Instead of transplanting East Coast styles into the drastically different surroundings of the West Coast, California architects in the late 19th- early 20th century looked to the great Spanish Colonial mission building traditions of California and the Southwest for inspiration. The Mission Revival style was born out of this inspiration. The style was popularized when the Santa Fe and Pacific railways adopted the style for their resort hotels and stations.
Identifying Features:
- simplicity of form and surface ornamentation
- low pitched roof, hipped or flat
- roof clad in red clay tiles
- incorporation of elements taken directly from old Spanish mission churches such as bell towers, buttresses or battered walls; often a mission shaped roof parapet
- arched doorways
- large flat stucco surfaces punctuated by deep window and door openings
- overhanging eaves
Sources:
- National Park Service. “Golden Gate Recreational Area: Mission Revival Style.” http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/mission-revival.htm
- VerPlanck, Chris and Katherine Petrin. “Styles: Part III.” From Ian Berke Real Estate. http://www.ianberke.com/architecture-style3.html
Images:
