A Field Guide to Home Architecture
Here’s a quick and easy reference to the many architectural styles of homes across the Corcoran network.
American residential architecture is a rich tapestry woven from centuries of cultural influence, regional adaptation, and ever-changing lifestyles. More than mere aesthetic expression, each home style is a tactile reflection of identity, innovation, and the rhythms of daily life.
For homebuyers, basic architectural fluency helps shed light not just on how a home looks, but how it lives, helping you gain insight into its layout, flow, and long-term practicality before ever setting foot through the door. For homeowners, it’s knowledge that provides deeper connection to personal space and a thoughtful framework to inform potential renovations. And for enthusiasts, it’s a way to read the built environment as a living archive — one that captures a balance of artistry, aspiration, and regional character.
Recognizing each structural species isn’t merely about naming features. It’s about understanding how form meets function, how design responds to place, and how each home invites interpretation by those who inhabit it. Whether you’re navigating the housing market, preserving a historic gem, or simply admiring the homes that line your street, a grasp of architectural diversity enriches your perspective.
Let’s explore a dozen of the most common and influential home styles found throughout our markets.
The Balanced Bungalow
Emerging in the early 20th century as a modest yet intentional response to the ornate eclecticism of the Victorian era, the Arts & Crafts Bungalow emphasized simplicity, craftsmanship, and a harmonious relationship with its surroundings. The style drew from a broader architectural current shaped by reformist ideals, such as the Prairie School and its emphasis on horizontality, structural clarity, and integration with the landscape.
Typically one or one-and-a-half stories, the bungalow is compact in scale but rich in architectural character. Its low-pitched gabled roofs, wide eaves with exposed rafter tails, and deep front porches supported by stout, often tapered columns on masonry piers, create a grounded, sheltering presence. These elements reflect a structural clarity and a reverence for handcraft that were central to the movement’s ethos. Inside, the layout favors openness and efficiency, with built-in cabinetry, window seats, and bookcases integrated into the architecture itself. Materials are natural and tactile — wood, stone, and brick used not for ornamentation, but for their inherent warmth and integrity. Decorative details, such as stained or leaded glass and patterned sash windows, appear sparingly but with the utmost precision.
Bungalows became notably popular in American communities that experienced rapid development after the turn of the last century, such as the suburbs of Chicagoland, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Portland, Oregon. A coterie of California architects — names like Greene & Greene, Bernard Maybeck, and Julia Morgan — gave the style its most enduring and regionally distinctive expression, translating the movement’s principles into built form through an emphasis on material integrity, spatial intimacy, and a deep respect for craftsmanship. Though often associated with the western United States, the bungalow’s footprint extends well east, particularly in warmer climates. You’ll find many examples in places like Texas, Louisiana, and Central Florida, particularly the Tampa, Sarasota/St. Petersburg, and Orlando areas.
The Charming Cape Cod
Cape Cod (or simply “Cape”)-style homes pay homage to the vernacular architecture of 17th century Coastal Massachusetts, where early settlers adapted English cottage design to withstand the region’s harsh winters. Their defining features emerged from necessity. Steeply pitched roofs shed snow, central chimneys provided efficient heating, and symmetrical facades created structural balance between them. Over time, dormer windows were introduced to increase natural light and usable attic space, further refining the style’s practicality and charm. For over 300 years later, these elegantly simple, typically shingled residences have remained commonplace, with historic examples prevalent in beach enclaves throughout New England and the Northeast.
The 20th century saw the style’s resurgence as a cornerstone of postwar suburban development. Beginning in the mid-1940s, Levitt & Sons, the builders of Levittown communities in New York and Pennsylvania, popularized simplified, mass-produced Cape Cod home designs as an affordable and scalable solution to meet the housing demands of returning WWII veterans. These modern versions retained the characteristic symmetry and pitched roofs but were adapted for modern suburban living, with open floor plans and expanded footprints. As demand for suburban housing surged, builders replicated these Levitt-style designs in large-scale subdivisions, propagating the style everywhere from the mid-Atlantic to the Midwest — even the Carolinas and Canada. In the years since, many of these homes have taken on additions and remodels, becoming unique creations in and of themselves that balance their famously strong bones with unique expressions of personal taste.
Despite an evolution far beyond where its journey began, the Cape Cod home remains a quintessential expression of American and architecture. Whether in pre-revolutionary New England or post-war suburbs beyond it, the style’s appeal lies in a balance of simplicity, efficiency, and enduring character, qualities that have ensured their lasting relevance.
The Curious Contemporary
“Contemporary” is a relative term, and particularly in the context of residential architecture. It’s often used imprecisely, applied to styles homes that appear modern or unconventional without regard for their architectural lineage. In the 1990s and early 2000s, many homes labeled “Contemporary” were more accurately Postmodern. Championed by figures like Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry, and Robert Venturi (the latter of whom famously coined the term “Duck Architecture” to describe mimetic roadside buildings), Postmodernism emerged as a direct critique of the reductive minimalism that characterized earlier modernist movements. Postmodern Contemporary homes often combined unexpected elements, mixing traditional motifs with modern forms, or pairing decorative flourishes with industrial materials. These homes were less concerned with purity of style and more with visual interest, cultural reference, and expressive individuality. Hallmarks included high ceilings, sometimes paired with bridges and lofts, and liberal use of skylights. Outside, large, often multi-layered decks were common features, contributing to a sense of playfulness and spatial drama.
In contrast, today’s “Contemporary” homes, particularly in the context of new construction, tend to align more closely with what we now consider contemporary values in our current time: a revived modernist ethos that prioritizes clarity, restraint, and performance. The emphasis for these houses is less on historical reference and more on innovation, sustainability, and seamless integration with the environment. Open interiors, expansive glazing, flat or green roofs, and fluid indoor-outdoor transitions are common. Materials are mixed with intention, creating compositions that are expressive yet grounded in context. In cities, they often respond to spatial constraints with compact, vertical forms. In less-dense areas, they often emphasize environmental harmony and self-sufficiency.
Simply put, Contemporary homes reflect the priorities of the present, with their design manifesting accordingly.
The Dignified Federal-Style
Federal-style architecture embodies the cultivated elegance of early America. Emerging in the post-Revolutionary period, this refined discipline reflects a young nation’s aspiration toward order, balance, and enduring beauty — principles that continue to resonate with discerning homeowners today. It draws heavily from earlier Georgian (and even classical Roman) precedents, yet it is distinctly American in its clarity and restraint. Interiors often feature high ceilings, elegant mantels, and finely crafted woodwork, all designed to reflect a sense of dignity and permanence. The overall effect is one of understated grandeur, a hallmark of the Federalist tradition.
At the heart of the Federal-style aesthetic lies a devotion to proportion and symmetry. Facades are meticulously balanced, often centered around a grand entryway framed by slender columns or pilasters. Ornamentation is minimal yet meaningful, with refined details such as elliptical fanlights, sidelights, and delicately carved moldings lending a sense of quiet sophistication. Windows are typically arranged in evenly spaced rows, with double-hung sashes and subtle crown moldings that echo the classical ideals of harmony and restraint.
Federal-style design has long shaped the architectural identity of the Eastern Seaboard. In historic cities like Boston and Philadelphia, and in the stately suburbs of Washington, D.C. — including Maryland’s Montgomery County and Virginia’s Fairfax and Alexandria — the style remains a defining presence. Many of these homes are prized historic residences, while others are newly built interpretations that honor the tradition with modern craftsmanship and materials.
Whether nestled along cobblestone streets in New England or gracing leafy avenues in the Mid-Atlantic, these homes offer a rare blend of classical beauty and American heritage, making them lasting expressions of refined taste and cultural continuity.
The Grand Georgian
Georgian architecture exemplifies classical order and cultivated restraint, drawing from the stately English country houses of the 18th century and the enduring ideals of Roman and Renaissance design. Defined by its symmetry, proportion, and restrained elegance, the Georgian home remains one of the most iconic and enduring styles in American residential architecture.
In pre-1776 America, Georgian architecture flourished as a symbol of permanence. Architects such as Charles Bulfinch — considered the first practicing American-born architect — and Benjamin Latrobe brought the style to prominence, adapting its classical vocabulary to the emerging American landscape. Brick facades, paneled central doors framed by pilasters and crowned with pediments, and evenly spaced sash windows became hallmarks of the style. Interiors featured refined millwork, decorative crown moldings, and balanced room layouts that reflected Enlightenment ideals of harmony and rational design.
Georgian homes became deeply embedded in the architectural identity of the original thirteen colonies, both in established population centers and rural areas. You’ll find examples everywhere from New York, New Jersey, and New England to the north to Pennsylvania, Greater Washington, D.C., the Carolinas, and (fittingly) Georgia. There are regional adaptations to be seen, though the style’s classical core is ever-present.
In the early 20th century, a renewed appreciation for classical architecture gave rise to the Georgian Revival, which reinterpreted the original style with modern materials and updated floor plans, all while preserving its essential elegance. Among the most celebrated practitioners of Georgian Revival design was Mott Schmidt, a master of the genre whose work spans from distinguished Manhattan townhouses and grand country residences with evocative names such as Rabbit Hill, Hudson Pines, and Pook’s Hill — his own personal retreat. Schmidt’s houses are still celebrated for their architectural rigor, classical balance, and quiet grandeur.
Today, Georgian homes, both historic and newly built, continue to captivate those who value architectural integrity and timeless design. From the Mid-Atlantic to the Southern states, these residences offer a harmonious blend of tradition and refinement, embodying a cultivated aesthetic that transcends time.
The Indelible Italianate
It might seem ironic that Italianate architectural-style homes originated in Britain — but alas, the suffix “having the appearance or characteristics of.” Attributed to the great English neoclassical architect John Nash, a defining figure of the Georgian and Regency eras, the style came about in the mid-19th century as a distinctly romantic interpretation of classical architecture, offering a more expressive and ornamental alternative to earlier, more restrained traditions.
Italianate architecture often intersects with other 19th-century movements, including Gothic Revival and Second Empire, sharing a fondness for ornament and verticality. Yet its villa-inspired detailing and expressive forms set it apart, offering a uniquely picturesque take on classical design. Inspired by the informal elegance of rural Italian villas, the style was adapted across the United States in both urban and rural contexts, inviting a certain cultured charm. Its appeal lay in its versatility and visual richness, qualities that made it especially popular during a period of rapid growth and architectural experimentation.
Characterized by tall, narrow windows, often crowned with arched or curved lintels, Italianate homes are immediately recognizable for their vertical emphasis and richly detailed façades. Deep eaves supported by decorative brackets, low-pitched or flat roofs, and the occasional cupola or belvedere contribute to their distinctive silhouette. Materials varied by region: city dwellings were often constructed in brick or brownstone, while rural interpretations, including farmhouses and country residences, were typically clad in wood with painted finishes that accentuated their intricate trim.
Italianate-style houses became especially prominent in the Midwest and Northeast, where it was embraced for both urban housing and pastoral retreats. What the popular imagination often envisions as the quintessential Brooklyn brownstone, with its slender windows, ornate cornices, and bracketed rooflines, is in fact a classic expression of the Italianate tradition — wood-framed Italianates endure in older neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene. Across the countryside, the style was adapted to vernacular homes, blending romantic ideals with practical American sensibilities.
The Magnificent Mediterranean Revival
“Mediterranean Revival” serves as a broad designation for architectural styles shaped by the temperate coastal climates along the Mediterranean Sea. It channels a broad swath of influences, most commonly from Spain, Italy, Portugal, and the south of France.
Mediterranean Revival–style homes prioritize both function and elegance, offering a distinctive blend of architectural beauty and livability. Courtyards provide shaded outdoor retreats, enhancing airflow and natural cooling, while wrought-iron accents and decorative tile work add a refined, handcrafted quality. Expansive arched openings allow for effortless transitions between interior and exterior spaces, embracing the mild climates that inspired the style. Lush landscaping, often featuring climbing vines, citrus trees, and fountains, further reinforces the home’s connection to its surroundings, creating tranquil, inviting environments that feel both private and open. These elements together make Mediterranean Revival homes not only visually striking, but deeply attuned to comfort and climate.
Mediterranean Revival architecture was largely a consequence of the American Renaissance, which followed the Gilded Age and the coinciding Beaux-Arts movement. This was a period that encouraged stylistic experimentation, prompting architects to incorporate Mediterranean elements into more classically structured buildings. The style’s novelty, durability, and indoor-outdoor lifestyle made it a popular choice for progressive suburbs and seaside resorts alike, notably in climates where wooden structures proved challenging to maintain. Its introduction to South Florida, largely credited to California-born society architect Addison Mizner, defined the look and feel of communities like Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Coral Gables, where grand coastal villas by the likes of Mizner, Maurice Fatio, and Marion Sims Wyeth remain some of the region’s most coveted real estate. In New York City, Emery Roth wove Mediterranean motifs into his grand apartment houses with coveted Park and Fifth Avenue addresses, merging classical symmetry with the ornamental richness of Southern Europe. The style also caught on in places immediately surrounding the city, like Bronxville, Greenwich and Darien in Connecticut, and Long Island’s North Shore — the last of which was Mizner’s longtime home.
Among the more prolific sub-genres of Mediterranean Revival design was Mission Revival, ubiquitous all across the American West. Though the two styles share certain visual traits, such as stucco exteriors, arches, and red tile roofs, Mission Revival favors simpler forms, symmetrical facades, and signature arched openings, reflecting the practical aesthetics of the 21 Spanish missions built throughout California beginning in the late 18th century. Floridian expressions of Mediterranean Revival architecture, meanwhile, lean more baroque, nodding to the Moorish/Gothic influences prevalent in the earlier Spanish Colonial architecture found across Central America.
The Marvelous Mid-Century Modern
Cocktail in hand, the crisp silhouette of a butterfly roof overhead, sunlight slicing through walls of glass — Mid-Century Modern design is instantly evocative, conjuring scenes of TV’s Don Draper and Palm Springs poolside glamour. This era of architecture was not merely a stylistic departure, but a philosophical one: the notion that homes should be both functional and beautiful, embracing simplicity, structural clarity, and an uninterrupted dialogue with nature. It was a fitting space-age sequel to Taliesin and Frank Lloyd Wright, whose foundational work set the stage for what followed.
While Mid-Century Modernism drew from a shared foundation of openness and organic integration, its interpretation varied significantly across different regions. In the Northeast, five architects who trained under Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design — Marcel Breuer, Philip Johnson, Eliot Noyes, Landis Gores, and John M. Johansen, together dubbed the “Harvard Five” — came to prominence adapting European modernist ideals into distinctly American expressions. Based in New Canaan, Connecticut, their work emphasized structural clarity and material honesty, producing residences that married modern efficiency with the wooded landscapes of New England. In nearby Westchester County, New York, Wright disciples convinced the oracle of Oak Park to bring his ‘Usonia’ concept to life in the suburban town of Pleasantville, just north of Manhattan.
California, however, became the movement’s undisputed epicenter. Here, Richard Neutra’s sharp-edged designs maximized transparency and environmental responsiveness, embracing glass expanses and clean geometry. In the San Francisco Bay Area, developer Joseph Eichler reimagined suburban housing with a progressive edge. Working with architect A. Quincy Jones and his firm, Jones & Emmons, Eichler introduced spec homes designed around the interplay of indoor and outdoor spaces, featuring expansive glass walls, sun-drenched atriums, and fluid transitions to private courtyards and patios. In Florida, the Sarasota School interpreted these principles with breezy, elevated forms well suited for a subtropical climate. Outside Washington, Robert E. Simon master-planned Reston, Virginia, melding Mid-Century aesthetics with the concentric principles of the Garden City movement.
While often grouped alongside other architectural movements of its time, Mid-Century Modernism diverged significantly in ethos and execution. The International Style, rooted in precision and formal purity, shared modernist principles but emphasized clean, structural order, whereas MCM softened these elements with warmth and organic materials. Brutalism, shaped by Cold War influences, favored exposed concrete and imposing forms, which became something of a default for government buildings of the time. In contrast, atomic modernism, along with its close cousin, Googie, embraced postwar optimism with bold colors and almost cartoonish whimsy, favoring playful forms that captured the excitement of technological progress.
The Magnetic Modern Farmhouse
The modern farmhouse has emerged as one of the most enduring and widely embraced residential typologies of the 21st century. Rooted in the vernacular traditions of rural America, it artfully reconciles the warmth and simplicity of agrarian architecture with the clarity, openness, and material refinement of contemporary design. Its enduring appeal lies in this synthesis: nostalgic yet current, rustic yet deliberately composed.
Architecturally, the modern farmhouse style is distinguished by its gabled rooflines, expansive porches, and a restrained, often monochromatic palette. Exteriors are typically rendered in white or muted tones, offset by black-framed windows, standing seam metal roofs, and half-round gutters. Board-and-batten siding, exposed rafters, and natural wood accents evoke a sense of craftsmanship and authenticity. Simultaneously, large-format windows and open-plan interiors reflect a modern preference for light, flow, and spatial continuity.
Within, the design emphasizes comfort, utility, and understated elegance. Wide-plank wood flooring, shiplap or paneled walls, and a curated mix of vintage and industrial-inspired fixtures are common. Kitchens, often the heart of the home, are anchored by generous islands, apron-front sinks, and open shelving. The result is a space that feels both intentional and lived-in — casual in spirit, yet refined in execution.
What distinguishes the modern farmhouse from its historical antecedents is its adaptability. While early farmhouses were built out of necessity, today’s interpretations are shaped by design intent. Many incorporate sustainable materials, energy-efficient systems, and integrated smart technologies. They are equally suited to rural acreage, suburban neighborhoods, and even urban infill sites, where their familiar silhouettes offer a sense of comfort and permanence.
The rise of the modern farmhouse reflects a broader cultural impulse: a desire to reconnect with simplicity and authenticity while embracing the efficiencies and expectations of contemporary life. It is a style that honors tradition while responding thoughtfully to the present.
The Venerated Victorian
Victorian architecture stands as a testament to an era of craftsmanship and opulence. The style, named for its emergence during the latter half of Queen Victoria’s reign (which lasted from 1837 to 1901), was greatly influenced by the Industrial Revolution and resulting Gilded Age, a prosperous moment in history with the means for excess. Beyond aesthetics, Victorian architecture mirrored the values of the time, embracing progress, eclecticism, and an ambition to elevate residential design beyond mere function. Houses built during the Victorian period heralded a dramatic shift, moving beyond the rigid symmetry of prior architectural traditions. Their most familiar hallmarks — soaring turrets, expansive bay windows, and intricate detailing — were made possible by advancements in manufacturing. Many architectural elements for these homes were mass-produced and even catalog-ordered, empowering even small town architects to conceive elaborate residences that were both structurally innovative and aesthetically rich.
The most familiar genus of the Victorian species is the Queen Anne. They feature asymmetrical facades, wraparound porches, and a playful mix of textures — patterned shingles, for example — that evoke both whimsy and grandeur. Popular in the late 19th century, Queen Annes flourished in neighborhoods developed or redeveloped around the turn of the century, particularly in “streetcar suburbs” that emerged along expanding trolley lines, like Brooklyn’s Ditmas Park and Flatbush. On the West Coast, you’ll famously find them in San Francisco, particularly in places like Haight-Ashbury, Alamo Square, and the Mission District. A particularly well-preserved specimen is Wilderstein in Rhinebeck, New York, a grand estate that captures the Queen Anne’s decorative richness in its truest form.
The Eastlake Stick style, another Victorian sub-type, emphasizes linear ornamentation and visible “stickwork” that mimics structural framing. Influenced by the philosophy of Charles Eastlake, it favors handcrafted, geometric detailing. The Carson House, in Northern California’s Humboldt County, is widely regarded as one of the finest and most pristine examples of this style, with its commanding presence over the streets of Old Town Eureka.
A clear distinction must be drawn between Victorian and adjacent styles such as Edwardian and American Foursquare. Edwardian architecture, succeeding the Victorian period, eschews excessive ornamentation in favor of simplicity and restrained elegance. Similarly, Foursquare homes, pragmatic and symmetrical, eschew Victorian exuberance for spatial practicality and decorative moderation.
Which architectural style of home is right for you?
American residential design offers a remarkable spectrum, spanning the clarity of modernism, the romance of revival styles, and the quiet utility of vernacular forms. With all the flavors available, the options can seem overwhelming — but they don’t have to be. Study the silhouettes, the materials, the way a structure meets the land. Visit neighborhoods. Walk through spaces. Let the architecture speak. And when it’s time to navigate the market, connect with a real estate agent who knows each style inside, out, and down the block.
