Spotlight on Style: Tudor

Evergreen at Terramor Village | WHA Project at Ladera Ranch, CA | Photo by Jeff Smith

In this month’s Spotlight on Style, we will be looking at not just one door style, but Tudor styles.  I was initially a little confused about what a Tudor was, so I hired someone to help me learn more about it in a supplementary, private, focused manor.  At first, I thought a Tudor was a smaller version of a Sedan, but then I learned that was called a coupe, which then confused me as to where chickens live.  My Tudor asked me to cooperate, then she informed me that when we talk about this unique and varied style, there are two main categories to classify the term Tudor.  The key designation between the two, as English history would have it, is class.

A Glimpse of the Rich Materials and Gardens of a Tudor Home | Source: www.oldhouseonline.com

The Tudor Style emerged in Medieval England during the Tudor period (1485-1603) and continued beyond, distinguishing itself along a series of styles in a handful of ways.  It began as an advancement of the English Gothic, and in turn developed into the Renaissance-inspired Elizabethan, followed by Jacobean with added German and Flemish input, then combined into the Jacobethan, and again evolved into Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival. See why I need a Tudor?

Hampton Court Palace | Source: www.britainexpress.com

The Tudor is a fascinating example of the way history and technology can shape architecture.  The people of nobility and upper classes displayed great Tudor homes with a variety of materials.  Most notably, this included the use of stone and brick with hammerbeam timber roofs.  The frequent use of masonry led to the development of the Tudor arch, a variation of the pointed arch, but at a shallower angle built upon a curve comprised of four different circles. Much of the stone was gathered during the time after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the Church of England departed from the Roman Catholics, and many religious buildings were stripped and demolished.

King’s College Chapel | Source: upload.wikimedia.org

Hammerbeam Ceiling | Source: www.vermonttimberworks.com

A rise in technology signaled that nobility no longer needed a moat to protect their home, giving way to “H” and ‘E’ shaped plans, lending room for decoration, courtyards, and gardens.  Additionally, prominent chimneys that help characterize the Tudor style were highly detailed and accentuated because of technological advancement in chimney stacks and enclosed hearths.  Whereas before a home required an open hearth and a great hall, compartmentalized fireplaces allowed for second stories to span the whole length of the house and have many sources of heat.  Subsequently, this led to the addition of jetties, where the second floor extended past the first, cantilevering into the street to comment on their technological advancements even further.

Brickwork on Accentuated Chimneys | Source: upload.wikimedia.org

Half-Timbering and Jettied Second Floor | Source: upload.wikimedia.org

Meanwhile, lower classes adopted this style and developed their own variants, incorporating it into the Medieval English style more commonly built.  The immediately recognizable feature of the Tudor in this context is the use of half-timbering, where heavy timbers formed a latticework across the facade, connected by white-painted walls between.  The walls were made by a process of weaving wood in a smaller lattice and coating it in clay, called wattle and daub.  This is often found in the high, steep gables beneath slate or thatched roof in combination with brick or stone below.  However, in London, thatched roofing was banned in the late 1660’s due to the city’s Great Fire.  The disparate classes shared the use of half timbering, the tall, narrow windows, the brick veneer, the jetty, and the warm interiors.  The dense use of rich materials, the bold chimney stacks, and the high pitched roofs all blended to produce a sense of prominence and pride.

A Tudor Home | Source: powerpictures.crystalgraphics.com

Wattle and Daub | Source: www.tonygraham.co.uk

Wait! Where did my Tudor go?  Maybe she was affected by the current economy, caught in this age, and had to retreat to her simpler, quaint cottage, where she can be found today.  I know I had a hard time paying for her, I could neither afford the sturdy material, nor the class, regardless of my noble birth!  Perhaps, my Tudor was unable to sustain herself in such a manor.  For at the turn of the 20th century, the Tudor became a popular residential housing style, pulling from its dense history.  The Tudor of today still includes a rich material palette, a good deal of masonry, either stone or brick, shingles, steep gables, ‘H’ shaped plans, pronounced chimneys, and no moats.  Hopefully, time and history will welcome the return of the Tudor to share more of her rich and vibrant style.