During the 1890s “Gilded Age,” wealthy Americans could afford to travel overseas and view European styles of architecture, such as the home where Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, grew up. This may be why toward the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, Tudor Revival homes became popular in the United States.
England’s Tudor period (1485-1603) was a time when many homes were built of stone with wooden supporting beams. Tudor Revival homes are loosely based on this style but use modern construction methods.
Designer Homes
The early examples of Tudor Revival are large, impressive structures. In fact, some people called this style “Stockbroker’s Tudor.” The Glendessary mansion, built in 1902 in Mission Canyon, is a prime example of a grand Tudor Revival home.
Some of the key characteristics of Tudor Revival homes include white stucco walls accented by dark wood trim, a steep-pitched gable roof, an arched front door or doorway, and sometimes a prominent chimney on the front facade. In fact, Tudor Revival homes are generally the only style of home where the chimney may be found on the front of the house.
Modest Homes
After World War I, smaller versions of Tudor Revivals began to appear. These are sometimes called English Vernacular. It’s believed that U.S. soldiers who served in Europe during the war gained an appreciation for the architecture there and brought it back with them. One-story Tudor Revival homes were a popular style in kit-house catalogs such as L.A.’s Pacific Ready-Cut Homes. Some of these are found here in Santa Barbara.
According to the City of Santa Barbara’s Historic Design Guidelines, Tudor Revival style “was popular in the 1920s and can be found in the neighborhoods that were developed in that era, like the Lower Riviera and the San Roque neighborhoods of Santa Barbara.”
After the 1925 earthquake, the focus on house styles here began to shift toward the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Examples of these homes now far outnumber Tudor Revival–style homes.
Please do not disturb the residents of these homes.
Betsy J. Green is a Santa Barbara historian, and author of Discovering the History of Your House and Your Neighborhood, Santa Monica Press, 2002. Her website is betsyjgreen.com.
