OUTSIDE:

> usually gabled roofs, with chimneys on outside walls and shingled gables

> red brick, rendered, roughcast or weatherboard walls

> timber, brick or rendered verandah piers and balustrades

> small, squarish windows usually grouped in front rooms and sometimes in ‘bow’ or bay shaped projections

> windows either double-hung or casement, with panes in small rectangles or diamonds or featuring Art Nouveau or Arts and Crafts patterned stained glass

GARDEN:

> fences commonly crimped wire with looped tops or timber pickets or less often, brick fences similar to verandah balustrades

> variegated and colourful shrubs and smaller trees gain popularity; hedges and standard roses become common, as do lawns

> serpentine path to door

INSIDE:

> timber doors, windows and trims stained in dark tones

> black japanned borders to floors

> painted plaster walls with stained picture rails, sometimes wallpaper friezes

> ceilings usually unadorned, sometimes divided into panels with plaster straps and patterned in front rooms

COLOUR & DESIGN NOTES:

> roofs usually terracotta tiles or, if corrugated metal, painted red or green

> walls red brick with flush joints, and brown or green stained shingles at gable ends

> timber walls sometimes stained, usually painted a light colour with trims in tones of brown or dark green

HISTORY:

> influence of American lifestyle and culture reflected in local architecture

> emphasis on natural materials

> similarities between Californian and Victorian climate encouraged acceptance of style

> embraced by speculative builders and dominates Melbourne suburbs until the Depression

> increasingly relaxed lifestyle leads to greater use of verandahs and beginnings of open planning