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Victorian Gothic House Styles: History and Pictures

By Jackie Craven, About.com

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Romantic Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival Home in Bath, England

Gothic Revival Home in Bath, England

Photo ©2006 Steven Lewarne
Most Gothic Revival homes were romantic adaptations of medieval architecture. Delicate wooden ornaments and other decorative details suggested the architecture of medieval England. These homes did not try to replicate authentic Gothic styles.

However, the great Victorian philosopher and art critic John Ruskin believed that man's highest spiritual values and artistic achievements were expressed in the elaborate, heavy masonry architecture of medieval Europe. His books outlined principles for design that used European Gothic architecture as the standard.

The ideas of John Ruskin and other thinkers lead to a more complex Gothic Revival style often called High Victorian Gothic, or Neo-Gothic.

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