Style Finder

What style is it?

Answer what you can see; skip what you can't. Eight questions, twelve styles, and every point shown. Nothing you answer is stored.

Arches

Look at the tops of doors, windows and the arches inside.

Round: half-circles Pointed Low, wide and pointed Mostly square-headed (flat tops) No arches: angles and straight lines

Walls and windows

How much of the wall is window?

Thick walls, small deep-set windows Tall windows with stone patterns (tracery), lots of glass Even rows of tall clear-glass windows Smooth walls divided by pilasters or columns Whole walls of glass, or slabs of coloured glass

Tower or top

What rises above the roof?

A tower with a tall pointed spire A steeple in stacked stages over a classical front A square tower with a flat, notched or pyramid top Two towers on the front A dome A bell gable, or a bell tower with a domed top No tower, or a separate modern bell tower

The main front

Stand back from the main entrance.

Columns and a triangular pediment across the front A curving front with big scrolls or broken pediments A deep doorway with layered arches and a carved panel above One huge deep round entrance arch in heavy stone A plain wall whose top edge curves (a shaped gable) A steep gable with decorated wooden trim Plain modern lines

Material

What are the outside walls made of?

Rough, rock-faced stone, often in two colours Smooth cut stone Brick Wood boards (clapboard or board-and-batten) Smooth plaster or stucco, often white Concrete, steel and glass

Overhead inside

If you can see in, look up.

Stone vault with ribs crossing each bay One long smooth curved vault Open wooden roof: beams and braces Flat, panelled or coffered ceiling A dome Painted sky or painted architecture, gilding Exposed concrete, steel or laminated timber

Ornament

What decoration stands out?

Pinnacles, crockets, gargoyles, carved stone Gilding, twisting columns, sculpture everywhere Restrained classical details Wooden fretwork along the gables Gold mosaics; striped brick and stone Bold heavy carving, short stout columns Almost none

When and where

Only if you know it (a date stone or plaque often says).

In Europe, before 1500 In Europe, 1500 to 1800 In the Americas, before 1830 Anywhere, 1830 to 1940 After 1940

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