Victorian Architecture: Queen Anne vs. King Edward

An 1876 Queen Anne at 809 Pine

Our 1901 Edwardian house at 1109 Pine.

When I read the flyer for our home at 1109 Pine, it referred to the house as "Edwardian". I had no idea what this meant, beyond some faint recognition that it related to a period in English history and architecture. I did a simple search and found that Edwardian architecture refers to the style popular when King Edward VII was in power. He reigned from 1901 to 1910. His predecessor, Queen Victoria, had a much longer reign (1837-1901) and homes built during her reign, especially during the latter part of her reign, are referred to as Victorian. The British had a custom of naming architectural styles after their monarchs (Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, etc.).

But what about the "Queen Anne" Victorians? Didn't Queen Anne reign in the early 1700s? More searches found the explanation, which is quite interesting. The Queen Anne style of Victorians did not refer directly to Queen Anne's rule, but marked a "Queen Anne" revival. During her reign in the 1700s, art and science flourished, and it was British architect Richard Norman Shaw and his followers who began to refer to buildings in the Queen Anne style. Of all the Victorian styles, Queen Anne is the most ornate and embellished. You know them when you see them, wrapped in bay windows, vertically punctuated with turrets and towers and sharply pitched roofs, sometimes covered with intricate gingerbread motifs, often decorated with elaborately painted facades. There are many examples of the Queen Anne style in Boulder, and cities throughout the U.S. have rich examples of the Queen Anne style. In contrast, the Edwardian style was a movement towards modernism, towards a more simple, less ornamental style. Edwardian style would pave the way for some of the early 20th century modernist architects.