When it comes to 19th-century American architecture, few styles flirt as shamelessly with the dramatic as the Italianate. With its towering proportions, bracketed cornices, and flourish-for-flourish’s-sake ornamentation, this style is the architectural equivalent of a romantic period novel—part poetry, part posturing, and thoroughly irresistible.
Popular from the 1840s through the 1880s, the Italianate style swept across the U.S., dressing everything from city row houses to rural farmsteads in arched windows, bold eaves, and just the right amount of Renaissance revival attitude. Inspired by the rambling villas of northern Italy (filtered through British picturesque theory and American ambition), it was less about historical accuracy and more about vibes: elegance, drama and domesticity.
What’s So Special about Italianate?
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Italianate and its distinctive features. Clients in Hudson, NY, just purchased an 1870s “Tuscan Revival” villa, and together we’re beginning the process of respectfully restoring and updating it for its new 21st-century family. Here are some of the style hallmarks these houses typically have in common:
- Prominent tower, evoking the romanticized image of Italian villa architecture and providing vertical emphasis
- Tall, narrow windows, many with arched or curved tops, a reference to Italian palazzi
- Brackets (or corbels) under the eaves and at the tops of columns—one of the most iconic Italianate motifs demonstrating the Victorian obsession with ornamental detail embellishing every surface
- Decorative window crowns or hoods adding refinement and more vertical emphasis
- Round oculus window nods to Renaissance design
- Ornate entry porch with arched openings, echoing arcaded loggias
- Bay windows and projecting facades that add space and light to the interior and a sense of movement to the exterior
- Low-pitched roof that extends well beyond the walls
Why Did Americans Fall So Hard for the Italianate?
A few reasons:
- Pattern books by tastemakers like Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander Jackson Davis made Italianate homes easy to visualize and even easier to build.
- Industrial milling meant brackets, spindles, and hood moldings could be mass-produced and delivered by rail—pretty, portable, and proudly made.
- And frankly, it looked expensive (in a good way). Even modest homes could wear Italianate flourishes like costume jewelry—instantly more refined, a little more worldly.
Perhaps most importantly, in the hands of reformers like Downing and Davis, the Italianate style became a symbol of social uplift, promoting domestic architecture as a means of cultivating moral virtue, tasteful living, and a more harmonious relationship between people and the built environment. Embracing this style was not only good for one’s status, it was good for the soul.
Preservation with a Light Hand and a Loving Eye
Now, 150+ years later, many Italianate homes have weathered multiple renovations, many layers of paint, porch removals, and misguided attempts at minimalism. If you’re lucky enough to be the steward of one, here’s the golden rule: preserve the panache.
Start with the signature details:
- Keep the brackets. If they’re missing, replicate them based on neighbors or ghosts of shadows under the eaves.
- Respect the windows. Those tall, narrow frames with curved tops are the style’s calling cards. Avoid swapping them for squat vinyl rectangles unless you want your house to cry itself to sleep.
- Don’t flatten the façade or cast out the cornices. Bay windows and other projecting features are essential to the Italianate’s depth and drama. Resist the urge to streamline.
Inside, don’t fight the verticality. Ceilings soar for a reason—let the space breathe. And when modernizing, remember that simplicity can still complement ornamentation. Think clean lines around the historic details, not over them.
A Legacy Worth the Maintenance
Preserving an Italianate house is not just about saving fancy trim. It’s about honoring the values and aspirations of past generations…and the belief that even a small-town home could channel the grandeur of an Italian villa. Every scroll-cut bracket expresses unapologetic striving towards an ideal of domestic beauty.
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AUTHOR KATE WOOD grew up criss-crossing the country in the family’s Volkswagen Bus, visiting house museums, battlefields, Main Streets, and national parks. Today, she is an award-winning preservationist, real estate broker and principal of the full-service historic rehabilitation consulting firm, Worth Preserving. Kate believes in the essential value of old-building stewardship to sustain community character. For her, each property is a cause and each client a fellow advocate. She specializes in matching people with properties, skilled contractors, historic tax credits and other benefits to support top-tier rehabilitation projects.
