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Mexican architecture movements have had an influence on the development of Spanish-style homes in the U.S. as well. Revival houses, which were built starting in the late 19th century, also include features like exposed beams, wrought iron banisters, and colorful tiles. Inside, many of these homes feature tile as well as exposed stucco walls, though more modern constructions may look otherwise traditional.
Spanish Colonial architecture
The central plaza, the wide streets and a grid pattern are still common elements in Mexico City and Puebla de Los Angeles. It is not uncommon in modern-founded towns, especially those in remote areas of Latin America, to have retained the "checkerboard layout" even to present day. The houses never had too many rooms, but there was the need to have a ground and first floor. Since the Spanish colonial-style homes are found mostly in the coastal regions, it is cooler upstairs compared to downstairs. After all, the top floors are clear of any distractions that might block the sea breeze. A common feature in Spanish revival homes is the flat ceiling supported by large, dark wooden beams.
Frequently Asked Questions About Spanish Colonial Architecture
Irving Gill, the California architect who would become famous for his cubic Modern buildings, experimented first with the Mission Style’s simple lines. One of the most recognizable features is the red, barrel tile roof, which was low-pitched. In the Southwest, homes often have completely flat roofs with castle-like parapets lining the perimeter. Wooden doors accent the light stucco exterior walls and are sometimes arched, mimicked by arched doorways inside the homes. The interiors of Spanish Colonial homes innately have a casual, warm feel to them, since the raw adobe walls may not be covered with plaster or accented with trim, and wooden beams often serve as structural support along the ceilings. Known for their white stucco walls, red clay roof tiles, and rustic appearance, Spanish Colonial homes are popular throughout the Southeastern and Southwestern sections of the United States, including Florida and California.
Spanish Revival Architecture in America
If you have watched “Money Heist,” you are probably familiar with the architecture of this building as there is an extensive display of its models. If not, the flat roof, narrow windows, and white walls give away the Spanish design of the building. The Hotel de Oriente has curved doorways and a relatively flat compared to what you see in Victorian architecture. The ornaments on the windows are not typical for Spanish homes but work perfectly on townhouses.
The materials that the Spanish used were not complex and never required any industries or new skills to prepare. The Monterey style’s primary feature is a second-floor porch across the front of the house, recalling an early tradition in Monterey, California. This house in Pasadena also features an unusual, unadorned pointed-arch doorway.
Heavy wood vigas (roof beams) that may be real or fake are embedded in the walls and project through the exterior surfaces. In the authentic pueblo dwellings still to be seen in Native American villages of the Southwest, canales (hollow logs) carried the infrequent rain water away from the flat, earthen roofs. Portales (porches) often opened off an interior patio, taking the place of interior corridors to provide access to the various rooms.
Furthermore, the ceiling is supported by large wooden beams, which is a classic Spanish colonial style. Spanish Colonial was the most decorative of the Spanish styles, and its ornament covered a wide range of source material, from Moorish to Renaissance and Byzantine. With hipped or gabled red-tile roofs, Spanish Colonial homes often featured twisted, spiral columns beside door and window openings, with heavy, carved doors and decorative tile trim. The intricate ornamental forms of Old World Spanish buildings, called Churrigueresque ornament, were a hallmark of high-style Spanish Colonial homes. In Coral Gables, Florida, architects Kiehnel and Elliott designed a gorgeous winter residence, El Jardin (1917), for a president of Pittsburgh Steel using such ornament. However, the Spanish Colonial home was not all glitz and glamour, for it extended—in simpler forms—to ordinary suburban buildings as well in every part of the nation.
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White stucco walls were made of sand, lime, and water, which can be obtained easily in most places. Stucco is still used in home décor todayand is one of the preferred materials for coastal area building. Other areas where wood is used—floors, doors and trim—offer opportunity for creativity. Fiore notes that in some homes you'll find elaborate carvings on the wood doors, used to designate certain rooms of importance. Mexico, as the center of New Spain—and the richest province of Spain's colonial empire—has some of the most renowned buildings built in this style. With twenty-nine sites, Mexico has more sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list than any other country in the Americas, many of them boasting some of the richest Spanish colonial architecture.
Stone Foundation
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse has some key elements of Spanish colonial homes and buildings. Just like the features that the Palm Beach Townhall has, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse checks many of the boxes of what constitutes a Spanish colonial home. The Spanish colonial-style houses were sometimes built right next to each other, with some rooms lacking access from the inside hence the need for outdoor corridors.
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Most Spanish colonial houses were built in an L-shape around a large, manicured patio area; U-shaped and open “box” shaped houses with private, tiled courtyards were also popular, but not as common. These expansive outdoor spaces were originally designed to be alfresco kitchens; by moving the cooking outside, things stayed cool inside. Perhaps the most iconic element of a Spanish colonial house is its red clay-tiled roof. The pitch of the roof will depend on its geography; in rainy regions, roofs will have a slight pitch, and in dry climates, roofs may lie completely flat. Like the foundation and frame, the tiled roof of a Spanish colonial home is meant to absorb and diffuse the heat from direct sunlight, keeping the inside of the house cool.
Furthermore, while early revivals were rather free adaptations of the originals, later revivals of, say, the 1920s were likely to be truer to the historical styles, at least in architect-designed buildings. The Ciudad Colonial (Colonial City) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, founded in 1498, is the oldest European city in the New World and a prime example of this architectural style. These homes are often L-shaped, with a central or side courtyard (a key feature of Spanish-style homes).
With elegant interiors and well-designed outdoors, the building must have been, and still is, a marvel when it was built. The flat roofs did a tremendous insulation job, regulating the temperatures in a house, making the choice a practical one. Additionally, the hot regions the Spanish visited barely received any rainfall or snow, and there was no need for sloping roofs. A major aspect of the Spanish styles, like all the Romantic Revival styles, was the imaginative use of the landscape to extend and enhance the buildings. In the 1920s and 1930s an army of talented landscape architects such as Olmsted and Olmsted, Lloyd Wright, and Florence Yoch created near-magical settings for the homes of the wealthy in every style. These regional differences, as well as changing architectural tastes over 50 years, left the landscape with a number of very different “Spanish” styles.
Wooden shutters were often mounted indoors in order to help regulate the temperature and direct the flow of fresh outdoor air. The hotel has some strong Spanish colonial-style features, including white walls, a bell tower, arched doorways and windows, and a rather flat roof. The building strongly resembles the ones built during the Spanish missions.
The Spanish colonial architecture had a chance to spread at a time when the Spanish missions were underway. The Spanish architecture seeped into the cultures of the different colonies, being part of their way of life to date. Still, it is not imposing as gothic architecturewould be, but once you see it, you can never unsee it.
Since wood was a reliable, locally sourced material, the frames of the houses were made of wooden beams. The exposed beams are a popular way to identify Spanish colonial architecture. The Spanish colonial architecture doors are slender, and the windows are tiny. The purpose of this design was to trap the cool air inside and keep the warm air out.
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