In the United States, where the leadings architects working in the style were
Alfred B. Mullett and
John McArthur, Jr., large scale buildings in the style were often closer to their 17th-century roots than examples of the style found in Europe.[1] However, unlike in Europe, in the United States and Canada many of the buildings constructed in the Second Empire style were residences.
In the United States, where the style is known as Second Empire,[2]
Second Empire Baroque,[3] or French Baroque Revival,[4] or French Second Empire,[5] the Second Empire style frequently combined a rectangular tower, or similar element, with a steep
mansard roof, the roof being the most noteworthy link to the style's French roots. This tower element could be of equal height to the highest floor, or could exceed the height of the rest of the structure by a story or two. The mansard roof crest was often topped with an iron trim, sometimes referred to as "cresting". In some cases,
lightning rods were integrated into the cresting design, making the feature useful beyond its decorative features. Although still intact in some examples, this original cresting has often deteriorated and been removed. The exterior style could be expressed in either wood, brick or stone. More elaborate examples frequently featured paired columns as well as sculpted details around the doors, windows and dormers. There is frequently "strongly moulded string courses."[6] Corners of buildings, both monumental and relatively modest examples often feature
quoins on the corners.
Floor plans for Second Empire residences could either be symmetrical, with the tower (or tower-like element) in the center, or asymmetrical, with the tower or tower-like element to one side. Virginia and Lee McAlester divided the style into five subtypes:[7]
Simple mansard roof – about 20%
Centered wing or gable (with bays jutting out at either end)
Leland M. Roth refers to the style as "Second Empire Baroque."[9] Mullett-Smith terms it the "Second Empire or General Grant style" due to its popularity in designing government buildings during the
Grant administration.[10]
The style was also used for commercial structures, and was often used when designing state institutions. Several psychiatric hospitals proved the style's adaptability to their size and functions. Prior to the construction of the
Pentagon during the 1940s, the Second Empire–style
Ohio State Asylum for the Insane in
Columbus, Ohio, was reported to be the largest building under one roof in the U.S., though the title may actually belong to
Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, another
Kirkbride Second Empire asylum.
Second Empire was succeeded by the revival of the
Queen Anne Style and its sub-styles, which enjoyed great popularity until the beginning of the "Revival Era" in American architecture just before the end of the 19th century, popularized by the architecture at the
World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1893.
Selected examples in the United States and Canada
Jerome Mansion (1859-1865), 32 East 26th Street, New York, NY; Thomas R. Jackson, architect.
^Roth, Leland M., A Concise History of American Architecture, ICON Editions, Harper & Row, Publishers, New York 1980 pp. 128-132
^Dorsey, John and James D. Dilts, A Guide to Baltimore Architecture, Tidewater Publishers, Centerville, Maryland, 1981, p. 86
^ Gebhard, David, Montgomery, Winter, Woodbridge, Woodbridge, revised by Gebhard, Sandweiss, Winter, The Guide to Architecture in San Francisco and Northern California, Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City, 1985 p. 561
^ Maitland, Leslie, Jacqueline Hucker, & Shannon Ricketts, “A Guide to Canadian Architectural Styles, Broadview Press Ltd., Peterborough, Ontario 1992 p. 64