Spanish House Styles Background

The traditions of many cultures blended in fanciful Spanish Revival and Mediterranean architecture, popular from 1915 to about 1940. Step through the stucco archway, linger in the tiled courtyard, and you might think you were in Spain. Or Portugal. Or Italy, or northern Africa, or Mexico. North America's Spanish inspired homes embrace the entire Mediterranean world, combine it with ideas from Hopi and Pueblo Indians and add flourishes that would make Walt Disney proud.

It's hard to know what to call the style. In Santa Barbara and other parts of California, these homes are usually described as Spanish Colonial Revival, suggesting that they borrow ideas from early settlers. Many architects prefer the term Hispanic or Mediterranean, while others simply say that the houses are Spanish Eclectic.

But although the style is difficult to name, it's fairly easy to recognize. Virginia and Lee McAlester, authors of A Field Guide to American Houses, characterize Spanish Eclectic homes as having the features listed below.

Spanish inspired houses usually have these features:

Low-pitched roof.
Red roof tiles.
Little or no overhanging eaves.
Stucco siding.
Arches, especially above doors, porch entries and main windows.

Some Spanish inspired homes have:

Asymmetrical shape with cross-gables and side wings.
Flat roof and parapets.
Or, a hipped roof.
Carved doors.
Spiral columns and pilasters.
Courtyards.
Carved stonework or cast ornaments.
Patterned tile floors and wall surfaces.

In many ways, the Spanish Revival homes built from 1915 to 1940 resemble the earlier California Mission Style houses. Mission architecture romanticized the simple Spanish churches of colonial America. It featured red tile roofs, parapets, decorative railings and carved stonework. But the twentieth century Spanish inspired styles proved to be more far reaching. Wild and expressive, this new fashion borrowed from the entire history of Spanish architecture, from Moorish to Byzantine to Renaissance.

Why the sudden explosive interest in all things español? According to historians, the excitement began with the opening of a canal. In 1915, gates to the Panama canal swung open. To celebrate, San Diego, the first North American port of call on the Pacific Coast, launched a spectacular exposition. The chief designer for the event was Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, who had a fascination for Gothic and Hispanic styles. Goodhue did not want the cold, formal Renaissance and Neoclassical architecture which was normally used for expositions and fairs. Instead, he envisioned a fairytale city with a festive, Mediterranean flavor.

Goodhue (along with fellow architects Carleton M. Winslow, Clarence Stein and Frank P. Allen, Jr.) created extravagant, capricious Churrigueresque towers based on the 17th and 18th century Spanish designs. They filled Balboa Park in San Diego with arcades, arches, colonnades, domes, fountains, pergolas, reflecting pools, man-sized Muslim urns and an array of Disneyesque details.

America was dazzled, and Iberian fever spread as trendy architects adapted Spanish ideas to upscale homes and public buildings. Possibly the most famous examples of Spanish Revival architecture can be found in Santa Barbara, California. Santa Barbara had a rich tradition of Hispanic architecture long before Goodhue unveiled his vision of a Mediterranean skyline. But after a massive earthquake in 1925, the town was rebuilt. With its clean white walls and inviting courtyards, Santa Barbara became a showplace for the new Spanish style.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, architect Addison Mizner was launching the "Florida Renaissance". Addison Mizner aspired to turn the tiny unincorporated town of Boca Raton, Florida into a luxurious resort community filled with his own special blend of Mediterranean architecture. Irving Berlin, W.K. Vanderbilt, Elizabeth Arden and other illustrious personalities bought stock in the venture. Mizner went broke, but his dream came true. Boca Raton became a Mediterranean Mecca with Moorish columns, spiral staircases suspended in midair and exotic Medieval details.

At the same time, Aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner James Bright were adding their own vision to Florida's architectural melting pot. Curtiss was enamored with the rustic appearance of ancient pueblos. In the region which is now Miami Springs, he built an entire development of thick-walled buildings made of wood frame or concrete block.

Manifesting in a variety of forms, the new Spanish styles took root wherever Hispanic ties were strong. Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean houses sprang up throughout Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. Simplified versions of the style evolved for working-class budgets. During the 1930s, neighborhoods filled with one-story stucco houses with arches and other details that suggested a Spanish Colonial flavor.

The stucco walls and cool, shaded interiors make Spanish style homes best suited for warmer climates. Nevertheless, scattered examples, some quite elaborate, can be found throughout North America. When you drive through upscale neighborhoods in cold northern cities, you can sometimes spot a grand Mediterranean palace, looking lost in the center of a snow-covered lawn. (Article by Jackie Craven).