor rooms,” he says, “but families today live in the back of the house, in the family room, breakfast room, and kitchen, so those rooms feel more open.”
Sizing It Up
“Georgian architecture is extremely simple. It’s usually just a box or maybe a box with wings, so you need to get your proportions right,” says architect Norman Askins. According to Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, the perfect room shape is a square to a
square-and-a-half. Much longer, and the room looks too skinny. The same holds true for arches: They don’t look good if the height is much more than double the diameter. “It’s like etiquette,” Askins says. “If you know the rules, you can occasionally break them.”
JUST THE FACTS
- Georgian style dominated Colonial architecture from the early 1700s to 1780s and was especially popular in the mid-Atlantic colonies.
- It represented the final break from medieval architecture.
- The Georgian style draws from the architectural language of ancient Rome as interpreted by Renaissance architects, such as Palladio, who modeled his designs after the Roman Empire’s monumental civic structures, such as stadiums, temples, and triumphal arches.
- The biggest challenge in designing a modern-day Georgian is overcoming the boxy layout to create light-filled, free-flowing interior spaces.
RESOURCES: Norman Davenport Askins, P.C. Architect, 404/233-6565, www.normanaskins.com; Yong Pak, Pak Heydt & Associates, 404/231-3195, www.pakheydt.com; Tryon Palace, 800/767-1560, www.tryonpalace.org.
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