Gothic Architecture

Gothic architecture reigned for 400 years. It spread from northern France, swept throughout England and Western Europe, crept into Scandinavia and Central Europe, and even found its way into the Near East. However, the 14th century brought a devastating plague and extreme poverty. Building slowed, and by the end of the 1400s, Gothic architecture was replaced by other styles.

Scornful of exuberant, excessive ornamentation, artisans in Renaissance Italy compared medieval builders to German "Goth" barbarians from earlier times. Thus, after the style had faded from popularity, the term Gothic was coined.

But, Gothic ideas never completely vanished. During the nineteenth century, builders in Europe, England and the United States borrowed Medieval traditions to create an eclectic Victorian style: Gothic Revival. Even small private homes were given arched windows, lacy pinnacles, and an occasional leering gargoyle.

Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York is a grand Gothic Revival mansion designed by Victorian architect Alexander Jackson Davis.