Find out about this and numerous other popular home building styles with Birmingham Historical Society’s book, A Guide to Architectural Styles featuring Birmingham Homes. It features the drawings of Auburn University’s Professor of Architecture, Cheryl Morgan, with descriptions by BHS Director, Marjorie White. Here’s an example:

GREEK REVIVAL

Americans chose the Greek Revival style for early public buildings. In love with the concept of Greek democracy, they built 19th-Century versions of ancient temples to house state capitols and banks. Homeowners also chose this prominent, historic style.

In the South, an elaborate portico became synonymous with the agricultural elite. And although actual

Greek temples were polychrome,

American temple-front houses were almost always white. Their rectangular massing emulated the proportions of the masonry originals.

• Symmetrical façade
• Columned portico (often full-width)
• Classical details: portico, cornice, entablature, columns, pilasters
• Rectangular shape

GREEK REVIVAL

Americans chose the Greek Revival style for early public buildings. In love with the concept of Greek democracy, they built 19th-Century versions of ancient temples to house state capitols and banks. Homeowners also chose this prominent, historic style.

In the South, an elaborate portico became synonymous with the agricultural elite. And although actual

Greek temples were polychrome,

American temple-front houses were almost always white. Their rectangular massing emulated the proportions of the masonry originals.