Editing Victorian Architecture (section)

== Romanesque Revival ==

Romanesque Revival architecture, influenced by the work of H.H. Richardson, brought massive stone construction and round-arched forms to Philadelphia in the 1880s and 1890s. The style's heavy masonry, rusticated surfaces, and powerful simplicity created buildings of impressive solidity. Churches found Romanesque particularly appropriate, its round arches and fortress-like walls evoking early Christian architecture. Commercial buildings employed Romanesque forms at street level, with heavy stone arches framing shop entrances.<ref name="tatum"/>

Richardsonian Romanesque—the version developed by Boston architect H.H. Richardson—inspired Philadelphia buildings including churches, libraries, and institutional structures. The style's emphasis on material honesty and structural expression anticipated later developments in American architecture. While Richardson himself designed little in Philadelphia, his influence shaped local architects' work, contributing to the broader Romanesque Revival that complemented and competed with other Victorian styles.<ref name="moss"/>