Every girl dreams of owning her very own dollhouse when she grows up, and most of the time these dream houses are Victorian in their architecture design. There is just something special about this type of architecture that makes people want these houses. It could be because it reminds us of a simpler time before we all became attached to our cellphones and laptops.It could also be because Victorian architecture is one of great beauty and there are not many of these houses to be found in Louisville.The History of the Victorian House DesignVictorian architecture takes its name from the monarch that was on the British throne during the time that these types of houses were built. Queen Victoria was on the throne in England from 1837 to 1901 and anything that was done during this time period from clothing styles to architecture has been labeled as “Victorian”.The era was one of modesty (in clothing and behavior), but also one of beauty as represented by the Victorian Era houses that people love.The Different Types of Victorian House DesignVictorian house designs were not cookie-cutter replicas of each other, but rather a number of different styles that embraced the same features during this period. Other Victorian house styles included:

• Gothic Revival
• Queen Anne
• Second Empire
• Industrial Architecture
• Italianate
• British Arts and Crafts
• Neo-Grec
• Painted Ladies
• Stick-Eastlake
• Neoclassicism
• Jacobethan
• Romanesque Revival
• Renaissance Revival

Features Common with Victorian ArchitectureThe following are the most common features you will find on most Victorian houses:

1. Round or square columns holding up the roof.
2. Molding going around the house that has holes in it the shape of rectangles.
3. Bay, Oriel and Reveal windows
4. A window that pops out of the roof, but is still covered by the roof.
5. A gabled roof or a roof that has a flat top and then slopes on the sides.
6. A post across the top of the windows and doors.
7. A covered porch
8. Turrets (small skinny towers at the corner of the house that makes you think of a castle).
9. Usually have multiple stories
10. Wood clapboard siding (some homes have had the original wood replaced for siding made of different materials).

Victorian homes don’t have every single feature listed above, but each home will have a good number of these features.Source: Victorian Architecture