Have you ever walked the streets of Newburyport, Ipswich, Salem or Portsmouth and admired the old buildings and the beauty, but are unable to identify the style or the terms for specific architectural details? Below is a guide with main stylistic traditions for the date range when each experienced its greatest popularity. 

 Not all buildings are created the same, but you will find homes and historic buildings to exhibit all or some of the features delineated in the sketches. Observe the varied stylistic interpretations and frequent overlapping styles. Often buildings developed in transitional periods will blend styles of the periods. Renovated homes and buildings may exhibit the conscious combination of unrelated stylistic elements, occasionally the product of pure whimsy or eccentricity.

First Period c. 1626 - c. 1725

First Period houses are defined as those with major structures built before 1725. In New England, colonists departed from traditional European wattle and daub (woven lattice of wooden strips covered with a material made with some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung, and straw), constructing wood-frame homes covered with weatherboard, clapboard, or shingles. This was a direct result of the prevalence of local timber.

Federal c. 1780 - c. 1830

Federal-style buildings are found in virtually every eastern city, from New England’s seaport towns. The Federal, or Adam, style dominated the American architectural landscape from roughly 1780 to 1830, having evolved from Georgian, the principal design language of the colonial period.In general, the term Federal connotes that period in American history when our Federal system of governance was being developed and honed. More specifically, it refers to the buildings that went up during the ensuing construction boom in which designers readily incorporated styling variants popular in Europe.

Greek Revival 1825 - 1850

Greek Revival was the dominant style of domestic architecture between 1830 and 1850. In New England large groups of Greek Revival houses can be found in cities that industrialized during this period such as Newburyport and Portsmouth.  Vernacular examples in rural areas of New England are also common.

Victorian

Victorian-era architecture followed the Georgian (1714–1830) and late Georgian period (1830–1837), which was characterized by generously proportioned rooms in typically three-story residences where families lived on the first two floors and servants occupied the smaller third story. The standard for domestic architecture during the Victorian era in the United States, the Queen Anne style is difficult to define, encompassing a wide range of architectural elements and borrowing and combining features from multiple stylistic traditions.