Learning Center
Glossary of terms
Ashlar - Masonry blocks with smooth faces and square edges.
Bargeboards - Projecting boards placed in the gables, usually with sawn decorative patterns,
Belt course - A continuous projecting horizontal band set in the surlace of an exterior masonry wall.
Corbelling - Brick or masonry courses, each built out beyond the one below.
Cornice - A prolecting ornamental molding along the top of a building.
Facade - The lront wall ol a building.
Oriel - A bay window on an upper lloor.
Palladian window - A window with three openings, the central one arched and wider than the others.
Parapet - A low wall forming the top ol a commercial building's lacade, giving it extra height and concealing
any view of the rool.
Pilaster - a rectangular column prolecting only slightly from a wall.
Quoins - Dressed stones at lhe corner oi a building.
Rusticalion - Masonry using large rough-hewn blocks straight from the quarry or carved to appear so.
Terra cotta - Fired clay molded into ornamental shapes.
Gothic Revival - The most obvious characteristic oi this mid-nineteenth century style is the use ol pointed
windows, steep roofs, a dominant central gable, and spacious verandas. This style was most lrequently
used in American churches.
Romanesque - The dominant motif of this 19th century style is lhe use of a heavy semi-circular ai'ch in all
openings. Nearly always the form is repeated in miniature near the top of the facade.
Italianate - Use of a series ol arched openings characterizes this mid-to-late 19th century slyle, especially
as it is found in commercial buildings. Upper windows tend to be smaller than those below. Olten the hood
at the top of the arched window is ornamented and the arches are segmental, or straight-sided.
Queen Anne - This is the style generally referred to as "Victorian". lt is characterized by the variety ol
textures in the materials used to construct the exterior walls and the use ol several paint colors to empha-
size the variations in shapes, patterns, and surlaces. Extravagant decoration was the order of the day,
roofs had many planes, and some were domed or conical, especially on tower r0oms or turrels. Bay win-
dows and oriels were common, as were second story porches. Chimneys were generally heavily corbelled.
Colonial Revival - A turn-of-the-century style in reaction against the often extravagant Queen Anne, it is
characlerized by symmetrical facades, hipped roofs, restrained trim drawing on classical motifs, and simple
color schemes using only one or lwo light colors, or most lrequently just white.
Bungalow - A small single-story house with one or two gables facing toward the front. This style took the
country by storm shortly after 1900 and continued to be influential well into the 1940s. Commonly found
leatures are wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafters, knee braces just under the eaves, and windows
with several panes in the upper sash and single pane in the lower sash.
AIt Deco - this style dominated the 1920s and 1930s and is associated with big cities rather than small-
lown America. As used on basically very subdued, plain buildings, the ornament tends to be rectilinear,
especially in the use of lluting or reeding to form decorative bands around doors or windows. Geometric
curves, chevrons, and zigzags are also used.
Foursquare - Two story square house with a iully hipped roof and prominent porch,popular from I905 - 1940.
l.house - A symmetrical, two-story house 2 rooms wide and one room deep, with a central hall and often a
central gable in the roof. Popular in the 19th century.
Historic House Styles of Batesville, Arkansas
Batesville Historic District
Perhaps the oldest town in Arkansas, Batesville boasts two residential districts on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as several individual listings. Homes in the districts cover a century of residential architectural styles, from the 1842 Garrott House (above), to the 1940s. In this brochure you’ll find pictures, descriptions, and addresses of eight of the most common styles found in Batesville’s gem box of historic homes.
Homestead
A two-story, “L” shaped house, typically with a front porch tucked between the long and short legs of the “L.” 1880-1900.
Pictured: 828 E. Main. Others are at 737 & 728 E. Main.
American Foursquare
Two-story with block shape, hipped roof with small front gable, wide porch. The block shape and roof give it a symmetrical appearance, but the entry door is typically off center. 1900-1940.
Pictured: 611 E. Boswell. Others are at 255 N. 8th; 1060, 961, 910, 856, 781, 761, & 766 E. Main.
Queen Anne Cottage
One-story, steeply pitched pyramidal roof with gables, asymmetrical façade with porch sweeping to the side. 1870s-1910.
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Pictured: 231 E. Charles. Others are at 686 Brooks, 560 E. Water, and 847, 907, & 927 E. College.
The I-House
Two-story, 4 rooms (2 down, 2 up), central hall with stairway, symmetrical façade, often with a rear addition for the kitchen. Built 1810-1880.
Pictured: 788 E. Main. Others are at 808, 748, & 701 E. Main and at 253 N. 8th.
Craftsman Bungalow
One-and-a-half-story with top rooms under a steeply pitched roof with a small centered gable at the front. Wide eaves with exposed rafter ends. Wide front porch. 1900-1940.
Pictured: 1063 E. College. Others at 731, 868, 1111, 1141, & 1164 E. College, and 215 N. 8th.
Queen Anne
Two-story, steeply pitched irregular roofline often with one or more “witch’s hat” towers, vertical asymmetrical façade with varied treatments (clapboard & shingles), multicolored. 1870s-1910.
Pictured: 658 E. Boswell. Others are at 659 E. Boswell, 283 E. Chestnut, and 919, 843, & 715 E. Main.
Bungalow
One-story house influenced by the Prairie Style: low-pitched roof, wide eaves with exposed rafter ends, horizontal asymmetrical façade with wide porch. Typical interior arrangement has public spaces on one side, bedrooms and bath on the other. 1900-1940.
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Pictured: 948 E. Boswell. Others are at 1211, 1010, 928, 570, 538, & 510 E. Boswell and 1100 E. College.
Romantic Revival Cottage
Cozy homes influenced by “quaint” historic styles including colonial American homes and cottages in English, French, Dutch, and Japanese styles. Some have faux slate or faux thatched or “pagoda” roofs. 1910-1930s.
Pictured: 1138 E. Main. Others are at 1063 & 1038 E. Main; 589, 749 & 829 E. College, and 599 & 661 Bates.
