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16 7th St. NE is a great example
of understated elegance.
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Federal was the first American architectural language - and Capitol Hill is still this style’s biggest laboratory
“My husband and I live in a four-level Federal-style town house. While our home is not in the Historic District, we’d like to introduce a few changes without sacrificing the home’s architectural integrity. Specifically, I’m thinking of enlarging a few front windows, adding sidelights to the main entrance and augmenting the top level headroom with front- facing dormers. Can you suggest some guidelines that will help me make style appropriate changes?
Mrs GR, Washington, DC
Start with research, strolls around the neighborhood, and a conversation with the city’s Historic Preservation Office. Capitol Hill boasts some of the country’s most visible expressions of Federal style (sometimes called the Adam style), and the city is keen on helping homeowners preserve an architectural heritage that appreciably defines it.
By way of context, Federal-style evolved in the period in which American independence was firmly establishing itself and our unique system of governance was being developed. Continuity with English tradition was one of American architecture’s abiding preoccupations, but architects also sought to be associated with even older civilizations that pre-dated English rule. The idea was to assert “Age of Reason” concepts in the design of homes and buildings, emphasizing a legitimacy to our experiment that derives from the earliest foundations of a rational Western thought.
How made to order, then, the ideas of Robert Adam (1728–1792), a popular British architect, whose work was heavily indebted to ancient Greek and Roman forms.
In its essence, Federal is the style of a young, ambitious nation pointing confidently to its future. Pedimented windows, an entablature with a frieze, the occasional portico-- all find their origin in antiquity, yet Adams was also the voice of a decidedly Anglocentric sensibility that, on American soil, found an identity of it’s own-- one that soon proved more practical and adaptable than its European cousins.
SIMPLICITY REASSERTED
It may be the box-like simplicity of the principal subtypes that explains why Federal style homes are found everywhere from New England's seaport towns to Savannah, Georgia, Georgetown and, of course, in many of Capitol Hill’s historic homes. While the roof types vary from side-gabled to center-gabled to hipped, the core configuration is a box-- two or more rooms deep-- with doors and windows arranged in strict symmetry. Hence, the style adapts easily to varied settings. Many frequently touted Federal-style residences grace the Hill. These include Carberry House, Friendship House, the Sewall-Belmont House, the Mountjoy Bayly House and many elegant row houses dating back to the 1790’s.
For the record, there are also local instances of larger structures-- modified with wings or attached dependencies, or even both. For example, you’ll find elaborate curved or polygonal floor plans such as with the Octagon House, built in 1801 in Washington DC (1799 New York Avenue, NW).
MAKING CHANGES
As you undertake your research, keep in mind that Federal-style design elements are usually understated. Exterior decoration is generally confined to a porch or entry element. Compared to a Georgian style house, the columns and moldings are narrow and humble.
Also, Federal-style decoration showcases geometrical concepts. Elliptical, circular, and fan-shaped motifs formed by fluted radiating lines are common. One of the oldest American examples of such flourishes is on the dining-room ceiling of Mount Vernon. Executed in plaster, the design contains an ornamental border festooned by corn husks and a central rosette.
Some other important considerations:
The building materials in Federal-style structures vary with location. The homes of the Northeast were typically clapboard. Southern houses were often brick, as are most of the homes in the urban north where fireproofing was desired.
Hip roofs capped by a balustrade, simple gable shapes (such as those on Federal buildings in The City of Fairfax), and even roofs with a center gable crowned by a front façade pediment, are among the most popular Federal roof forms. Dormers often pierce the roof to bring light and space into an attic.
Windows are never grouped in the Federal-style house, but arranged individually in strict horizontal and vertical symmetry. Typically, on a large home, the front windows are five-ranked, although there are examples of three and seven-ranked windows. Palladian-style windows are often used in gables as an architectural flourish. Windows are usually double-hung wood sashes with the top sash held in place by metal pins. Thin wooden muntins divide the window into small window lights (panes). Usually, the windows feature six over six lights, although nine over nine and other configurations can also be found.
Befitting its importance, especially when centered on a symmetrical façade, the front door of a Federal home is frequently the most decorated part of the exterior. On this score, a semicircular fan light above the door, with or without flanking sidelights, is a favorite device as you will see during your walks around Old Town. A doorway's surround might also include ornate molding or a small entry porch. Decorative moldings, such as tooth-like dentils, are often used to emphasize cornices.
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