Historic Architecture Periods

Take a tour of architecture history, from prehistoric to Postmodern. This century-by-century roundup explores important movements with photos and resources of awe-inspiring buildings and structures.

ornate gable dormer in green and cream colors, double arched windows, on steep roofed tower

American Victorian Architecture, Homes From 1840 to 1900

Guide to Mid-Century Homes, 1930 to 1965

American Homes Inspired by French Designs

Washington, D. C. Cityscapes And City Views

The Architecture of Washington, DC

Brown-shingled, center chimney, 6-over-6 double hung windows on each side of central doorway, Cape Cod style house on Long Island, New York

House Style Guide to the American Home

Landscape exterior front view of the White House

13 White House Facts You May Not Know

Taliesin Visitor's Center on the Wisconsin River

Organic Architecture from Frank Lloyd Wright to Modernist

Photo of Grant Wood's Painting "American Gothic" Held up in Front of the Gothic Revival House in Disrepair

An Introduction to Gothic Revival Architecture

rectangular box of a building five squares high and 15 squares across seemingly sitting on corner concrete pyramids with a flat roof

Modern Architecture and Its Variations

Contemporary log home, with gable of glass and facade-wide porch

About America's Love Affair With Log Cabins

Aqueduct of San Lazaro in merida

The Ancient Roman Water Systems

Marble lion in front of the Main Branch of the New York Public Library, 1911, Beaux Arts Architecture

Discover the Beauty of Beaux Arts

Great Ziggurat of Ur

What is a Ziggurat?

Highly ornamental columns with spiral flutes, inlaid mosaics in a hall with the back of a person standing

About Persian and Egyptian Types of Columns

close view of masonry pediment in front of circular domed room

The Influential Architecture of the Pantheon in Rome

close view of stucco home, clay tile roofing, arched windows, and iron gate

Spanish Style Homes in the New World

white Greek Revival style mansion, with front columns, front porches on each of the two stories, and large trees surrounding the plantation home

About Antebellum Homes Before and After the War

Palladio-designed villa with pediment, columns, and dome in a country setting with a bird sculpture in the foreground

Renaissance Architecture and Its Influence

detail facade of New Orleans cottage, overhanging hip roof, bright turquoise shutters and trim on white siding and front door

House Styles in New Orleans and the Mississippi Valley

aerial view of scattered megalithic stones scattered in a circle

The History of Western Architecture in Photos

Large insula apartment building in Ostia Antica on sunny day.

Ancient Rome Apartments

airport terminal with red carpeting and seats below a curved ceiling of lattice wood

The 2004 Collapse at Airport Charles de Gaulle

detail of skyscraper exterior, tapering toward the top with a concrete-colored wing

Top 10 Buildings of the Modern Era

Close-up of colorful onion domes atop St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square, Moscow

Russian History in Architecture

Mayan stone hut with thatched roof

Mayan Architecture

Painting, village of Jamestown c. 1615 on James River, Virginia, by NPS artist Sydney King

The Oldest Town in the U.S.

Palmyra is an ancient, ruined city about 135 miles northeast of the capital, Damascus

The Significance of the Ancient Ruins of Palmyra, Syria

Birthplace home of President Richard Nixon, Yorba Linda, California

5 Presidential Places You'll Want to Discover

Aerial view of Lincoln Cathedral

All About Gothic Architecture

The Roman Forum Restored

Roman Architecture and Monuments

Chateau du Clos Luce, final home of Leonardo Da Vinci, near Amboise in France, 1515 - 1519

Leonardo's Last Years

Pyramid of the Niches

The Architecture of El Tajin

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial -- the "Stone of Hope" is pulled from the rock wall behind it, known as the "Mountain of Despair"

The Controversial Memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr.

1847 Farmhouse Designed by Matilda W. Howard

A Woman-Designed Home of the 1800s

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