Quincy Home Tour

1444mn

1444

1444 Maine Street is a brick house designed in the Italianate style. This style was popular in the Midwestern United States throughout the 1860’s and 1870’s. The inspiration for the Italianate originates from the designs of Renaissance country villas in the Italian hill country.

Characteristics of the Italianate in this house are the use of tall proportions, classical detailing and a low hip roof. Large double brackets adorn the upper cornice, which allude to both ideas of the Italian, as well as the Victorian. Above the large double hung windows are very large and ornately detailed window hoods, popular embellishments during the Renaissance revival styles throughout the 1860’s and 1870’s.

On the first floor level is a front portico with columns that are classical in origin but have taken on their own interpretive form. Along the portico eave is a wonderful balustrade, an element often lost on homes of this age.

Finally, the entry to this house is also very classical with an arched opening supported by two pilasters of the Doric order. Overall, this house represents an extraordinary example of the renaissance revival translated to the nineteenth-century American home.