Georgian Period Homes in the Granbys

The Georgian style refers to a style originating in England in the 1600's based on forms following the classical principals of design developed by Andrea Palladio during the Italian Renaissance. In the mid-1600's, architects Indigo Jones and Christopher Wren began designing buildings using Palladios' design principles.

This style became wildly popular in England, replacing the medieval style. Granby has retained excellent examples of the homes built in the Georgian period including the very early 18th century home located at 45 Bushy Hill Road.

By 1700, Georgian designs reached the American colonies in the form of architectural manuals and pattern books. In the 1700's New England had a building boom. Wealth was accumulating along the Eastern seaboard with wealthy captains, merchants, shipyard owners, and mill owners creating a new class of 'first families" in the colonies.

Many people were visiting England and there was free travel between the colonies. The Colonists looked to England for precedents of fashion and taste. New standards of sophistication and elegance were developing and those who wanted to display status, wealth and taste were eager to have the new Georgian style home. The founders in our communities were no different.

This new style involved new concepts of living. The multiplication of rooms led to increased specialization of rooms into separate rooms for sleeping, cooking, dining and so forth.

A center chimney allowed for fireplaces in much of the living quarters while becoming smaller and more efficient, since they were used for heating only and the large hearth could be confined to the kitchen only. Comfort, convenience and privacy were beginning to play a role in the colonists' lifestyle as they increased their wealth.

New England Georgian style is adapted to its immediate surroundings and climate as well as the puritan influence, which resulted in an less ornamentation and a smaller scale than Georgian style in other colonies.

Exterior finish: would have been unpainted shingles, or clapboards which were later painted white or yellow or red. Roof was wood shingle. Cornice at the roof was sometime decorated with dental molding (tooth like cuts). The windows almost touched the cornice or roof and had very little overhang of roof. Double hung windows with 12 over 12 panes or, in  Granby, sometimes 12 over 8. Corners could be decorated with quoins. (Quoins are usually found in masonry work but Northern Georgian wood structures simulated them in wood). Front door had a triangular pediment or a flat pediment and pilasters.

Examples of  Georgian architecture in the Granbys are the following homes with their best details noted:

62 Granville Road - Gambrel Hip Roof, quoins and dentil, 12x8 window sash

257 North Granby Road - Connecticut River Valley Doorway, gambrel roof

45 Bushy Hill Road - Appropriate red color, center chimney, period doorway

143 Simsbury Road - Transomed doorway, 12x12 window sash, roof rake detail

67 Barndoor Hills Road - Pyramidal roof design, fenestration of front facade

70 Hartland Road - Double front doorway, center chimney, tavern apendage

37 Wells Road - Gambrel cape, 9x9 window sash, center chimney

108 Lost Acres Road - 12x8 window sash, double doored entry, center chimney

208 Salmon Brook St. -Double entry doorway, 12x12 windows, coffin door

110 Barkhamsted Road - Saltbox, center chimney, 12x12 windows, period colors

38 Holcomb St., East Granby - Double doored entry, 12x12 window sash

46 East St., East Granby - Cantilevered stories, 12x8 window sash, doorway

Plug these addresses into your GPS and enjoy a tour of 18th-century homes still with us and as handsome as ever!