MA 1883 H.H. Richardson Back to Architecture Classic American Shingle Style originated in New England coastal towns and flourished from the 1870's into the 20th century. It evolved from the Queen Ann style, so popular earlier in the century, but ornamentation was reduced on the exterior. Turrets and verandas are more fully integrated into the design and details are used sparingly. The most important feature is the covering of the entire building with rough natural shingles without interruption at the corners, almost as if the shingles are stretched tightly around and over the structure like a girdle.
Unity is the guiding principal behind the style.
The shingled walls meld many irregular shapes into an almost seamless mass that is varied, unified and free. The Shingle Style, like the Stick and the Queen Anne, was a uniquely American adaptation of other traditions. From the Colonial Revival it adapted gambrel roofs, rambling lean-to additions, classical columns, and Palladian windows. From the contemporaneous Richardson Romanesque it borrowed an emphasis on irregular, sculpted shapes. Romanesque arches, and in some examples, stone lower stories.