COLONIAL STYLE, in architecture, a term loosely applied to any style developed by colonizers; e.g., the French colonial architecture of Morocco, the colonial architecture of Bermuda, etc. When used without a qualifying adjective, the term denotes specifically the architecture of the English colonies of the North American continent during the 17th and i8th centuries; and also, by extension, the continuation and development of that style after the Revolution, down to the coming of the classic revivals, 1800 3o (see MODERN ARCHITECTURE). The peculiar characteristics of any colonial architecture result from the attempt to reproduce as closely as possible the architecture of the mother country in places where labour may be limited or untrained or influenced by native tradition, materials may be different and climate and environment may be unfamiliar.