‘Sophisticated rustic’: French Eclectic design in Lancaster features hip roof, tower [architecture column] | Home & Garden
6 min read![‘Sophisticated rustic’: French Eclectic design in Lancaster features hip roof, tower [architecture column] | Home & Garden](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/0d/80dfe8fa-74b8-11ec-9ce9-6b5b3ee626d9/61e09ac0a41d4.image.jpg?crop=1662,873,0,187&resize=1200,630&order=crop,resize)
LANCASTER IN STYLE, PART 22:
FRENCH ECLECTIC STYLE, 1915-1945
Revival styles, especially the picturesque styles like Tudor, English Cottage and French Eclectic, permitted Americans to experience central Europe without a passport. Identified as another “between-the-wars” style, French Eclectic provides a glimpse of French countryside architecture as seen by the American soldiers fighting in France between 1915 and 1945.
This easily identifiable style, referred to “sophisticated rustic” eventually overtook Tudor in popularity, but not English Cottage or Colonial Revival.
While steep gable roof forms, dormers and cat slides characterize the English Cottage style, it is the distinctive hip roof design that identifies French Eclectic. The main body of the residence employs the hip or pavilion roof to establish the dominant design element for the dwelling.
This School Lane Hills home was designed in the Norman Cottage style, circa 1928. It has a center tower; conical roof; flared eaves; stone, brick and stucco walls; half-timbering; and a hipped roof.
This two-story brick house in the Glen Moore Circle area was designed in the French Eclectic style with a dominant hip roof AND casement windows. It was built circa 1940.
This School Lane Hills home was designed in the Norman Cottage style, circa 1928. It has a center tower; conical roof; flared eaves; stone, brick and stucco walls; half-timbering; and a hipped roof.
You can see French Eclectic Style homes locally in the 21st century, featuring dominant hip roof forms, flared eaves, segmental dormer design, stucco, shutters and casement windows,
French Eclectic Style c1930 with dominant hip roof, half-timber and stone detailing
French Eclectic c1927 Fred S Miller Residence -School Lane Hills S Kendrick Lichty Architect detail of slate hipped dormers and casement windows (3)
French Eclectic c1927 Fred S Miller Residence -School Lane Hills S Kendrick Lichty Architect with hipped slate roof and dormers, casement windows, rustic stucco and half-timber details (2)
French Eclectic c1927 Fred S Miller Residence -School Lane Hills S Kendrick Lichty Architect with dominant slate hip roof, rustic stucco, casement windows, half-timber, stone entry surround, (1)
Norman Cottage Style c1930 F&M Wohlsen Admission House with brick tower and pyrimidal slate roof. dominant hipped roof and dormers
French Eclectic c1929 School Lane Hills with dominant hip roof forms, brick and half-timber detailing
This French Eclectic-style home in School Lane Hills has a one-story symmetrical plan with dominant hip roof and secondary roofs, a round-top dormer and brick walls.
This French Eclectic-style home, built circa 1928 in School Lane Hills, has a dominant hip roof and side addition, wall dormers, stone walls, a slate roof and a French-inspired entry canopy.
This School Lane Hills house, built circa 1940, was designed in the French Eclectic style. It has dominant hip roof forms, a hipped dormer, casement windows and segmental arches.
This French Eclectic-style home, built circa 1930, is located on Jackson Drive. It has a dominant hip roof, flared eaves, casement windows and stone quoins.
This French Eclectic-style house, built circa 1930, is located on Oregon Pike. It has a dominant slate hip roof and dormer, casement windows and painted brick.
This French Eclectic-style house in School Lane Hills was built circa 1925. It’s a two-story, with a prominent hip roof, stone walls, casement windows and a slate roof.
This Norman Cottage style home show a decorative gable treatment using wrought-iron trim details embedded in rustic stucco.
This Norman Cottage style home displays a decorative wrought-iron window basket and and stone ridge “spikes.”
Gables, if used at all, are secondary features to the primary hip roof. Dormers will often be hipped or truncated to avoid showing a full height gable. Wall dormers, or “through-the-eave” dormers, are common to this style as well.
Casement windows, slate roofs, half-timber and stone, stucco or brick walls are in keeping with the traditional “picturesque style” materials. Chimney locations are prominent but not dominant. Floor plans — like Tudor and English Cottage — are typically asymmetrical, relaxed and informal.
This French Eclectic-style home in School Lane Hills has a one-story symmetrical plan with dominant hip roof and secondary roofs, a round-top dormer and brick walls.
A subset style within French Eclectic is the Norman Cottage style, referencing the architecture found in the northern reaches of Brittany and Normandy, France. Norman features a rounded tower topped with a conical roof located at the center of the L-shaped floor plan; the tower is often the main entrance. Wrought-iron accents like window guards are common as are flared roof eaves. Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward offered mail order French Eclectic and Norman Cottage design options to their customers, which further expanded interest in the post-war European designs.
French Eclectic c1927 Fred S Miller Residence -School Lane Hills S Kendrick Lichty Architect with hipped slate roof and dormers, casement windows, rustic stucco and half-timber details (2)
The French Eclectic style remains popular among Lancaster County homeowners today and continues to feature the prominent hip roof and chimneys, flared eaves, casement windows and the signature French doors. The scale of the newer homes tend to be larger than the homes built in the 1920s, but the distinctive personality remains unchanged. Finding historic examples of post-war French Eclectic residences will take some work but will be well worth it!
Norman Cottage Style c1930 F&M Wohlsen Admission House with brick tower and pyrimidal slate roof. dominant hipped roof and dormers
Which postwar revival style was the most popular?
Between 1910 and 1930, 40% of all new homes were constructed as Colonial Revival. The second most popular style was English Country.
When did French Eclectic see a resurgence in popularity?
The mid-1970s saw a renewed interest in French Eclectic and Norman Cottage styles. The use of stone for exteriors was replaced with brick.
Is there another name for the Norman Cottage style?
This style is also referred to as the French Tower style for obvious reasons. The tower was a carryover from medieval times.
This column is contributed by Gregory J. Scott, FAIA, a local architect with more than four decades of national experience in innovation and design. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Email [email protected]
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