Homes Design 1920s

Table Of Content

• Houses of the 1920s-40s
• What are the common problems of 1920s houses?
• Roman Architecture – An Inside Look at Ancient Roman Buildings
• Bath Details for a Vintage Look
• These 7 popular 1920s house styles dominated home architecture trends back then
• Favorite fifties funnies: 50 popular comic strips from the 1950s

For some ten years after the end of the First World War, the shortage of labour and the high price of materials limited the amount of building that went on. Only by the end of the 1920s did the level of activity increase and then become a boom. In 1919, there were eight million homes in the UK; by 1939 there were 12 million.

Houses of the 1920s-40s

In a sequence of stepped verticals, the limestone façade rises over its neighbors. The vertical pattern of lines created by aluminum spandrels emphasizes the building’s height. The center main entry has a stunning two-story sunken entryway with a gold and blue clay sunburst. Initially, the entryway opened to a pedestrian shopping arcade that ran through the middle of the building. The structure is topped with a four-sided clock tower inscribed in neon with the word “Eastern” and topped with a central chimney flanked by four stylized flying buttresses.

What are the common problems of 1920s houses?

These particular 1920s house styles were among the most popular — Colonial, Dutch Colonial, Tudor Revival/Half-timbered, Italian, Modern English, Spanish, and Western Bungalow. There are many styles of historic homes built throughout the years, some very simple in design and others maximizing every possible detail. Here at OldHouses.com we will attempt to document architectural house styles and examples to inform and assist you when identifying a historical home. If you have a good example of a house style and would like to feature it on our site, let us know about it and we will gladly include it in our style guide. Victorian houses are architecturally commonly referred to as a Victorian Style but this "style" is really a period in history. The Victorian era dates from the time when Queen Victoria ruled Britain (1840 to 1904).

Roman Architecture – An Inside Look at Ancient Roman Buildings

The design was most often utilized in the United States for office spaces, government facilities, theaters, and railway stations. Art Deco was occasionally blended with other forms; for example, Los Angeles City Hall has a ceiling inspired by the ancient Greek Mausoleum, and the Los Angeles railway terminus has a combination of Art Deco and Spanish mission architecture. Built-ins designed and constructed on-site; reclaimed beams, doors, and floorboards; and the surviving shiplap give the new spaces a broken-in look. A front porch railing now sets off the painstakingly restored windows and barrel-vaulted portico.

Bath Details for a Vintage Look

At the Paris Exposition Internationale, the architect Albert Van Huffel’s final design earned the grand architectural award. Even though construction was interrupted due to the two World Wars, this Art Deco-style church was built to honor the 75th anniversary of Belgian independence. In a ceremony on the Koekelberg hill on June 29, 1919, King Albert I and a vast throng pledged their allegiance to this commitment.

Design Through the Decades: The 1920s

This style is particularly adapted to narrow lots, and allows the living room to extend all across the front of the house. An application of classic principles of architecture to the home, it bears a close relationship with Colonial houses. It has, however, an advantage over the Colonial home in that the floor plan is not forced into a rectangle. Each of these 1920s homes tells its own story and showcases the creativity of the era. Below, we have reprinted an excerpt from a vintage architectural guidebook published in 1927, the Book of Home Designs, by Charles Lane Bowe.

A red, barrel tile roof is something of a must, as are dark wood doors and windows. Highly distinguishable thanks to its wide, double-pitched roof that changes pitch from wide and flat at the top to almost vertical – this is often known as a ‘gambrel’ or ‘barn’ roof. Narrow dormer windows are common, as are two chimneys – one on either end of the house. This was a style that spanned several decades, starting during the 1600s and lasting until well into the 19th century. A Gothic home can usually be spotted by the half-timbered and stuccoed second story. It is relatively uncommon and some charming effects, both inside and out, can be obtained by an intelligent use of its principles.

Remember that popular musical with the catchy title I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change? That conundrum turns out to apply to not only many couples but also more than a few homeowners. Also, you may find an abandoned chimney peeking above the roof, but no fireplace in the home. When a 1920s family only used electricity for a refrigerator, a radio, maybe a water heater, and a few lights around the home, the size of the electric service coming into a home was smaller. Service is rated in amps, which is a measure of the amount of current flow/workload the system can handle. This leaves you without modern shock-protection in the wet areas of the home, like the kitchen and bathroom.

Favorite fifties funnies: 50 popular comic strips from the 1950s

Buildings of the design featured rounded edges and long flat lines; they were usually always white and reinforced concrete, and they occasionally included nautical characteristics like handrails and portholes that mimicked those on a ship. The lobbies of government facilities, theaters, and especially office complexes were the grandiose displays of American Art deco interior style. The interior was vibrant and bright, with sculpture, murals, and intricate geometric designs made of glass, marble, ceramics, and stainless steel. Detroit’s Fisher Building was an early form; the foyer was lavishly adorned with art and ceramics.

“After the First War, there was a sea-change in interiors,” writes decorative-arts historian Dan Cooper. Prior to Leibovitz's purchase in 2019, the Bolinas farm was owned by Warren Hellman, a San Francisco financier and founder of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival. He converted an unused farm building on the property into a music studio and another into a music venue to host private concerts.

Monday night fires damage two 1920s-era Palm Beach homes - Palm Beach Daily News

Monday night fires damage two 1920s-era Palm Beach homes.

Posted: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

So while a bungalow can be a Craftsman in its architectural elements, not all Craftsman houses are bungalows, as they might have more than one story. However, distinguishing between the two can be complex, as the terms are often conflated and the stylistic elements intertwined. It is a flexible style, can be executed equally well in siding, shingles, stucco and brick, and can be designed to look well on any size lot.

Many movie theaters have been converted into multiplexes, while others have been rehabilitated and are now used as community cultural centers. It became a genuinely cosmopolitan design in the 1920s and 1930s, with instances such as Mexico City’s Palace of Fine Arts and Tokyo’s National Diet Building. The Art Deco aesthetic was not restricted to land-based structures; the ocean liner SS Normandie, which made its first voyage in 1935, had Art Deco architecture, along with a dining room with a roof and décor made of Lalique glass. The addition’s wood windows were custom-made to meet historic guidelines, but the fiber-cement siding doesn’t pretend to be vintage.

Troweled cement plaster was applied to the walls, and handcrafted Zia tile adds pattern to the floor. Maria Videla-Juniel turned the primary bath into a sumptuous retreat with hues of soft blue and brown. Thibaut wall coverings and fabrics were used for the walls and windows, and the elegant shagreen-covered vanities are accented with gleaming fixtures by P.E. Videla-Juniel and project manager Cheryl Hardy also installed a striking shower clad in herringbone stone tile. Bursts of hot pink and apple green energize Steven Cordrey’s design for the home’s veranda. Hand-beaded light fixtures illuminate the seating areas, which feature tables and chairs from Janus et Cie’s Amalfi Coast outdoor collection.

Let’s rewind to the 1920s, and take a close look at these fascinating architectural trends. The builder’s intention and a whiff of the times remain in certain leitmotifs that can be found across several period styles—arched doorways, troweled plaster, sun parlors and French doors, Colonial Revival mantels. Take a cue from the house, but rest assured that this era grants permission to mix it up.

Pier settlement and wall cracks are more prevalent in older homes simply because the soil underneath them has had more time to move. Additional temporary piers may have been added to remedy sagging floors. And trees have grown large in the yard over the years, with roots extending under the home that may have created additional foundation defects.

British colonial style as a whole can actually be split into several variations itself, including saltbox house style (featuring saltbox roofs) and Georgian style, more on which later. British colonial style generally consists of a square, symmetrical form, a large, central chimney and multiple paned windows. On the other hand, the American or California Bungalow, popular around the same time, is more of a house type than a style.