Best Of 58+ Awe-inspiring Victorian Style House Design Voted By The Construction Association

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If you're looking for the best Victorian style house design, then you've come to the right place. From classic cottages to ornate manors, a timeless Victorian style can make any house look grand and elegant. In this article, we take a look at the top Victorian style houses, complete with stunning floor plans, impressive photos and captivating descriptions. Get ready to be inspired and find your dream home.

Modern Victorian House Designs

Modern Victorian house designs are a contemporary take on Victorian structure. It uses traditional material such as stone, stucco, and wood and is often characterized by a gabled roof, consistent hardware and intricate detailing, and intricate ornamentation. Although the exterior elements are often similar to those of traditional homes, modern Victorian homes feature more unique designs, combining contemporary architecture with a classic touch. Plywood siding, metal roofs, open-knot timbers, and other modern materials are integrated into the design of modern Victorian houses.

Modern Victorian House Designs

Classic Victorian House Designs

Classic Victorian house designs adhere to a traditional aesthetic. These homes embrace the unique details, ornate trims, and bold colors of the era. Often these homes are detailed with a mix of different materials and textures, from shingles and wood siding to ornate millwork and decorative capitals. The front and rear elevations often feature bay windows and curved dormers, with traditional, three-story tower designs. However, these homes don't sacrifice the comfort and functionality of a contemporary structure. Many of them feature spacious living areas, modern conveniences, and more.

Classic Victorian House Designs

Exterior Victorian House Designs

Exterior Victorian house designs are often marked by a bold and ornate design. These homes typically feature multiple gables, detailed millwork, and elaborate trim. Classic design elements such as bay windows, curved brickwork, and a large front porch are usually included, providing plenty of character and charm. Topping it off are the signature details like turrets, spires, and intricate detailing. Exterior elements like awnings, siding, and porch columns help to bring the traditional, but still eye-catching, look together.

Exterior Victorian House Designs

Interior Victorian House Designs

Interior Victorian house designs focus on ornate detailing and grandiosity. Rooms often feature high ceilings, detailed crown molding, grand fireplaces with intricate mantels, and beautiful wrap-around staircases. Layouts usually feature formal living rooms, grand dining rooms, and a master bedroom with its own private dressing area. Fabrics and wallpapers are often bold, and furniture is usually classic and made of the finest materials available. The overall feel is of opulence and luxury, while still maintaining modern comforts and amenities.

Interior Victorian House Designs

Tudor Victorian House Designs

Tudor Victorian house designs draw their inspiration from the traditional design of the Tudor period in England. These homes typically feature steeply pitched roofs, tall chimneys, and half-timbered walls with stucco in between for an old-world feel. Windows often feature diamond-pattern mullions and single-hung frames, and the entrance is often graced with a gabled or arched entryway. Other traditional features like stained glass windows, round towers, and overhanging second stories also compliment Tudor Victorian design.

Tudor Victorian House Designs

Contemporary Victorian House Designs

Contemporary Victorian house designs blend the best of both worlds—the classic beauty of Victoriana with the modern amenities of today. These homes take the best of the era and update it for a more modern look. Contemporary Victorian design often feature updated building materials like glass, metal, and steel. Incorporating energy-efficient elements like windows, doors, and insulation are also common. Similarly, outdoor elements like decks, porches, and balconies are used to create a modern but still traditional look.

Contemporary Victorian House Designs

Small Victorian House Designs

Small Victorian house designs are perfect for those looking for a petite yet classic home. These homes embrace the traditional elements but on a much smaller scale, and can often fit on even a modest plot of land. Features typically found on larger Victorians are still incorporated, but often in a more modest form. For example, instead of a wrap-around porch, a small three-season entryway might be included. They also tend to feature fewer detailed accents, like raised eaves and detailed window trim, and less luxurious materials like composite roofing.

Small Victorian House Designs

Queen Anne Victorian House Designs

Queen Anne Victorian house designs are one of the most popular styles of Victoriana. These homes typically feature steeply-sloped roofs, asymmetrical forms, and grand towers or turrets. Other signature elements include front porches with ornate balusters, complex detailing, and large, prominent bay windows. Queen Anne Victorians are often characterized by complex lines, overhanging eaves, and intricate detailing. Inside, large rooms are often found with ornate moldings, decorative trims, marble fireplaces, and bay windows.

Queen Anne Victorian House Designs

Gothic Victorian House Designs

Gothic Victorian house designs embrace a dark and romantic aesthetic. These homes often feature multiple steeply pitched gables, lancet arches, and bold colors. Gothic Victorians come in a range of sizes, from sprawling three-story structures to smaller single-story designs. Internally, these homes often feature intricate detailing, elaborate ceilings, and thoughtful, luxurious finishes, as well as detailed woodwork and flooring. Gothick Victorians also embrace the Gothic's signature mission-style fireplace designs.

Gothic Victorian House Designs

Italianate Victorian House Designs

Italianate Victorian house designs feature a more symmetrical shape than traditional Victorians, including Italianate mansard and Romanesque rooflines and cupolas. These homes often have tall, thin windows and wide eaves decorated with ornate curved brackets. Internally, these homes often feature spindled balusters, ornate moldings, and high ceilings. Septic arches, floor-to-ceiling windows, and large fireplaces are also common features of Italianate Victorians.

Italianate Victorian House Designs

Victorian House Plans

Victorian house plans offer a variety of floor plans to suit a variety of needs. Popular layouts include the two-story, two-and-a-half story, and three-story designs. Balconies, sunrooms, and towers are often included, and many plans have the benefit of a full front porch. The traditional layout of a Victorian includes a grand foyer, sitting room, family room, formal dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms. Luxury elements like libraries, media rooms, saunas, and hot tubs are also included in more elaborate designs.

Victorian House Plans

Historical Background of Victorian Style

Victorian Style House Design

The term Victorian style is used to describe a range of classic architectural styles used in Victorian-era homes and other structures, and it stems from the reign of Queen Victoria in 19th century Britain. This style transitioned from the neoclassic, Regency and Gothic styles dominating the 19th century landscape to the more sophisticated Italianate and Queen Anne styles that followed. Due to its prevalence and recognition, this style continues to be a favorite of homeowners looking for a classic but sophisticated look for their house.

Main Features of Victorian Houses

Victorian Style House Design

The signature architectural structural features to look for in a Victorian-style house or building are tall roofs and façades, lots of ornate details either through design or ornamentation, turrets or towers, and a symmetrical footprint. Updated Victorian style homes tend to be more toned down and generally feature a marriage of several Victorian-era styles, such as Italianate and Queen Anne.

Victorian Front Facades

Victorian Style House Design

Victorian house design includes a variety of details, but one of its most prominent wares is the intricate ornamental style of its front façades, often featuring a combination of bay windows, gables, and wrap-around verandas. The façade of a Victorian home can be one to two stories and often feature a combination of different architectural styles, evident in the protruding transom windows and slightly curved dormers.

Victorian Color Palette and Finishes

Victorian Style House Design

The materials selected to finish a Victorian home are just as important as the architectural details, and typically feature two or three colors. Typically, Victorian-style homes used light colors to focus attention on the numerous detailed accents in the front façade, such as decorative scrolls and gable trims.

Muted earth tones are also frequently used in Victorian homes, with some of the more popular colors being greens, oranges and browns. These colors add a sense of warmth to the home, while contrasting with the typically light façade colors, such as light blue, beige, yellow and pink.


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