Federal Period Homes in the Granbys

Like much of America's architecture, the Federal style has its roots in the British Isles. Three Scottish brothers named Adam adapted the pragmatic Georgian style, adding swags, garlands, urns, and Neoclassical details.

In the American colonies, homes and public buildings also took on graceful airs. Inspired by the work of the Adam brothers but also by the great temples of ancient Greece and Rome, Americans began to build homes with Palladian windows, circular or elliptical windows, recessed wall arches, and oval-shaped rooms. The Federal style had definite philosophical ties to the concept of Rome as the republic that the new American country sought to reflect.

It's easy to confuse Federal architecture with the earlier Georgian Colonial style. The difference is in the details: While Georgian homes are square and angular, a Federal style building is more likely to have curved lines and decorative flourishes. The White House in Washington, D.C. began as a Georgian, and later took on a Federal flavor as architects added an elliptical portico and other Neoclassical embellishments.

Federal architecture was the favored style in the United States from about 1780 until the 1830s. However, Federal details have made a comeback today in many modern American homes. If you can look past the vinyl siding, and you will see a fanlights, circle top windows or the elegant arch of a Palladian.

American Federal houses have many of these features:

• Low-pitched roof, or flat roof with a balustrade
• Windows arranged symmetrically around a center doorway
• Semicircular fanlight over the front door
• Narrow side windows flanking the front door
• Decorative crown or roof over front door
• Tooth-like dentil moldings in the cornice
• Palladian window
• Circular or elliptical windows
• Shutters
• Decorative swags and garlands
• Oval rooms and arches

The Granbys offer some wonderful examples of the period with best elements evidenced in the following homes:

239 Salmon Brook St. – Portico, dentil trim, Palladian style feature window

213 Salmon Brook St. – Elliptical door window, sidelights, Greek columns

2 Park Place – Dentils, modillians, exceptional circle head Palladian, applied trims

309 Granville Road – Exceptional doorway, 12x12 sash, flat Palladian window

109 West Granby Road – Center hall, classic details, transomed doorway

12 Silkey Road – Sidelights, doorway, simplified cornice details

151 Silkey Road – Sidelights, gable end fireplaces, center hall

46 Simsbury Road – Shallow hipped roofline, leaded doorway detail

83 Spoonville Road, East Granby – Transom doorway window

99 South Main St., East Granby – Exceptional Palladian window, Corinthian columns

Please take a trip around town and view these wonderful homes which have survived more than 200 years and if you are inclined to view the interior of a Federal period home please join the Salmon Brook Historical Society's this Saturday starting at 10 a.m. 239 and 213 Salmon Brook St. will be on the tour! Tickets can be purchased at Beman Hardware and Granby Pharmacy.