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1965 - Present: Neo-mediterranean

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond
Details from Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries combine with North American ideas to create contemporary Mediterranean or Neo-mediterranean homes.
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Neoeclectic homes with a Mediterranean flair
Photo: Jupiterimages Corporation
Spanish and Italian details mingle with contemporary styling in Neo-mediterranean style homes.
Neo-mediterranean is a Neoeclectic house style that incoporates a fanciful mix of details suggested by the architecture of Spain, Italy, and Greece, Morocco, and the Spanish Colonies. Realtors often call Neo-mediterrean houses Mediterranean or Spanish.

Neo-mediterranean houses have many of these features:

  • Low-pitched roof
  • Red roof tiles
  • Stucco siding
  • Arches above doors, windows, or porches
  • Heavy carved wooden doors
A Neo-mediterranean home may resemble the much earlier Spanish Revival style. However, Neo-mediterranean homes are not careful recreations of Spanish Colonial architecture. If you remove the romantic decorative details, a Neo-mediterranean home is more likely to resemble a no-nonsense, all-American Ranch or Raised Ranch.

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