Few homes have more charm than the Medieval revival style of architecture affectionately known as the Tudor.
Defined by steeply pitched and gabled roofs, prominent chimneys, and decorative timber, the Tudor style is equally attractive in cottages or palatial estates.
Tudor revival homes are recreations of late medieval architecture popularized during the House of Tudor reign in England, which ended with Elizabeth I. Large beams were erected and filled in with plaster, and the beams were exposed in a technique known as half-timbering.
One of the reasons the style is viewed so favorably is because the Tudor reign ushered in the beginning of political reformation and the Renaissance, a period of unequaled enlightenment.
The early Renaissance includes some of the greatest scientific and cultural advances in history, including the Copernican Revolution that the sun is the center of the universe, the study of physics by Sir Isaac Newton, and the passionate art of Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo, among many others.
Creating your own Tudor look
The Tudor style remains popular today, and dovetails nicely with the public’s appetite for organic building materials. The long wear of Tudor brick and stucco exteriors is complemented nicely by hard floors of oak, slate and stone, and decorative accoutrements of copper and iron.
Late Gothic and ecclesiastical influences are strongly present in the Tudor style, characterized by leaded and stained glass windows, arched doorways and tall cathedral ceilings, often embellished with exposed wood beams.
For a fairytale look, many modern Tudor homes include decorative half-timbering, overlapping gables, oriel windows, cut-stone trim, herringbone patterned brick, turrets and round towers that call Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel to mind.