DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, a branch of the building art which has special reference to houses, villas, and edifices designed primarily for dwelling purposes.
Ancient Greek and Roinan.—In gen eral all the rooms were grouped on the ground floor, round an atrium or court, and a peristyle or hall, which two por tions of the house had he most impor tance attached to them, because they con stituted the favorite spot in summer on account of the breeze, and in winter on account of the sun. Both the Roman and Greek houses consisted of two divi sions, but the meaning and employment of these divisions did not coincide; for whereas in Greek houses the front part constituted the andronitis or rnen's apartments, in Roman houses it formed the public part of the building, in which clients used to wait upon their patrons. The back part, on the contrary, was in tended for the residence and real dwell ing-rooms of the family; while in the Greek houses the back was the gynai konitis, or apartments for the women and domestics. The atrium, or court, formed the central part of the front of the house and the peristyle, or hall, the central part of the back, both being open to the air. Round these the rooms were grouped, and from these princi pally they derived their light. Behind the peristyle were the cubicula, or sleeping-rooms, and the triclinium, or dining-room, which was quite open to the peristyle.
Norman.—The towns and ordinary houses of the Normans were entirely built of wood. Their castles, having but one destination, that of defense, aimed at nothing but strength in their plan or construction. The principal feature was always the keep or donjon, which con tained the apartments of the lord of the castle, and was also meant to be the last refuge of the garrison if the outer works were forced. The keep was usually raised on an artificial mound, or placed on the edge of a precipice. The win
dows were few, and little more than chinks, unless very high up, or turned to the court. The whole fortress was defended by a moat.
English.—Like the Saxons the Nor mans had built almost entirely in wood or timber frame-work, houses of stone being the exception. The troubled state of the country, however, led to the erec tion of numerous strong stone buildings or fortresses. Gradually, as civilization improved, the necessity for defense de creased, and the efforts of Edward I. to introduce and encourage the arts in England by bringing over choice work men and artists from France led to a marked change in the style of architec ture. The close of the 17th century brought with it a taste for a return to classical models, and an attempt was made to work out a national style com bining to some extent the characteristics of the Tudor and the Classical. This is commonly known as "Queen Anne" style. The buildings are generally of brick, solid and heavy. The domestic archi tecture of the Georgian era is a very de based imitation of the Classical. In the present day there is no essentially char acteristic architectural style.
American.—As a matter of course, in the earlier years of the existence of the Republic the architectural styles were drawn almost exclusively from English sources, and up to the outbreak of the Civil War, except in very few instances, the country did not contain any archi tecture of distinctive features. But with the return of peace and prosperity the arts began to flourish, and great atten tion was bestowed upon the construction and ornamentation of domestic build ings. Numerous styles have appeared, had their day, and then given way in rapid succession to others.