Style Library Start a session
Style 17 / 45
Classic American & Vernacular

Colonial Revival

Traditional / formal

Symmetry, proportion, and timeless American formality.

Your take
Overview

Symmetry, proportion, and timeless American formality.

The enduring traditional American style — symmetrical, balanced, and dignified, drawing on Georgian and early American precedent. A center entrance under a pediment, evenly spaced multipane windows, and a restrained classical vocabulary. It reads as established, orderly, and quietly formal without tipping into grandeur.

01 Key principles

  • 01Strict bilateral symmetry around a central entrance
  • 02Evenly spaced, multipane double-hung windows with shutters
  • 03Classical detailing — columns, pediments, dentil molding
  • 04Two-story rectangular massing with side-gabled roof
  • 05A clear, formal hierarchy of rooms
  • 06Restraint and proportion over ornament
Spatial direction
Center-hall plan with balanced flanking rooms; formal living and dining; defined entry; classical millwork throughout.
Furniture
Traditional and tailored — wingback chairs, camelback sofas, Chippendale and Queen Anne pieces, brass and porcelain lighting.
Textures
Crown molding and wainscoting, paneled doors, oriental rugs, polished hardwood, refined upholstery.

02 Materials & finishes

Brick and clapboard, painted wood trim, slate or cedar roofing, marble and hardwood floors, brass hardware

Color palette
7 tones — the working palette for this direction.
Crisp White
#F4F1E8
Navy
#28344B
Hunter Green
#2F4734
Federal Blue
#43618A
Soft Gray
#BDB9AF
Brick Red
#9C4A38
Black
#1B1B19
The feeling

“Orderly, gracious, and timeless. Formality that never goes out of fashion.”