The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture . Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism , the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture with picturesque aesthetics. The resulting style of architecture was essentially of its own time. "The backward look transforms its object," Siegfried Giedion wrote of historicist architectural styles; "every spectator at every period—at every moment, indeed—inevitably transforms the past according to his own nature."
56-623: Parc Howard Museum & Art Gallery is a museum in a 19th-century Italianate country house , situated in 24 acres (9.7 ha) of parkland, north of the town centre of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales . The park is registered on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales . The lands originally were home to a far older property, Bryn-y-caerau. In 1559, St Albans lawyer Alban Stepney married into
112-462: A balustraded parapet . The principal block is flanked by two lower asymmetrical secondary wings that contribute picturesque massing, best appreciated from an angled view. The larger of these is divided from the principal block by the belvedere tower. The smaller, the ballroom block, is entered through a columned porte-cochère designed as a single storey prostyle portico . Many examples of this style are evident around Sydney and Melbourne, notably
168-411: A belief that local authorities were inclined to be somewhat slow, and this was a way of enforcing progress. As the 1912 Miners' strike was in progress by March, cheap labour was extensively available to complete the project in time at a budget of £4,500. As agreed, the park was opened on 21 September 1912 by Lady Howard on her first wedding anniversary, and included a bandstand and tennis courts. During
224-624: A fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects . In 1911, after the deaths of both James Buckley and James Buckley-Wilson, Llanelli Urban Council were looking to secure Parc Howard for development as a civic park and museum. However, the property was in need of extensive renovation and modernisation, and the council budget could not stretch financially to both purchase and renovation. After Sir Arthur Cowell-Stepney died in 1909 in Yuma, Arizona , his daughter, Katherine Meriel Cowell-Stepney, inherited
280-425: A historic district. Continuous use as performing venues is a good incentive to keep them maintained. When this is not possible they must be maintained solely as historic landmarks. In many places a succession of bandstands, sometimes as many as three or four, were built on the same site. Because of this practice it is important to preserve postcards and photographs of earlier structures as a historical record. In 1993,
336-555: A local business man, Harbour Commissioner, and member of the local Health Board. After Howell's death in 1853, the property passed through his will to James Buckley Wilson, the son of architect James Wilson , and grandson of the Rev. James Buckley. Based in Bath, Somerset , Wilson had no need for such a grand house, and agreed a 99-year lease to his cousin James Buckley (1838–95). Under the terms of
392-535: A loose style of an Italian village. It is now owned by a charitable trust. Williams-Ellis incorporated fragments of demolished buildings, including works by a number of other architects. Portmeirion's architectural bricolage and deliberately fanciful nostalgia have been noted as an influence on the development of postmodernism in architecture in the late 20th century. The Italianate revival was comparatively less prevalent in Scottish architecture , examples include some of
448-474: A modest spate of Italianate villas, and French chateaux" by 1855 the most favoured style of an English country house was Gothic, Tudor, or Elizabethan. The Italianate style came to the small town of Newton Abbot and the village of Starcross in Devon, with Isambard Brunel's atmospheric railway pumping houses. The style was later used by Humphrey Abberley and Joseph Rowell, who designed a large number of houses, with
504-698: A number of Italianate lighthouses and associated structures, chief among them being the Grosse Point Light in Evanston, Illinois . The Italianate style was immensely popular in Australia as a domestic style influencing the rapidly expanding suburbs of the 1870–1880s and providing rows of neat villas with low-pitched roofs, bay windows , tall windows and classical cornices. The architect William Wardell designed Government House in Melbourne —the official residence of
560-584: A stage and cafe area, topped with copper -clad domes . There is a very old bandstand at Horsham's Carfax, built in 1892 by Walter Macfarlane & C at the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, and another one in its adjacent park. It was moved slightly from its original location, to better accommodate pedestrians and then refurbished in 1978 with funds raised by the Horsham Society and with council funding. In 1992,
616-463: A substantial sum in the restoration and rebuilding of bandstands across the country. As a result of this funding, over eighty bandstands were either fully restored or replaced. Between 1996 and 2010 there was over £500 million worth of investments in parks - a significant chunk of this money was spent on the restoration and building of bandstands. Gazebo bandstands appeared in the United States after
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#1732855640189672-608: A trolley destination on weekends. Bandstands and dance pavilions were an essential feature of these parks. Most are no longer in existence. After 1900, rectangular pavilions enclosing a stage and acoustical shell providing directional sound appeared in many parks. Styles of acoustical shells took several forms during the 20th century. In 1913 Frank Lloyd Wright designed a freestanding bandshell with edge–supported cantilever roof and no side posts for his Midway Gardens (demolished 1929) in Chicago. Variations on this design were built later in
728-694: Is an example of this further evolution of the style. As in Australia, the use of Italianate for public service offices took hold but using local materials like timber to create the illusion of stone. At the time it was built in 1856, the official residence of the Colonial Governor in Auckland was criticized for the dishonesty of making wood look like stone. The 1875 Old Government Buildings, Wellington are entirely constructed with local kauri timber, which has excellent properties for construction. ( Auckland developed later and preferred Gothic detailing.) As in
784-483: Is registered at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales . Parc Howard Museum and Art Gallery is best known for its large and representative collection of the locally-made Llanelly Pottery (1839–1920), gifted in 1933 by Lady Howard. It also houses paintings, portraits and other art works and displays artefacts relating to the local area, its history and culture. Italianate architecture The Italianate style
840-414: Is the birthplace of the writer Katherine Mansfield . Bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk ) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park , garden , pier , or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts . A simple construction, it both creates an ornamental focal point and also serves acoustic requirements while providing shelter for
896-909: The Lazio and the Veneto or as he put it: "...the charming character of the irregular villas of Italy." His most defining work in this style was the large Neo-Renaissance mansion Cliveden , while the Reform Club 1837–41 in Pall Mall represents a convincingly authentic pastiche of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, albeit in a 'Grecian' Ionic order in place of Michelangelo 's original Corinthian order . Although it has been claimed that one-third of early Victorian country houses in England used classical styles, mostly Italianate, by 1855
952-677: The Medici . Upon his return to Lebanon in 1618, he began modernising Lebanon. He developed a silk industry, upgraded olive oil production, and brought with him numerous Italian engineers who began building mansions and civil buildings throughout the country. The cities of Beirut and Sidon were especially built in the Italianate style. The influence of these buildings, such as those in Deir el Qamar , influenced building in Lebanon for many centuries and continues to
1008-544: The Old Treasury Building (1858), Leichhardt Town Hall (1888), Glebe Town Hall (1879) and the fine range of state and federal government offices facing the gardens in Treasury Place. No.2 Treasury Gardens (1874). This dignified, but not overly exuberant style for civil service offices contrasted with the grand and more formal statements of the classical styles used for Parliament buildings . The acceptance of
1064-478: The Royal Horticultural Society Gardens , South Kensington in 1861. Bandstands quickly became hugely popular and were considered a necessity in parks by the end of the 19th century. To assist the war effort during World War II, iron fittings were removed from many bandstands to be melted down and transformed into weapons and artillery. Many bandstands fell into disrepair and were boarded up in
1120-611: The United Kingdom originated in the Victorian era as the British brass band movement gained popularity. Smaller bandstands are often not much more than gazebos . Much larger bandstands such as that at the Hollywood Bowl may be called bandshells and usually take a shape similar to a quarter sphere. Though many bandstands fell into disuse and disrepair in the post- World War II period,
1176-460: The governor of Victoria —as an example of his "newly discovered love for Italianate, Palladian and Venetian architecture ." Cream-colored, with many Palladian features, it would not be out of place among the unified streets and squares in Thomas Cubitt's Belgravia , London, except for its machicolated signorial tower that Wardell crowned with a belvedere . The hipped roof is concealed by
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#17328556401891232-584: The 1830s. Barry's Italianate style (occasionally termed "Barryesque") drew heavily for its motifs on the buildings of the Italian Renaissance , though sometimes at odds with Nash's semi-rustic Italianate villas. The style was employed in varying forms abroad long after its decline in popularity in Britain. For example, from the late 1840s to 1890, it achieved huge popularity in the United States , where it
1288-587: The 1930s, the council acquired 5 acres (2.0 ha) of additional land to the north-east, extending today to where Parc Howard Avenue lies. A new entrance was made from Felin Foel Road, and the perimeter path suitably extended. During both World War I and World War II , the property was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers. In 1915, the mansion was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers, with 40 soldiers occupying five wards and being attended to by 18 Red Cross nurses. The hospital remained in operation after
1344-583: The Civil War (1861–65) to accommodate the brass and percussion "cornet" bands found in towns of every size. Styles ranged from exotic ″Moorish″ designs to ordinary wood pavilions with mill work trim. They were found in parks, court house squares and fairgrounds. Following the Worlds Columbian Exposition (world's fair) of 1893 in Chicago, amusement parks based on the famous Midway became popular. These were often established by trolley companies to provide
1400-481: The Civil War. Its popularity was due to being suitable for many different building materials and budgets, as well as the development of cast-iron and press-metal technology making the production more efficient of decorative elements such as brackets and cornices. However, the style was superseded in popularity in the late 1870s by the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. The popularity of Italianate architecture in
1456-542: The Deal Memorial Bandstand was opened as memorial to the eleven bandsmen killed by 1989 Deal barracks bombing . The bandstand was erected by public subscription and is maintained by volunteers. A good example of a semi-circular bandstand is the Eastbourne Bandstand , built in 1935 to replace a circular bandstand that stood on cast iron stilts. Herne Bay, Kent contains a totally enclosed bandstand with
1512-495: The Italianate style as defined by Sir Charles Barry into many of his London terraces. Cubitt designed Osborne House under the direction of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , and it is Cubitt's reworking of his two-dimensional street architecture into this freestanding mansion which was to be the inspiration for countless Italianate villas throughout the British Empire. Following the completion of Osborne House in 1851,
1568-579: The Italianate style for government offices was sustained well into the 20th century when, in 1912, John Smith Murdoch designed the Commonwealth Office Buildings as a sympathetic addition to this precinct to form a stylistically unified terrace overlooking the gardens. The Italianate style of architecture continued to be built in outposts of the British Empire long after it had ceased to be fashionable in Britain itself. The Albury railway station in regional New South Wales , completed in 1881,
1624-737: The Italianate style, such as the James Lick Mansion , John Muir Mansion , and Bidwell Mansion , before later Stick-Eastlake and Queen Anne styles superseded. Many, nicknamed Painted Ladies , remain and are celebrated in San Francisco . A late example in masonry is the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Los Angeles . Additionally, the United States Lighthouse Board , through the work of Colonel Orlando M. Poe , produced
1680-454: The Stepney estate. In 1911, she became the second wife of the noted Liberal politician Sir Stafford Howard . In January 1912, they offered to fully fund the purchase of the property for £7,750. In February 1912, the parties agreed a 999-year lease , on the conditions that: These were scoped to allow the property to be opened on the couple's first anniversary, and secondly because Sir Stafford had
1736-711: The United States, the timber construction common in New Zealand allowed this popular style to be rendered in domestic buildings, such as Antrim House in Wellington, and Westoe Farm House in Rangitikei (1874), as well as rendered brick at "The Pah" in Auckland (1880). On a more domestic scale, the suburbs of cities like Dunedin and Wellington spread out with modest but handsome suburban villas with Italianate details, such as low-pitched roofs, tall windows, corner quoins , and stone detailing, all rendered in wood. A good example
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1792-688: The case in Italy, and utilises more obviously the Italian Renaissance motifs than those earlier examples of the Italianate style by Nash. Sir Charles Barry , most notable for his works on the Tudor and Gothic styles at the Houses of Parliament in London, was a great promoter of the style. Unlike Nash, he found his inspiration in Italy itself. Barry drew heavily on the designs of the original Renaissance villas of Rome ,
1848-570: The century. The 1928 Hollywood Bowl shell in California designed by Wright's son Lloyd Wright was a prototype for the streamlined concrete bandshell of the 1930s. Many of these shells with their distinctive concentric arches survive as landmarks in parks across the US. Preservation of historic bandstands is by local initiative. Some are on the National Register of Historic Places , usually as part of
1904-549: The changeable weather, if outdoors. In form bandstands resemble ornamental European garden gazebos modeled on outdoor open-sided pavilions found in Asian countries from early times. During the 18th and 19th centuries this type of performance building was found in the fashionable pleasure gardens of London and Paris where musicians played for guests dining and dancing. They were later built in public spaces in many countries as practical amenities for outdoor entertainment. Many bandstands in
1960-602: The cultural project the Bandstand Marathon has seen bandstands across the UK utilized for free live concerts since 2008. The parks where most bandstands are found were created in response to the Industrial Revolution , when local authorities realized worsening conditions in urban areas meant there was an increasing need for green, open spaces where the general public could relax. The first bandstands in Britain were built in
2016-567: The early work of Alexander Thomson ("Greek" Thomson) and buildings such as the west side of George Square . The Italian, specifically Tuscan, influence on architecture in Lebanon dates back to the Renaissance when Fakhreddine , the first Lebanese ruler who truly unified Mount Lebanon with its Mediterranean coast, executed an ambitious plan to develop his country. When the Ottomans exiled Fakhreddine to Tuscany in 1613, he entered an alliance with
2072-501: The end of hostilities until 1921, when it was let to the War Pensions Committee for a further three years to allow for disabled rehabilitation. In 1965, Llanelli Borough Council bought the house and 32 acres (13 ha) of surrounding grounds from the Stepney estate for £350,000. The site on Felinfoel Road ( A476 ) is now managed by Carmarthenshire County Council . To the front is a small grassed terrace, while to north-east
2128-466: The entrance to the south-east to overlook the earlier structures grounds, the surrounding countryside towards the River Loughor estuary, and onwards towards the sea. He added a central three arched porte cochère (carriage porch) to accommodate the new drive, and the two small symmetrical supporting side extensions with projecting bays. All except the rear elevation are symmetrical , achieved by extending
2184-540: The family of Richard Davies , Bishop of St David's . On 31 December 1561, the bishop appointed Stepney as receiver-general of the diocese of St David's . Stepney also served as its registrar. From this point, Stepney and his descendants built up the Welsh branch of the Stepney family , and their associated estate. By the early 1800s, part of the original Stepney estate which surrounded Llanelli had been purchased by Mr R. T. Howell,
2240-438: The fully Italianate design of Cronkhill , the house generally considered to be the first example of the Italianate style in Britain. Later examples of the Italianate style in England tend to take the form of Palladian -style building often enhanced by a belvedere tower complete with Renaissance -type balustrading at the roof level. This is generally a more stylistic interpretation of what architects and patrons imagined to be
2296-463: The ground, or even flat roofs with a wide projection. A tower is often incorporated hinting at the Italian belvedere or even campanile tower. Motifs drawn from the Italianate style were incorporated into the commercial builders' repertoire and appear in Victorian architecture dating from the mid-to-late 19th century. This architectural style became more popular than Greek Revival by the beginning of
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2352-399: The house sat a kitchen garden with 8 metres (26 ft) pergola and associated small orchard , with access to glasshouses , stables and coachhouse beyond (now converted to council offices and storage). The lodge that was to the south-east of the house has now been demolished. Buckley-Wilson was so proud of the finished structure that it formed part of his application to be admitted as
2408-587: The informal lawn covers 5.2 acres (2.1 ha). There is a pond to the south of the lawn, and a sunken garden to its west. To the west of the house are the bowling greens and tennis courts, with an adjacent children's play area. On the western side of the site, a Gorsedd Circle marks the area where druids celebrate the Gorsedd ceremony to mark the National Eisteddfod , which was held in Llanelli in 1962. The park
2464-472: The late 1940s and 1950s. Other attractions – such as the cinema and television – were becoming increasing popular and traditional recreational parks lost much of their appeal. Between 1979 and 2001, more than half of the 438 bandstands in historic parks across the country were demolished, vandalized or in a chronic state of disuse. In the late 1990s the National Lottery and Heritage Lottery Fund invested
2520-435: The lease, Buckley commissioned his cousin to design a new large scale addition to the house. However, still wanting more space and to express his money and influence, Buckley recommissioned his cousin in 1882 to undertake a more extensive reconstruction to create the present Italiante style mock-castle in Bath stone , known on opening in 1886 as Brynycaerau Castle. Originally orientated south-west, Buckley-Wilson reorientated
2576-598: The new railway station as the focal point, for Lord Courtenay, who saw the potential of the railway age. An example that is not very well known, but a clear example of Italianate architecture, is St. Christopher's Anglican church in Hinchley Wood , Surrey, particularly given the design of its bell tower . Portmeirion in Gwynedd , North Wales, is an architectural fantasy designed in a southern Italian Baroque style and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in
2632-406: The northwest wing and reconfiguring the out buildings; on all the corners the quoins stand proud. There are square headed windows on the ground floor, and arched windows above. The house is topped by a low pitched slate roof to give a castle-like feel on approach, behind parapets with balustrades and urn finials. There is also a tall belvedere tower rising at the rear. Remodelling the gardens, behind
2688-423: The present time. For example, streets like Rue Gouraud continue to have numerous, historic houses with Italianate influence. The Italianate style was popularized in the United States by Alexander Jackson Davis in the 1840s as an alternative to Gothic or Greek Revival styles. Davis' design for Blandwood is the oldest surviving example of Italianate architecture in the United States, constructed in 1844 as
2744-428: The preservation of this impressive collection, with large-scale renovation efforts beginning to repair urban blight. Cincinnati's neighbouring cities of Newport and Covington, Kentucky also contain an impressive collection of Italianate architecture. The Garden District of New Orleans features examples of the Italianate style, including: In California, the earliest Victorian residences were wooden versions of
2800-462: The residence of North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead . It is an early example of Italianate architecture, closer in ethos to the Italianate works of Nash than the more Renaissance-inspired designs of Barry. Davis' 1854 Litchfield Villa in Prospect Park, Brooklyn is an example of the style. It was initially referred to as the "Italian Villa" or "Tuscan Villa" style. Richard Upjohn used
2856-419: The style became a popular choice of design for the small mansions built by the new and wealthy industrialists of the era. These were mostly built in cities surrounded by large but not extensive gardens, often laid out in a terrace Tuscan style as well. On occasions very similar, if not identical, designs to these Italianate villas would be topped by mansard roofs , and then termed chateauesque . However, "after
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#17328556401892912-621: The style extensively, beginning in 1845 with the Edward King House . Other leading practitioners of the style were John Notman and Henry Austin . Notman designed "Riverside" in 1837, the first "Italian Villa" style house in Burlington, New Jersey (now destroyed). Italianate was reinterpreted to become an indigenous style. It is distinctive by its pronounced exaggeration of many Italian Renaissance characteristics: emphatic eaves supported by corbels , low-pitched roofs barely discernible from
2968-424: The style was falling from favour and Cliveden came to be regarded as "a declining essay in a declining fashion." Anthony Salvin occasionally designed in the Italianate style, especially in Wales, at Hafod House, Carmarthenshire, and Penoyre House , Powys, described by Mark Girouard as "Salvin's most ambitious classical house." Thomas Cubitt , a London building contractor, incorporated simple classical lines of
3024-648: The time period following 1845 can be seen in Cincinnati, Ohio , the United States' first boomtown west of the Appalachian Mountains . This city, which grew along with the traffic on the Ohio River , features arguably the largest single collection of Italianate buildings in the United States in its Over-the-Rhine neighbourhood, built primarily by German-American immigrants that lived in the densely populated area. In recent years, increased attention has been called to
3080-458: Was first developed in Britain in about 1802 by John Nash , with the construction of Cronkhill in Shropshire . This small country house is generally accepted to be the first Italianate villa in England, from which is derived the Italianate architecture of the late Regency and early Victorian eras. The Italianate style was further developed and popularised by the architect Sir Charles Barry in
3136-717: Was promoted by the architect Alexander Jackson Davis . Key visual components of this style include: A late intimation of John Nash 's development of the Italianate style was his 1805 design of Sandridge Park at Stoke Gabriel in Devon . Commissioned by the dowager Lady Ashburton as a country retreat, this small country house clearly shows the transition between the picturesque of William Gilpin and Nash's yet to be fully evolved Italianism. While this house can still be described as Regency , its informal asymmetrical plan together with its loggias and balconies of both stone and wrought iron; tower and low pitched roof clearly are very similar to
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