Victorian Home Essay

The world today consists of children roaming the streets, technology taking over the world, and being able to work wherever you'd like but, could you imagine a life without all these things? Believe it or not there was a time in life where these things were very uncommon to see. This would be known as the victorian era. This time period was between 1837 and 1901. Daily life was very different from now. Health, social classes, and fashion are just three examples of how daily life was different in the victorian era.

The Victorian era was a time of ornate decorum, and grandiose homes for the upper classes. Wealth was not to be concealed, but displayed in all aspects possible, most importantly in the home. The structure of an upper class home often had at least a few levels. The top and bottom floors, or basement and attic, generally reserved for the servants of the household. Food preparation, and laundry activities were common of the basements, whereas the attic often served as housing for those that tended the household. Beyond these reserved spaces however, the splendor of wealth could be found in every room, on every wall, of every floor.

People’s perspective of housing has changed greatly over time. Starting with the resource, limitations, and availability of everything that is needed. All of these things has shaped and helped form our society and social interactions. Houses in the 1900’s were very small, compact spaced structures. The ceiling heights were low, and the rooms usually weren’t air conditioned unless the house had windows, or the family had enough money to support their family and buy an air conditioner.

In this essay I am aim to explore Pugin’s dissent from tradition through his ideas, inspiration, and his most important works and their meaning. To dissent from tradition is to defy a stultifying tradition or convention, which leads to new, daring styles (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.109). The ‘traditional’ architectural style in the early 19th Century, in Great Britain was classicism, inspired by ancient Greece and associated with democracy as well as with the French revolution (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p. 112). Pugin, called this classical style ‘the new square style’ (Figure 4.7, in Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.123) and argued that it lacked authenticity of Great Britain (Richardson, McKellar, Woods, 2008, p.

Elsie de Wolfe designed during the Victorian movement, however “had adopted the 1890’s preference for Neoclassicism” (Smith, 22). Unlike the cluttered and dark interiors of an average Victorian interior, her interiors were, “in the words of one visitor, ‘[models] of simplicity’” (Smith, 20). She redecorated the once cluttered dining room of her apartment in the

As Australian architects were often inspired by international designs many houses were decorative thus there was the emergence of the Californian Bungalow within the 1920s. This housing structure began during the “early nineteen-twenties which became a leading fashion” (Boyd, 1962, p.70). Due to the fact that Australian designs were not as independent as it is today the Californian Bungalow was mainly influenced from the American Californian Bungalows. The bungalows in Australia was an approved style for a suburban house as a result of its simplistic building methods such as staining timbers, creating a pale plaster surface and applying decorative textures on plywood (Cuffley, 2007). Hence, the bungalows was a start of a new way of living for

We can notice clearly in this house how Sullivan’s teaching and Japanese prints influenced Wright’s design. In general for the Prairie houses, Frank Lloyd Wright used all of those influences to had a radically different idea of the function and appearance of residences. The use of horizontal lines is crucial in this design because they define how the volumes and other elements of the house are displayed, making it look longer and lower than other type of dwellings. Sullivan’s idea about the importance of a building’s interior can be seen in this house design because Wright actually took that and extended the interior outside the house. Moreover, Wright started experimenting with materials that allowed him to materialize his

Though these Victorian Era painted windows didn’t come from the Medieval or Gothic Eras, I believe that the origin of this style of window art is justifiable to talk about given the resemblance to the painted glass of the previously

The 19th century was a notable period in Australian History as during this time, countless Australian cities saw English architecture in some of its domestic and commercial buildings. It was the time when Victorian architecture overshadowed the Georgian style in Britain and as a result, Victorian style became a hallmark of all the British colonies in colonies. The Gothic and Renaissance architecture, which was forbidden due to its whimsicality, saw its revival under Victorian architecture predominately in churches and other commercial buildings. This new style became widespread in Adelaide’s architecture framework. The Victorian influenced buildings, which once provided grounds for business meetings and official work, is perhaps now the heritage of Adelaide.

In this picture, Victorian style house stands alone in the field. A railroad track cuts through the foreground. There is a bare sky behind the house with no secondary objects in the immediate surroundings of the building. this enables us to keenly focus on the articulation of the building and its relationship with its environment.

Tracing back, and learning about, the history of your family is a worthwhile thing for anyone to spend some time doing. If this is something that interests you, then there are lots of places that you can find information about your ancestors, with local archives and personal records being good examples. Another prime source of information are gravestone memorials, which can reveal a lot more than you might think that they would do.

This style was used in decorative art such as interior design, glasswork, jewelry design, but also used in

Literature was mostly influenced during the victorian period. The victorian literature is written in the the Victorian era where Queen Victoria, who is the longest queen, rained 63 years and seven months. This era characterizes because of the changes and we can say was an era transitioning from one point of view to a new and completely different one. We can see how the literature reflects the contemporary life at that time and how it entertained the middle class. The victorian era overlaps with Britain's industrial revolution, this means mayor changes where happening. Improvements in technology, and changes in world views are two types of the mayor changes which happened in this era. This changes may seem simple but technology improvement offered new and

Home decorating styles changed dramatically during the middle part of the 1800's, even though design began to refer back to the styles the century had begun with as it came to an end. This difference in popular taste did not just evolve because of the passage of time, however; new technological advancements in furniture production and an increased interest in the arts of Asia influenced home décor. The changing British culture manifested itself in how the middle-class decorated their homes, and how they perceived themselves.

Art Historian, Daniel Siedell said, “In such a society as the Victorians’, when public society is so stifling, steam is naturally going to be driven underground.” The reform of the Victorian era, a time in England of refinement and high decorum surrounding the years of Queen Victoria’s reign, did not produce revolution but the opposite: stagnation. And so at this time in England there were ingredients present to create a real revolution and bring a dismantling of the Victorian spirit, but they were underground and silent. Oscar Wilde aimed to bring that underground movement above ground through flagrancy. Wilde’s innovative faith as well as shocking literature were two gears of the same vehicle. They were gears dependent upon each other to bring anti-Victorian aestheticism to the surface of English society and culture. Oscar Wilde's literary revolt against propriety paralleled his unconventional view of religion-- both were a rejection of law and an embrace of beauty.