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Arch - a curved or pointed structural element that spans an opening. There are several different types of arches, generally distinguished by the historical period in which it was used. For our purposes, a curved arch is considered “Romanesque” and a pointed arch is “Gothic.”
Architrave - the lowest member of the entablature, which, as a beam, extends from column to column.
Balcony - a platform that projects from a building that is railed and generally located above ground level.
Baluster - one of a series of short pillars or uprights that support a handrail or coping. They’re often lathe-turned and vase-shaped, though they also can be simple spare posts or cut-outs.
Balustrade - used on staircases, balconies, and porches, a series of balusters connected on the top by a coping or handrail, sometimes on the bottom by a bottom rail.
Bargeboard - a board placed on the incline of a gable to conceal the ends of the roof rafters; often very ornamented; see also vergeboard, gableboard.
Belvedere - a rooftop gazebo, pavilion, or tower for the sake of a view.
Bracket - a support member found under eaves or overhangs that project out; can be plain or decorated.
Brick - a building material that uses rectangular units of fired clay.
Canopy - a decorative projection over a door or walkway.
Capital - the upper portion of a column on which the entablature rests; usually decorated.
Cartouche - ornamental panel that is oval, circular, or scroll-shaped that provides the year in which the building construction was completed; also called an inscription stone or date stone.
Channel - groove cut or molded into an architectural member; usually found on the shafts of columns and pilasters.
Chevron - v-shaped decoration often found in a series and generally used on moldings; also called zigzag.
Chimney - a structure through which fumes and smoke from fireplaces, furnaces, or boilers escape to the outside; usually contains one or more flues and can provide a draft for fireplaces.
Chimney pot - a pipe placed on top of a chimney to increase the draft; made of terracotta, brick, or metal and often treated with decoration.
Chimney shaft - part of chimney visible above roofline
Cladding - nonstructural material used as the exterior covering for the walls of a building.
Coffering - recessed panels in a ceiling; usually decorative
Column - pillar, usually circular. Three parts: base, shaft, capital. Some basic types are as follows:
Colossal - reaches more than one story in height
Coupled - paired columns
Engaged - in direct contact with a wall with at least half of the column projecting beyond the surface of the wall to which it is engaged.
Twisted - has a twisted or spiral appearance
Coping - protective, uppermost course of a wall or parapet that projects beyond the wall surface to throw off rain.
Corbel - block that acts as a means of support for floor roof beams, and other structural members, that projects from the building and is sometimes carved or molded.
Cornice - projection at the top of a wall; top course or molding of a wall when it serves as a crowning member; the upper projection of the entablature in classical architecture.
Crenellation - decorative element simulating the squares ad spaces of a defensive parapet.
Cupola - small domed structure crowning a roof or tower.
Door - movable barrier that allows or limits access into a building or into any space within a building.
Bulkhead - provides exterior access to a cellar.
Dutch - consists of two leaves that can be opened together or separately
French - glass panes throughout, or nearly throughout, its entire length; usually in pairs.
Half-glass - glass panes located above the middle rail; also called sash door.
Screen - intended solely to allow ventilation but exclude insects; usually a lightweight frame and wire mesh screening.
Sliding - slides on horizontally mounted tracks.
Doorframe - the part of the door opening to which a door is hinged.
Door stop - vertical strip against which the door slams.
Dormer - vertical window projecting from the slope of a roof; usually has its own roof, and is named depending on the type of its roof.
Eave - portion of the roof that projects beyond the walls.
Entablature - part of a building carried by columns; consists of cornice, frieze, and architrave.
Entry - entrance to a building, such as a gate, foyer, or hall.
Façade - principal face or front elevation of a building.
Fenestration - the arrangement of windows and other exterior openings on a building.
Fluting - vertical, concave channels on columns, pilasters, and other surfaces.
Foliation - ornamentation resembling leaves.
Frieze - the member between the architrave and the cornice.
Gable - triangular end of an exterior wall in a building with a ridged (sloping) roof.
Gable roof - a sloping (ridged) roof that terminates at one or both end in a gable.
Gablet - a small gable, like found over a dormer window.
Gable trim - ornamental trim on the gable of a building.
Glass - there are several different types of glass found in residences and commercial buildings. Some common ones follow:
Bent - formed by heating the mass to a plastic state and then allowing it to sag into a mold.
Beveled - where the edges are ground and polished to form a beveled boarder.
Brilliant cut - a design is cut into the surface and subsequently polished after fogging by sandblasting or using acid.
Chipped / Glue chip - exhibits an uneven, frosted appearance.
Cut - shaped or decorated through a process of grinding and polishing, after which it appears prismatic.
Etched - coating the surface with a resist material, cutting a design in the coating, and then applying acid which reacts only to the areas in which the resist material has been removed; achieves very fine details; decorative technique.
Flashed / Cased / Case - multi-layered in which at least one layer is either iridescent or colored.
Plate - flat, transparent, relatively thin, high-grade glass with polished surfaces that have no blemishes and show no distortions.
Rolled figured / Rolled and figured / Figured rolled - flat and more or less obscured by pattern work; manufactured by rolling or impressing a decorative design in one surface of the sheet.
Sandblasted / Sand-blast - the surface is dulled to a smooth, milky finish through sandblasting; designs possible by using a stencil.
Window / Sheet - flat, transparent, relatively thin and has glossy, fire-finished surfaces that exhibits a waviness when viewed at a certain angle.
Wire - polished or figured with a core of wire mesh.
Glazing - fitting glass into windows and doors
Gutter - channel of wood or metal running along the eaves of a house that are used for catching and carrying-off rainwater
Half-timbering - a construction method where the spaces between the vertical structural timbers were filled with brickwork or plaster; common in sixteenth and seventeenth century England.
Hood - protective, sometimes decorative, cover found over doors, windows, and other objects.
Keystone - stone found at the center of an arch that is usually in the shape of a wedge.
Lantern - a small structure on a roof or dome with windows or openings for the admittance of light.
Latticework - crossing lath or thin strips of iron or wood used to create a screen or a support for vines; also known as trellis work.
Leaf - a hinged part; one of the movable members of a door or shutter.
Louver - a small lantern or other opening, often with wood slats, used for ventilating attics or other spaces.
Lozenge - diamond-shaped decorative motif
Lunette - any closed or open semicircular surface.
Molding - a continuous band that serves as an ornamental device on both the interior and exterior of a building or structure.
Mosaic - a decorative field formed by inlaying small pieces of stone, glass, or other material into a matrix of mortar, plaster, or cement.
Mullion - a large vertical member separating two casements; the vertical bar between coupled windows or multiple windows.
Muntin - one of the thin strips of wood used for holding panes of glass within a window.
Niche - a recess set in a wall to hold a statue or decorative object.
Order - a style of column and its entablature. It refers to the specific configuration and proportions of the column including the base, shaft, capital, and entablature.
Corinthian - slender columns that are fluted with ornate capitals decorated with stylized acanthus leaves.
Doric - overall, very simple; plain capital, heavily fluted columns, no base.
Ionic - capital embellished with opposing volutes and a fluted column.
Outbuilding - auxiliary structure located away from the houseor principal building.
Outlet ventilator - a louvered opening in the gable end of a building that provides ventilation.
Overhang - projection of one story beyond the one below. Also, the part of the roof that extends beyond the wall plane
Pane - single piece of window glass; used to describe a window*.
*A window with five panes of glass is called a “five light window.” If the window is double-hung, it is described in terms of the number of panes in each of its two sashes e.g. “six-over-six” or “five over three.”
Parapet - low wall or protective railing often used around a balcony or balconet or along the edge of a roof.
Pedestal - molded block that supports a column; consists of base, dado, and surbase.; also the base for a statue or other superimposed architectural feature.
Pediment - triangular section used as a crowing element for doors, windows, and niches. There are also pediments with discontinuous framing and can be broken down as follows:
Broken - two sloping sides do not meet at the top.
Open bed / Broken bed - discontinuous molding at base.
Pendant - hanging ornament.
Pier - one of the square pillars supporting an arch; square pillar.
Pilaster - a column or shallow pier attached to a wall; decorative so as to represent a classical column.
Pillars - upright members primarily used for support; unlike columns, pillars do not need to be cylindrical or conform to classical measurements.
Pitch - the angle the sloping roof planes make with the horizontal.
Porch - a covered or semi-enclosed entrance or space that projects from the façade of a building; may be open, screened, or glass enclosed.
Porch supports -
Porte-cochere - covered entrance or porch projecting far enough across a driveway or entrance road so that automobiles, carriages, or other wheeled vehicles may easily pass through.
Portico - a covered walk or porch supported by columns or pillars.
Quarrel - a small rectangular, triangular, or diamond-shaped pane of glass; also small quadrangular openings in window tracery.
Quoins - large stones or rectangular pieces of wood or brick used to decorate and accentuate the corners of a building; usually decorative, but some serve a structural purpose and are in a vertical series of alternating small and large blocks.
Rafter - sloping members of a roof upon which a roof covering is placed; named according to their location and use.
Rail - horizontal member of a door or window.
Retaining wall - braced or freestanding wall that bears against an earthen backing and usually installed to prevent erosion and encourage proper drainage of a yard or garden.
Roof - the covering of a building. The roof will take many forms, the most common of which are as follows:
Gabled - two sloping planes supported at their ends by triangular, upward extensions of two walls; junction occurs at varying levels and angles from the horizontal.
Hipped - four sloping surfaces form the roof that meets the walls in a single horizontal plane.
Flat - single horizontal or slightly sloping surface.
Rosette - any round ornament that is carved, painted, or molded so as to resemble a flower.
Scallop - carved or molded ornament in the form of a series of curves resembling shells or segments of a circle.
Scrollwork - any kind of ornamental work that resembles a scroll.
Shaft - section of a column found between the base and the capital.
Shutters - solid blinds on either side of a window; may be plain or very elaborate and generally a decorative aspect of a building exterior.
Sill - framing that forms the underside of an opening, such as a door or window sill.
Soffit - exposed underside of an arch, cornice, balcony, beam, etc; sometimes embellished.
Spandrel - Triangular space between the shoulder of an arch and the rectangular framework that surrounds it.
Stool - the casing or molded piece running along the base of a window and contacting the bottom rail on the inside of a building.
Stoop - entrance platform, usually with several steps.
Stop - vertical strip against which a window sash rests.
Stringcourse - a continuous, horizontal band of brick, stone, or wood on the exterior wall of a building that was used primarily for decorative purposes, but sometimes also used to shed rainwater.
Story - levels of a building.
Threshold - a strip of metal or wood, or a piece of stone, under a door that is used for weather protection or for covering floor joints below the door.
Tile - a piece of fired clay that is thinner than a brick.
Tower - a structure whose height is much greater than its width and can either stand alone or surmount a building.
Tracery - ornamental work in the upper part of a gothic arched window consisting of interlacing lines.
Truss - a triangle formed by any one of a combination of structural members into a rigid roof framework for spanning between two load-bearing walls that exceed 20 to 35 feet.
Turret - small, slender tower often located at a corner of a building.
Tympanum - recessed triangular face of a pediment; sometimes contains a lunette.
Vane - metal ornament located atop a pinnacle, spire, or other elevated spot on a building; often rotates freely to indicate wind direction.
Veneer - a decorative layer of brick, stone, wood, or other material used to cover inferior structural material to give an improved appearance at a low cost.
Veranda - a roofed space attached to the exterior wall of a house and supported by columns, pillars, or posts.
Windows - an opening in a wall that is glazed and provides an interior with natural light and ventilation. There are several different basic window types:
Awning - hinged at the top and swings outward.
Bay - a projecting window with an angular plan.
Bow - a type of bay window that’s rounded or forms the segment of a circle.
Casement - opens on hinges fixed to the side or vertical edge.
Coupled - closely spaced; function independently, but form a pair.
Double-hung - two sashes, each movable by means of sash cords and weights.
Fanlight - semicircular or fan-shaped with a radiating glazing bar system; usually over entrance doors.
Fixed light- does not open; also called Deadlight.
Hopper - hinged either on both sides or on the bottom and swings inward.
Lancet - long and narrow with a pointed arch.
Lattice - diamond-shaped glass panes.
Leaded - uses clear or stained glass panes that are held in position by lead strips.
Oriel - a bay window located above the first floor.
Palladian - composed of a central arched sash flanked on either side by smaller side lights; also called Venetian window.
Pivoted - sash rotates on centrally located pivots.
Queen Anne - exhibits many small geometrically shaped panes running along its edges.
Sidelight - long fixed sash located beside a door or window and often found in pairs.
Sliding - moves horizontally in grooves, on strips, or between runners.
Transom - a small window or series of panes above a door or above a casement or double hung window.
Wheel - a round window with glazing bars radiating from its center.
Window frame - fixed frame of a window that is set in a wall to receive and hold the window and its associated hardware
Window guard - protective grille, usually decorative, placed over a window.
References:
Blumenson, John, J.-G. Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide To Styles and Terms, 1600-1945. New York: Norton, ©1981.
McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Knopf, ©1984.
Philips, Steven, J. Old-House Dictionary: An Illustrated Guide to American Domestic Architecture 1600 to 1940. National Trust for Historic Preservation. Washington D.C.: Preservation Press, ©1992.