A bit of detail from the University of Virginia, designed by Thomas 
Jefferson, and strongly influenced by the robust scale of stone¬ 
work in France 
A classic stone fragment. The egg-and-dart molding appears at 
the top, with the bead-and-reel and a dentil course below it, the 
latter badly broken 
The Real Meaning and Use of Architectural Detail 
I. COLONIAL WORK—ITS CHARACTERISTIC MOLDINGS, ORDERS AND APPLIED ORNAMENT-HOW 
THESE CAME TO BE USED AND THE PART THEY TAKE IN GIVING NEW HOUSES THE OLD FLAVOR 
by Louis Boynton 
Photographs by Frank Cousins, M. H. Northend and otheis 
[A series of articles by prominent architects appeared in this magazine last year. In it the characteristics of the more common architectural styles, 
used for country houses, were outlined and explained. Another matter of great importance to those who would build consistently is the detail. Mr. 
Boynton’s series of articles zvill explain the origin and use of motives, ornament and molding characteristics in connection with the better known styles 
of architecture. So far as we know, a discussion of this side of home building has never before been attempted. — Editor.] 
I T is frequently the case that people who are planning to build, 
wish, either from environment or association, to build a Co¬ 
lonial house. This is a laudable ambition and generally results 
from a desire for a simple, dignified, refined home. Unfortu¬ 
nately, comparatively few people have any definite ideas as to 
the essential characteristics of a real Colonial house. 
We are all more or less familiar with the appearance of this 
type of house, but it cannot be too strongly emphasized that Co¬ 
lonial architecture means a great deal more than a wood house 
painted yellow with the moldings and ornament in white. Of 
course all Colonial architecture is a more or less distinct form 
of the Renaissance. That is to say, it is based on the Classical 
Revival in England, which was started by Inigo Jones and Sir 
Christopher Wren, and which 
developed into the Georgian 
style, which was contempor¬ 
ary with the American Co¬ 
lonial. 
In fact, there are a num¬ 
ber of Colonial churches — 
and these among the best ex¬ 
amples, which are said to have 
been built from the designs of 
Sir Christopher Wren. 
I think if one were to de¬ 
fine the chief quality of Co¬ 
lonial architecture, one would 
say that it was a certain re¬ 
strained refinement. 
While the general form, and the arrangement and spacing of 
the openings, of such a house, is most important, as it is in all 
architecture, the peculiar character, or “flavor,” is almost wholly 
dependent on the “detailthat is, on the kind and relative size 
of the moldings used and on the ornament employed. 
Now the kind of moldings used in Colonial work were ex¬ 
tremely characteristic and often differed radically from those 
common to any other style. The houses were built of wood or 
brick, but the trim and ornament were almost invariably executed 
in wood — consequently wooden details of the exteriors more 
nearly resembled the woodwork of the interiors than the stone 
detail from which the motives were derived. Undoubtedly, the 
details of a Colonial house were worked out by the builders as 
the work progressed rather 
than by a “designer" in the 
quiet seclusion of a draught- 
ing-room. For it seems to 
have been the fact that in 
many of the Colonial build¬ 
ings there was no professional 
architect but that the design 
was adopted from some simi¬ 
lar building, and the detail 
was largely governed by some 
careful English handbook 
with accurately drawn plates 
and explicit directions. And 
the consequence is that the 
work has the “hand - made" 
The ends of the stairs in Colonial work were usually embellished 
with a hand-carved bracket motif, often of great beauty 
( 34 ) 
