Colonial Revival (fl. 1900-1940) architecture is inspired by the Federal and Georgian architecture of the fledgling United States. It was very popular in the early 20th century, and it was a common residential style of the time. A shift away from the more eclectic Victorian revival styles, Colonial Revival architecture was often a more sober interpretation of its historic models.
With America's centennial in 1876, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia that year exposed Americans to their earliest architectural heritage. Some Colonial Revival houses were built beginning in 1880, but the style did not become popular until about 1910. McKim, Mead, & White, a popular New York firm, designed several Colonial Revival homes and brought attention to the style.
Colonial Revival buildings continued to be built through the 1950s and 1960s, though these were also smaller examples and Minimal Traditional designs with very restrained ornamentation.
Colonial Revival designs are characterized by their revival of Federal and Georgian architecture, two late-18th to early 19th century styles that were commonly used by early Americans. However, Dutch Colonial architecture and certain English styles may also inform a Colonial Revival building. Colonial Revival designs are symmetrical and have classical ornamentation, such as pillars, porticos, and cupolas. They are often built of brick, occasionally with stone accents, but more vernacular examples may have wood shingles. Windows are rectangular and double-hung, with a characteristic 6-over-6 or 9-over-9 muntin pattern. Roofs are frequently gabled, with the gable end on the short end of the building, and some examples have dormers on the roof. Colonial Revival designs that borrow from Dutch Colonial architecture have unique characteristics, such as the gambrel roof, a barn-like roof with two pitches.
The Colonial Revival movement never really died out, as buildings with its design aspects were built through the Postmodern era and into the 21st century. As a result, it can sometimes be tough to tell if a downtown structure is an authentic 20th-century design or a Postmodern recreation.