Editing Italianate Architecture (section)

== Origins and Characteristics ==

Italianate architecture emerged from the Picturesque movement's romantic fascination with Italian landscape and vernacular buildings. Pattern books, particularly those of Andrew Jackson Downing, popularized Italian villa forms adapted to American conditions. The style offered warmth and domesticity that Greek Revival's temple forms could not match, making it particularly suitable for residential architecture. Italianate buildings suggested cultivated taste and cosmopolitan awareness, appealing to the rising middle class seeking to distinguish themselves through architectural choice.<ref name="tatum">{{cite book |last=Tatum |first=George B. |title=Penn's Great Town: 250 Years of Philadelphia Architecture |year=1961 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

The bracketed cornice defines Philadelphia's Italianate buildings, with elaborate wooden or cast-iron brackets supporting wide eaves that project dramatically from building facades. These brackets, ranging from simple paired elements to elaborate scrollwork, provided the style's most recognizable feature and its most characteristic shadow patterns. Windows received extensive treatment: tall and narrow, often arched or segmental-arched, topped with heavy hoods or pediments that added sculptural interest to otherwise flat facades. Door surrounds matched window treatments, creating unified compositions of ornamental richness.<ref name="moss"/>