Introduction

The PHS Historic Structures Committee has developed this style guide to show the best examples of architectural styles in the Perinton area.

There are many style guides available to help identify a structure's history and uniqueness. In 1988, Ruth Ewell developed an Architectural Style Guide based on Perinton history and architecture. The difference between this guide and others available is that you can walk down the street or drive through the country side to view and study real examples of Federal, Italianate and Gothic Revival architecture, to name a few.

The Structures Committee is taking Ruth Ewell's guide as a basis for a new on-line version. Also being used as a resource is "A Field Guide to American Houses" by Virginia and Lee McAlester.

The new guide has photographs, instead of line drawings and images of typical features like; a mansard roof, pilasters, cupolas, cornices and vergeboards. We are also going to find examples of the Revivals; Colonial, Dutch Colonial, Tudors, as well as Capes, Pairie/American Four Square and Craftsman styles, common after the turn of the century.

Our mission is to provide this information digitally for research and education. Through education and building awareness of architectural styles in our area, we hope to encourage preservation and retain the charm and uniqueness of our community.

We will be posting more information and adding style pages over the next several months.

Guide to Architectural Styles in Perinton

In 1789 when the earliest settlers arrived in Perinton the area was still a wilderness. While towns and cities far to the East were putting up elaborate Federal style buildings to celebrate our recent independence, the very few residents of Fairport were building log cabins and blockhouses. They built for safety and shelter; architectural style was not a consideration. In 1822 the entire village consisted of one blockhouse, one frame house and seven log cabins.

When the Erie Canal came through Fairport in 1823 the Village began to thrive. And as the Village grew and prospered, craftsmen and businessmen moving west to or through upstate New York brought with them new ideas and innovation; and village residents were eager to implement them.

By the 1840's several architectural styles were taking shape in America. In 1842 an architect, A.J. Downing, published the first popular pattern book of house styles called 'Cottage Residences'. Included were some new architectural fashions: Gothic Revival and Italianate, along with the already popular Greek Revival. Now builders and homebuyers had a choice and the builders in Fairport were no different. There is ample evidence of these early styles in the village architectural inventory.

Folk Houses

• Log & Block Houses
  

Colonial Houses

• Federal or Adam Style

Romantic Houses

• Greek Revival
• Gothic Revival
• Italianate

Victorian

• Second Empire
• Stick
• Queen Anne
• Shingle
• Folk Victorian

Eclectic Houses

• Colonial Revival
• Neoclassical
• Tudor Revival
• French Eclectic

Modern

• Pairie
• Craftsman
• Ranch
• Split Level