Victorian Architecture Vocabulary

Bay window a window that sticks out from a building. Usually there are two windows on the sides too. Column a round or box-like post that holds up a roof over a porch. They are also used as decoration. Clapboard siding wood siding that is used to cover the outside of a building. Entablature The upper section of a wall or story, usually supported on columns or pilasters. Dentils a molding of small tooth like squares. Dormer a little window that comes straight out from the roof and is covered by a little roof of its own. Cornice a horizontal piece running along the top of a building where the wall and the roof meet. It is also the top part of an entablature. Gable the triangular part at the end of a building formed by the two sides of a sloping roof. Gables are also formed by other sloping roof areas, such as those over windows. Lintel a post that goes across the top of a window or door. It helps hold up the wall above the window or door. Mansard Roof a roof with two slopes. Often it is flat on top. Transom a window or panel, usually operable, above a window or door.

Pediment a triangular piece of the roof which comes out from the rest of the building and covers a porch. Portico a small porch with a roof supported by columns or posts. Shingles small, flat pieces of wood which are used to cover the roof in order to protect the house. Sometimes they look like fish scales. Turret A small, skinny tower usually at the corner of a building, often containing a circular stair.

Windows: Oriel Window: begins above the ground and goes up from there. Bay Window: runs from the floor to the ceiling. Reveal Window: just sticks out from the wall.