Editing Colonial Georgian Architecture (section)

== Characteristics ==

Georgian architecture in Philadelphia exhibits distinctive features that mark the style's adaptation to colonial conditions and local materials. Buildings display rigid symmetry, with central entrances flanked by evenly spaced windows, creating balanced facades that express order and rationality. Red brick predominates, drawn from the abundant clay deposits of the Delaware Valley, with lighter-colored stone or wood trim providing contrast at window headers, door surrounds, and cornices. Roofs are typically low-pitched gable or hip designs, sometimes featuring dormer windows that light upper stories. The style draws from English Palladian traditions, themselves derived from Renaissance interpretations of Roman classical architecture, filtered through practical colonial building methods.<ref name="moss">{{cite book |last=Moss |first=Roger W. |title=Historic Houses of Philadelphia |year=1998 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

Windows in Philadelphia Georgian buildings typically feature double-hung sash with multiple small panes—often six over six or nine over nine arrangements—necessary before technology allowed large sheets of glass. Window placement follows strict patterns: first-floor windows are taller, with heights diminishing on upper floors. Doors feature decorative surrounds, often with classical pilasters, entablatures, and pediments that announce entrance and status. Interior plans center on a central hallway, with rooms arranged symmetrically on either side. Georgian houses display remarkable consistency, their builders following pattern books imported from England that ensured stylistic coherence across the growing city.<ref name="tatum"/>