Queen Anne House Plans

What is a Queen Anne style house plan?

Taken to its extreme, the Queen Anne style becomes a fairytale structure of yawning asymmetrical planes, polygonal towers, fancifully curved gables, jutting bay and dormer windows, wraparound porches, second-story balconies, eclectic exterior textures, blazing colors, leaded windows, balustrades... There’s a certain cheerful excess to the Victorian-inspired style, which took hold in the late 19th century in direct competition with the antithetical and much less vivid American Prairie style. Townhomes and single family residences adopted the style with gusto in the cities, and remain to this day as a picturesque reminder of another era—or perhaps a coming trend perched enchantingly on the near horizon?

• Asymmetrical facade • Tower with conical roof • Steeply pitched roofs, multiple gables, ornately fashioned and detailed • Wraparound porch, balconies • Bay windows, big glass, stained and/or leaded • Exteriors of brightly mixed color and materials (wood shingles, brick, tiles)