The Tudor style, a term applied to the Perpendicular style, was originally that of the English architecture and decorative arts produced under the Tudor dynasty that ruled England from 1485 to 1603, characterized as an amalgam of Late Gothic style formalized by more concern for regularity and symmetry, with round-headed or extremely flattened arches and some "Roman" classical detailing. The style designation came into use with the romantic neo-Elizabethan revival in England, which received strong impetus from the recreation of an Elizabethan water-pageant at Kenilworth House , attended by Queen Victoria (ca 1843?). Real estate speculators and builders picked up the designation in the late 19th century, to characterize picturesquely massed brick houses with tall dormer windows in steeply-pitched slate roofs, and flat "Tudor" arches, thought to imitate houses built during the Tudor period. In New York's "Tudor City " (1925 - 1928), the revival degenerated into a few design mannerisms applied to high-rise apartment houses, including "Hardwick Hall", an "Elizabethan" penthouse.

Tudor style house

Phases

The Tudor style attained its greatest development under Henry VII, the first of the Tudor line. The Henry VII Lady Chapel which he erected at Westminster is a famous specimen of this style. The term is applied specifically to late Perpendicular work. There are three phases of, or developments from, the Perpendicular:

1. The Early Tudor, from the reign of Edward IV to that of Henry VII inclusive. Of this style there are no perfect buildings, and only few traces remaining. The Palace of Shene , built by Henry VII, has totally disappeared; but, according to the Survey of 1649 , it abounded with bay windows of capricious design, with rectangular and semi-circular projections, and was adorned with many octagonal towers, surmounted with bulbous cupolas of the same plan, having their angles enriched with crockets .
2. Tudor, in vogue during the reign of Henry VIII. The plan of the larger mansions of this period was quadrangular, comprising an inner and base court, between which stood the gate house. On the side of the inner court facing the entrance were the great chamber, or room of assembly, the hall, the chapel, the gallery for amusements, on an upper story, running the whole length of the principal side of the quadrangle, and the summer and winter parlors. The materials were either brick or stone, sometimes both combined. Molded brickwork and terra-cotta were also employed for decorative purposes. Among the more striking peculiarities were the gate houses, the numerous turrets and ornamental chimneys, the large and beautiful bay and oriel windows, hammer beam roofs, and paneled wainscoting round the apartments.
3. Late Tudor, or Elizabethan.

References

• This article incorporates text from Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921).

See also

• Tudorbethan
• Jacobethan

External link

• Tudor City Historical District