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Architecture Inspired by Spain

By , About.com Guide

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Mission Style Houses
Mission style house

Mission style houses have stucco walls, arches, and other details inspired by the Spanish mission churches of colonial America.

Photo © 2005 Jupiterimages Corporation
In many ways, the Spanish Eclectic homes built from 1915 to 1940 resemble the slightly earlier Mission Style houses. Mission architecture romanticized the simple Spanish churches of colonial America. Mission houses typically have red tile roofs, parapets, decorative railings, and carved stonework. But the twentieth century Spanish inspired styles proved to be more far reaching. Wild and expressive, this new fashion borrowed from the entire history of Spanish architecture, from Moorish to Byzantine to Renaissance.

Why the sudden explosive interest in all things español? According to historians, the excitement began with the opening of a canal.

Next > How a Canal Inspired Architects >

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