Lincoln's campaign speeches in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus in 1859 helped propel&nbsp;him to the national stage. Impressed by his Ohio speeches, the Cooper Union in New York City invited him to give a speech to introduce him to the rest of the Republica party. Before that, he was mostly known in the midwest. The party nominated him in May of 1860 and was elected later that year. A statue commemorating his speech and legacy stands just outside the courthouse.

The Old Courthouse was built in 1850 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Abraham Lincoln statue is located just outside the courthouse entrance. Photo: Rev. Ronald Irick

The Old Court House building is one of Dayton's treasured landmarks. It was built in 1847 in the Greek Revival style and as such is the recognized as one of the country's best examples of this style of architecture. Several presidents have campaigned here including Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. It has been an important focal point for the city, being the location where residents learned about updates during the Civil War (via the telegraph), and during WWII, where bond drives took place. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building can be rented for private events.

Old Court House

This tour begins at the Grant-Deneau Tower and Old Court House and includes a variety of landmarks, museums, and monuments. The tour includes a historical marker commemorating the Great 1913 Flood and with the Biltmore Hotel, Victoria Theater, a historic warehouse building, the Funk Music Hall of Fame, and the Packard Museum. Stops in between include the Dayton Arcade, Liberty Tower, and the Dayton International Peace Museum.

Downtown Dayton Walking Tour

Dayton Walking Tour

As of 2018, the Grant-Deneau Tower is entirely vacant, though various real estate groups have expressed interest in renovating the property.

Grant-Deneau Tower is a New Formalist and Miesian style building constructed by developers Richard Grant and Paul Deneau in 1969. At the time, it was Dayton’s tallest skyscraper and first modern office tower. Its lobby enclosure was completed in 1979. Because it was built as part of an effort to revitalize downtown Dayton, the Grant-Deneau Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 despite the customary fifty-year age minimum for historic sites. 

Grant-Deneau Tower

After his loss to Stephen A.
Douglas in a Senate campaign, Abraham Lincoln began a tour of Ohio. Though he
was only in Dayton for a couple of hours, he delivered a speech that the
community remembers today. Lincoln spoke against slavery, and this speech, along
with others, helped him win the support of his party, leading to his nomination
as a presidential candidate by the GOP. Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican
president on March 4, 1861.

This statue of Abraham Lincoln, sculpted by artist Mike Major, commemorates the speech Lincoln gave near the Old Court House (then only nine years old) on September 17, 1859. The eleven-foot-tall statue stands on a four-foot base and weighs about 1,300 pounds. It was commissioned by the Lincoln Society of Dayton, which raised funds for the bronze statue to be waxed and buffed at least once a year. Major has said that he hopes his statue portrays the “strength, intelligence, control, and perhaps humility and attentiveness” of President Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln Statue (Dayton)

The arcade&nbsp;was a major attraction during the first half of the 20th century. It was the place where visitors could buy all kinds of food, including specialty meats, baked goods, flowers, and various luxury items.&nbsp; Like other downtown shopping centers in the country, the arcade (and the downtown) began to decline as people&nbsp;moved to the suburbs. By the mid-1980s, the main arcade building went into bankruptcy and the last tenant left in 1990 (the arcade was renovated in the early 1980s but this failed to&nbsp;attract revive it). After that, the arcade remained vacant and was neglected, which resulted in a lot of damage. Fortunately, it seems that the current owners (the partnership) are indeed going to follow through with their renovations plans.

Built in 1902, the Dayton Arcade is a historic complex of five connected buildings. It is perhaps best known for its ornate facade, which exhibits Renaissance Revival and Dutch architecture and many interesting elements such as oak leaves, ram heads, and garlands of grain. The arcade is also known for its central enclave that is topped by a 90-foot diameter glass dome. It was designed by architect Frank M. Andrews, who designed other buildings in the city. The idea for the arcade originated with Eugene J. Barney of the Barney & Smith Car Company, a railroad company based in Dayton. When it opened, the arcade, was state-of-the-art, featuring a cold storage plant, elevators, and its own power plant. The upper floors were used for housing, office and retail space, and the larger spaces were used for a farmer's market. As of July 2018, plans are in the works to revive the arcade, led by a partnership of three developers. They plan to offer a mix of housing, retail, and public space. An innovation center and a culinary kitchen incubator program will be included as well.  

Dayton Arcade

When settlers arrived in present-day Dayton, local Shawnee chiefs warned them about the valley’s predisposition for torrential flooding. In fact, throughout the 19th century, there were major floods in 1805, 1828, 1866, and 1898; however, none were as devastating and destructive as the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. This flood would later be known as the greatest disaster in Ohio history. <h4>The Miami Valley</h4>
Dayton’s success as a Midwestern settlement in the late 18th century was, in part, due to its abundant resources, fresh water, quality soil, and transport via the several river channels. When settlers first arrived in present-day Dayton after traveling up the Miami River from Cincinnati in 1796, some considered calling the new settlement “Venice” since it stood at the confluence of the Miami River and its tributaries, including the Mad River, Stillwater River, and Wolf Creek. As the Great Miami River watershed led into its tributaries, the area was also known to flood nearly every other decade. Since the founding of Dayton, major floods occurred in 1805, 1828, 1866, and 1898.
<h4>Timeline of the Flood</h4>
The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 was essentially caused by a series of exceptionally strong late-winter storms that hit the entire midwest in late March (causing the so-called Great Flood of 1913 throughout several states). On Good Friday, March 21st, the first storm hit Montgomery County, and though there was little rain, temperatures dropped and high winds blew. By Easter Sunday, torrential rains arrived to the entire Ohio River Valley, and in the next four days, the storm dropped a record-breaking three months of normal rainfall within a four-day span. On Monday, March 24th, the rivers were rising significantly. Due to the cold weather over the weekend and the immense rainfall (8 to 11 inches), the soil became so saturated that 90-percent of rain was running off into the Miami River and its tributaries.
Tuesday morning, police received word that the levees were failing, due to the increased pressure caused by the&nbsp;overflowing rivers. Soon after, the police started the warning sirens and alarms, warning of a coming flood. City Engineer Gaylord Cummin reported that the water was flowing at a rate of nearly 100,000 cubic feet per second, and by 6:00 am that morning, the water flowing over the levees started appearing in downtown Dayton’s streets. Derbies built up under the city bridges held back the water, effectively diverting them into town as well. Then, by 8:00 am on Tuesday, the levees on the south side of the business district failed and heavy amounts of water flooded into the town. Just after lunch that day, the water in the downtown area was 10 feet deep.
People escaped as best they could, though thousands more remained marooned in their homes. The water rushed too fast to permit&nbsp;swimming, and many boats capsized. To escape, some reports showed people walking across power lines. Soon, the water wasn’t the only problem, as opened gas lines caused by the flood took fire and engulfed several blocks in the downtown area. On Wednesday, the water reached a crest of 20-feet and a gas explosion rocked downtown near the intersection of 5th Street and Wilkinson.&nbsp;
Already Governor James M. Cox was calling the National Guard into the flood-affected areas, but they were slow to arrive. Fortunately, founder and president of the National Cash Register Company (NCR), John H. Patterson, had the resources and capabilities to provide immediate relief to flood victims. Soon after the floods arrived, Patterson and NCR employees built over 300 rescue boats to save people from rooftops and the upper stories of buildings. The NCR factory on Stewart Street became a shelter providing food, lodging, and medical care. Other NCR facilities stood as makeshift morgues, temporary campgrounds for the homeless, and newsrooms for journalists and photographers.&nbsp;
<h4>Aftermath</h4>
As the floodwaters retreated, they left unprecedented destruction in their wake. A total of 360 people died, business&nbsp;activity completely stalled, there was a large shortage of food, and upwards of 65,000 people were displaced. The current of the flood caused many buildings to moved off their foundations. Over 20,000 homes, however, were destroyed. Damage was estimated at $100 million.&nbsp;
The Great Dayton Flood empowered citizens and city officials to make immediate changes, determined to never experience a flood of such intensity again. By March 27th, 1913, Governor Cox delegated the Dayton Citizens Relief Commission, which raised $2 million to fund flood control efforts. With more than 50 engineers working with the Morgan Engineering Company, plans were developed to handle 140-percent of the floodwaters from the 1913 flood. Within the following year, Governor Cox began working on the Vonderheide Act, which gave the government the possibility to identify conservancy districts for flood control. Although quite controversial, the subsequent Ohio Conservancy Act formed the Upper Scioto Conservancy District and the Miami Conservancy District.1

This small plaque on the side of the Edwin Smith House in downtown Dayton commemorates the Great Flood of 1913 and illustrates the extent of the flooding in the downtown area. The Great Dayton Flood began on March 21 in 1913, two days before Easter, as late winter storms produced high winds and heavy rains in the area. By Sunday, the soil had become so saturated that it could not absorb more water, caused a 90-percent runoff into the Great Miami River as well as the headwaters of Scioto River and the Muskingum River. 
 
Near 8 to 11 inches of rain fell before Monday, March 24th, and by the next day, the levees failed and about 20 feet of water flooded throughout Downtown Dayton, causing 360 deaths, 20,000 destroyed homes, 65,000 displaced people, and over $100 million in property damage (equivalent to almost $2.4 billion in 2015). The aftermath of the devastation led to the creation of the Miami Conservancy District, one of the first flood control districts that would later serve as a model for Indiana, New Mexico, Colorado, and other states.

Great Dayton Flood Historic Marker

The Mutual Home and Savings
Association, which was established in 1873, aimed to raise money to loan to its
members. Mutual initially raised one million dollars capital, but by 1888, that
number increased to ten million. In 1931, the company built the Mutual Home
Building, which was the tallest edifice in Dayton until 1969 when it was
replaced by the Grant-Deneau Tower. The building featured Italian marble,
30-foot high plaster ceilings, and detailed metalwork. It was constructed with
limestone, Black marble, concrete, and steel. The Mutual Home Building was designed
by architects Schenk &amp; Williams, who also designed Hawthorn Hill (home of
Orville Wright and his family) and the Engineers Club of Dayton. 

The interior of the twenty-three-story
building was just as impressive as the outside. It featured a humidification
system that would cool the office space. The elevators were top-of-the-line and
could travel up to 750 feet per minute. The elevator operators were held to
strict codes of conduct to keep an atmosphere of professionalism. Underneath
the structure was a two-story underground garage where attendants could fill up
a car with gas or give it a wash while its owner worked upstairs.

Because the Mutual Home Building
was the tallest in the city, it was used as an air raid lookout in World War
II. Men from the United States Army Signal Corps patrolled the rooftop all day.
After the war, the Hulman family bought the building. In the 1970s, it was
purchased by the Cen-Day Office Company. The building became known as the
Liberty Tower after it was taken over and renovated by Liberty Savings Bank in
1998. Today, Liberty Tower is still mostly occupied, faring better than some
other office buildings in downtown Dayton.

Liberty Tower was originally constructed as the Mutual Home and Savings Association Building in 1931. It was designed to appear modern and professional, with touches such as marble, steel, and some of the latest technology. At 285 feet tall, the building was the tallest in Dayton until 1969. Though it has changed hands and even names since its erection, Liberty Tower still stands as an office space today.

Liberty Tower (Mutual Home and Savings Association Building)

This historic home was originally constructed for the family of Isaac Pollack, a businessman in the liquor trade. The house remained a private residence until 1913 when it was bought by Fenton T. Bott. Bolt opened a dance studio on the first floor of the home and lived upstairs. The studio operated until&nbsp;1949. After a long court battle related to the fate of the home and the surrounding neighborhood,&nbsp;the Montgomery County Board of Elections bought it in 1954 to house its offices. Owing to continued construction in the downtown area, this&nbsp;historic home was saved by moving it to this&nbsp;location in&nbsp;1979.

Founded in 2004 by four local peace activists, the Dayton International Peace Museum is dedicated to promoting peace in the nation and around the world. To this end, the museum offers a variety of programs and exhibits to educate people about the efficacy and practice of nonviolence. It also serves as a gathering place for peace-related activities. The museum is located in the historic Isaac Pollack House, which was built in 1876.

Dayton International Peace Museum

The Biltmore Hotel was constructed on the eve of the Great Depression in 1929. It was designed by architect Frederick Hughes in the Second Renaissance Revival style. Though its splendor has long since faded, it remains one of the tallest buildings in Dayton and was considered one of the finest hotels in America. It hosted some of the nation’s most famous celebrities from John F. Kennedy to Elvis Presley. Today, it is home to 230 apartments for senior citizens. 

The Biltmore Hotel 

The Victoria Theatre opened on January 1, 1866, as the Turner Opera House. It was constructed by brothers Joseph and William Turner for a total cost of $325,000. A fire in 1869 destroyed all but its façade, so it was rebuilt by new investors in 1871 and renamed the Dayton Music Hall. Over the following decades, the theater’s name changed again to the Grand Opera House in 1900 and the Victoria Theatre two years later. It also welcomed such notable acts as Harry Houdini and actors like Sarah Bernhardt.

The Great Flood of 1913 severely damaged the theater, but it was repaired and reopened as the New Victoria on November 25, 1913. The Victoria did not fare so well after another fire in 1918. It had to be rebuilt again in 1919, this time under the ownership of William A. Keyes as the Victory Theatre. The Victory Theatre showed Warner Brothers movies during the 1940s and focused on Disney films in the 1950s and 1960s. After Keyes’s death in 1955, his family took over the theater.

The Victory Theatre had to close due to financial strains in 1971, and plans were made to demolish it. However, thanks to community support and the “Save the Victory” group, the Victory Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The Victory Theatre Association (founded in 1976) continued to raise money to restore the theater throughout the 1980s. The theater reopened as the Victoria Theatre after a $14.5 million renovation that began in 1988. The Victoria Theatre Association has since raised funds to keep other historic theaters in the area running.

The Victoria Theatre dates back to 1866 when it opened as the Turner Opera House. The theater was rebuilt twice following destructive fires in 1896 and 1918. When the theater reopened in 1919, it was renamed the Victory Theatre in honor of World War I veterans. The Victory operated as a movie theater until it closed in 1970s. Although the Victoria could not compete with the suburban multiplexes, local preservationists saw its potential and worked to prevent its demolition. Thanks to these efforts, the theater was restored in the 1980s and reopened as the Victoria Theater in 1989 as a live performance venue. The theater also shows films on special occasions, including the “Cool Movie Series” in the summers.

Victoria Theatre

The Bimm Fireproof Warehouse, owned by brothers Joseph and Henry Bimm, was constructed from 1911 to 1912. It was built from reinforced concrete with eight tons of steel, which made the structure “fireproof.” &nbsp;The Dayton Journal advertised the warehouse’s electric light, heating, and security. The warehouse opened on November 5, 1914, and it was remodeled that same year. A large vault on the first floor was added two years later.

Bimm Fireproof Warehouse was primarily used by the wealthy and those moving to Dayton. New residents could store their belongings at Bimm’s while they found a place to live. The Dayton elite used it to secure their valuables when they traveled. The upper floors of the warehouse held art pieces, rugs, furs, and pianos. They were kept at an even temperature and vacuumed regularly. The downstairs housed furniture. The entire building was protected by guard dogs at night. Once Dayton local, Virginia Kettering, rented an entire floor so her furniture would not be stacked. 

In 1916, after Henry Bimm’s retirement, the warehouse was sold to the Lincoln Fireproof Storage Company of Dayton. It is still owned by Lincoln Storage and Moving today.

Bimm Fireproof Warehouse is the oldest standing multi-story storage warehouse in Dayton. It was completed in 1912 and opened two years later. Henry Bimm, who owned the building along with his brother Joseph, retired in 1916. Afterward, they sold the warehouse to Lincoln Fireproof Storage Company of Dayton, which still owns it today. The Bimm Fireproof Warehouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 18, 2016.

Bimm Fireproof Warehouse

Opened in December 2017, the Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition Center is dedicated to honoring the legacy funk music has played in American culture. It is located in Dayton because this is where the genre originated and where many of Funk's top acts came from, including the Ohio Players, Heatwave, and Slave. The museum features many Funk-related artifacts and memorabilia including outfits and instruments. The museum plans to continue to grow its collection, operate a performance venue, and offer educational outreach programs. An important goal is to teach children how to play instruments and instill in them a love of music and the arts. 

The Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition Center

The Dayton Movies theater opened on August 22, 1986. Funds for the 300-seat theater came from City-Wide (a non-profit dedicated to the development of Dayton), a city grant, and developer Bill Chronis, totaling $483,000. It was operated by Larry Thomas, Phil Borack, and Norman Barron as a repertory theater that showed classic and independent movies. The opening night feature was a free screening of Gone With the Wind. After just two years, Dayton Movies closed on April 27, 1988. One day later, the theater reopened as the Neon Movies, owned by Bill Chronis and operated by former manager Larry Smith. It was Smith’s idea to screen Martin Scorsese’s controversial The Last Temptation of Christ, which garnered attention from the local press and become the theater’s highest grossing film until it was replaced by The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Also in the spring of 1988, FLICKS, or the Film Lovers Idolizing Klassics Society, was formed. The group chose a lineup of films that followed a particular theme, and the Neon Movies screened them during usually-slow time slots. As the society grew, attendance at the classic movie showings improved. The society also planned events such as costume and cooking contests to boost attendance even further. The series continued during Larry Smith’s absence from 1990 to 1992 when he became the new president of Variety Cinemas, which then operated the theater. Upon his return, Smith started showing 3-D movies, and they became so popular, patrons had to be turned away. However, by 1995 business slowed and FLICKS disbanded.

Another of Smith’s ideas brought the Neon Movies national attention and celebrity guests like Leonard Maltin and Quentin Tarantino: In 1996, the Neon Movies began exhibiting Cinerama films. Cinerama was a 35 mm film process that was achieved by using three cameras, one in front and two on either side, to film a movie’s action. The three sets of films were then projected side-by-side to achieve a peripheral perspective that had six times as much area as a standard 35 mm film and was twenty-five times sharper in focus. John Harvey, a Dayton projectionist who first saw Cinerama in action in 1953, constructed a Cinerama theater in his house. Larry Smith brought film students from Wright State University to watch Cinerama films in Harvey’s home. The two then began to formulate how they could bring Cinerama to the Neon.

Plans were being made in 1996 to split the theater’s auditorium in two, so Smith had to prove quickly that audiences would support the installation of Cinerama technology. After receiving over 2,000 letters and encouraging words from critic Leonard Maltin and actor James Stewart, the project was greenlighted. After months of work, John Harvey set up the projection booth and enlisted the help of four other men to help him run it. Visitors from around the world lined up for what would be the first screening of This is Cinerama in over thirty-two years. Though it was intended to be a temporary exhibition, Cinerama was used in the Neon for another three years.

Larry Smith left the New Neon Movies in 1998 (it had been renamed after a change of ownership in 1993). Another employee then took over the managerial duties. Three years later, the theater changed ownership again and closed for a brief time for renovations that included updates and splitting the auditorium into two theaters. After another brief closure, the Neon reopened on September 23, 2016.

The Neon Movies, originally named the Dayton Movies, was built in 1986. It was the first theater to be built in downtown Dayton since 1922 and was the first downtown theater built in a major U. S. city in over twenty years. The Dayton Movies closed in 1988, but it reopened just a day later as the Neon Movies. Since then, the theater has changed ownership multiple times and has been renamed the New Neon Movies. The theater attracted national attention on two occasions: once in 1996 when it was fitted with Cinerama technology, and again when actress Allison Janney, a Dayton native, tweeted about it after winning an Oscar for her role in “I, Tonya.”

The Neon Movies

The museum was founded in 1992 by local attorney and car collector, Bob Signom, in honor of his father, who owned a Packard car. That car, fortunately, is on display in the museum. Other items on display include an aircraft engine and the original 1900 Articles of Incorporation for the Packard Motor Car Company.&nbsp;

Housed in a restored Packard car dealership, America's Packard Museum is a must-see destination for car enthusiasts. It is the only Packard museum located in a restored Packard dealership. The museum features 50 Packard vehicles and numerous artifacts, making it the largest collection of its kind in the world. It is an affiliate member of the Packard Club and was bestowed the prestigious James J. Bradley Award by the Society of Automotive Historians for its efforts to preserve the legacy of the Packard Motor Car Company. The museum was founded in 1992 by local attorney and car collector, Bob Signom. Among the Packards on display is the 1942 Clipper used by General Douglass MacArthur. 

America's Packard Museum

Grace United Methodist Church at the corner of Harvard and Salem. This English Gothic church was built in 1921. Dayton View has been described as one of the city's earliest suburbs and this magnificent church building is one of Dayton's earliest suburban churches. Faced with limited seating capacity at their old building in downtown Dayton, the elders of Grace United Methodist Church purchased this property from Orville Wright and E.S. Lorenz in 1917. Dayton architects Schenk and Williams were commissioned to design the new building. The cornerstone was laid in 1919 and the first services were held two years later. The Sanctuary is loosely patterned after English Gothic church architecture and is constructed of Pennsylvania shale trimmed with Bedford limestone. The half-timbered Sunday School wing is reminiscent of Medieval Gothic architecture. Thirty-eight stained glass windows designed by the Rossback Art Glass Company of Columbus were installed in 1938.Please turn your attention to the Pump House in the boulevard on Harvard and Salem. This interesting structure once served as a pump house for Dayton's early water system. Based on the similarity in design and building materials, it was probably built about the same time as the neighboring United Methodist Church. Today it provides a focal point for the entrance into the Dayton View Historic District. It’s a prime

Grace United Methodist Church

The Arthur B. Cohn House (also known locally as the "Blue House"[1]) is a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places located in downtown Houston. The house is now about a block away from its original location at 1711 Rusk Avenue to the 600 block of Avenidas de las Americas, adjacent to Minute Maid Park, and will shortly be moved to a former parking lot site at the corner of Commerce and Hamilton Streets.[1] The Queen Anne house was built for Cohn in 1905 by local architect, Michael DeChaumes.<h2>History</h2>The Arthur B. Cohn House is named for Arthur Benjamin Cohn (1871–1938), who resided at this house from 1905. Cohn was the personal accountant of William Marsh Rice and was instrumental in the founding of the Rice University.[2] In 1905, the Rice Board of Trustees hired Cohn for its full-time staff.[3] The original lot at 1711 Rusk Avenue had been previously developed in the 1860s for the home of Winifred Browne. Oral history relate that three elements of the house predate 1905, suggesting either that the builders incorporated part of the old Browne house into the new construction or these elements were reconstructed from salvaged materials. The kitchen decking is dated circa 1870.[4] Old residents of the neighborhood refer to the property as “the Browne house,” and claim that the front doors and one of the fireplaces was from this earlier structure. One author of the NRHP form dismisses this possibility, and asserts that only the kitchen floors predated 1905.[5] Another part of the NRHP form asserts that the kitchen wing at the rear of the house incorporates part of the Browne house.[6]The original site of the Cohn House at 1711 Rusk placed the property on Block 120, Lot 12 of the J. S. Holman Survey, originally bounded by Jackson, Capitol, Chenevert, and Rusk streets. Much of this lot was used by the city of Houston for Avenida de las Americas as part of the planning for the George R. Brown Convention Center.[7] This area was the subject of an extensive archaeological survey in 2003.[8] Block 120 in the Holman Survey was laid out identically to the blocks in the original survey of Houston. The dimensions were 250 feet square, divided into twelve lots, ten of which were 50 feet wide and 100 feet deep. The other two were key lots, placed in the middle of the block with dimensions fifty feet in width and 125 feet in depth. Block 120 was incorporated into Houston in 1840, and it is within the Third Ward neighborhood.[9]

This Tudor Revival style house was built in the 1930s for Harry E. Cohn. Cohn was vice president and sales manager for the S.J. Patterson Company, a wholesale coal dealer. Houses like this are sometimes referred to as English cottages. This description is not totally inaccurate since Tudor Revival designs are generally based on a variety of early English building traditions ranging from rural folk houses to urban palaces. Tudor Revival houses built during the 1920s and 30s became increasingly more picturesque. They frequently blend comfortably into wooded settings and are also characterized by asymmetrical massing and steeply pitched roofs with one or more cross gables. They also feature casement windows, sometimes in multiples of two or more with multi-pane glazing and massive chimneys often crowned with chimney pots.The Cohn house, with all of these features, is an excellent example of the style. The stucco walls of the house are relatively uncommon on Tudor houses. The Cohn house consists of twelve rooms with three fireplaces. The kitchen was once featured in Better Homes and Gardens.

Cohn House

Dayton View Historic District on University Row neighborhood. 1140 Harvard was built in 1910 and features quaint false half-timbering offset by a balanced facade featuring full front gables. Also contrasting with the formality of the house is the massive granite boulder first-story wall cladding with a matching stone fountain. The extensive use of natural materials is also evidence of the influence of the overlapping Craftsman style.The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture in England and Wales, during the Tudor period (1485–1603) and even beyond, and also the tentative introduction of Renaissance architecture to Britain. It followed the Late Gothic Perpendicular style and, gradually, it evolved into an aesthetic more consistent with trends already in motion on the continent, evidenced by other nations already having the Northern Renaissance underway Italy, and especially France already well into its revolution in art, architecture, and thought. A subtype of Tudor architecture is Elizabethan architecture, from about 1560 to 1600, which has continuity with the subsequent Jacobean architecture in the early Stuart period.In the much more slow-moving styles of vernacular architecture, "Tudor" has become a designation for half-timbered buildings, although there are cruck and frame houses with half timbering that considerably predate 1485 and others well after 1603; an expert examination is required to determine the building's age. In many regions stone architecture, which presents no exposed timber on the facade, was the norm for good houses, while everywhere the poorest lived in single-storey houses using wood frames and wattle and daub, too flimsy for any to have survived four centuries. In this form the Tudor style long retained its hold on English taste.[1] Nevertheless, "Tudor style" is an awkward style-designation, with its implied suggestions of continuity through the period of the Tudor dynasty and the misleading impression that there was a style break at the accession of James I in 1603, first of the House of Stuart. A better diagnostic is the "perpendicular" arrangement of rectangular vertically oriented leaded windows framed by structural transoms and mullions and often featuring a "hooded" surround usually in stone or timber such as oak.The low multi-centred Tudor arch was another defining feature and the period sees the first introduction of brick architecture imported from the Low Countries. Some of the most remarkable oriel windows belong to this period.[1] Mouldings are more spread out and the foliage becomes more naturalistic. During the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, many Italian artists arrived in England; their decorative features can be seen at Hampton Court Palace, Layer Marney Tower, Sutton Place, and elsewhere. However, in the following reign of Elizabeth I, the influence of Northern Mannerism, mainly derived from books, was greater. Courtiers and other wealthy Elizabethans competed to build prodigy houses that proclaimed their status.The Dissolution of the Monasteries redistributed large amounts of land to the wealthy, resulting in a secular building boom, as well as a source of stone.[2] The building of churches had already slowed somewhat before the English Reformation, after a great boom in the previous century, but was brought to a nearly complete stop by the Reformation. Civic and university buildings became steadily more numerous in the period, which saw general increasing prosperity. Brick was something of an exotic and expensive rarity at the beginning of the period, but during it became very widely used in many parts of England, even for modest buildings, gradually restricting traditional methods such as wood framed, daub and wattle and half-timbering to the lower classes by the end of the period.Scotland was a different country throughout the period, and is not covered here, but early Renaissance architecture in Scotland was influenced by close contacts between the French and Scottish courts, and there are a number of buildings from before 1560 that show a more thorough adoption of continental Renaissance styles than their English equivalents.

Tudor style Home. They symbolize the formality and symmetry of early examples of the style in contrast to the more picturesque Tudors of the late 1920s and ‘30s.

Tudor style home at 1140 Harvard 

1160 Harvard built in 1925. With its entire wooded setting and winding front walkway this home is more picturesque. After World War I, the Tudor style expanded rapidly. It surpassed the Colonial Revival style in popularity during the 1920s and ‘30s. With the development of veneering techniques a variety of wall material could be used, including brick, stone, stucco and wood.Here the combination of brick, stone and decorative brick half-timber infill attempts to mimic English prototypes. The flattened Tudor-arch main entrance rivals the chimney for prominence. Another standard feature of later Tudor Revival houses is the large, elaborate chimney. The chimney is decorated with a complex stone pattern that attempts to replicate the appearance of an old English ruin. Separate chimney pots sit atop each flue.

The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture in England and Wales, during the Tudor period (1485–1603) and even beyond, and also the tentative introduction of Renaissance architecture to Britain. It followed the Late Gothic Perpendicular style and, gradually, it evolved into an aesthetic more consistent with trends already in motion on the continent, evidenced by other nations already having the Northern Renaissance underway Italy, and especially France already well into its revolution in art, architecture, and thought. A subtype of Tudor architecture is Elizabethan architecture, from about 1560 to 1600, which has continuity with the subsequent Jacobean architecture in the early Stuart period.In the much more slow-moving styles of vernacular architecture, "Tudor" has become a designation for half-timbered buildings, although there are cruck and frame houses with half timbering that considerably predate 1485 and others well after 1603; an expert examination is required to determine the building's age. In many regions stone architecture, which presents no exposed timber on the facade, was the norm for good houses, while everywhere the poorest lived in single-storey houses using wood frames and wattle and daub, too flimsy for any to have survived four centuries. In this form the Tudor style long retained its hold on English taste.[1] Nevertheless, "Tudor style" is an awkward style-designation, with its implied suggestions of continuity through the period of the Tudor dynasty and the misleading impression that there was a style break at the accession of James I in 1603, first of the House of Stuart. A better diagnostic is the "perpendicular" arrangement of rectangular vertically oriented leaded windows framed by structural transoms and mullions and often featuring a "hooded" surround usually in stone or timber such as oak.The low multi-centred Tudor arch was another defining feature and the period sees the first introduction of brick architecture imported from the Low Countries. Some of the most remarkable oriel windows belong to this period.[1] Mouldings are more spread out and the foliage becomes more naturalistic. During the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, many Italian artists arrived in England; their decorative features can be seen at Hampton Court Palace, Layer Marney Tower, Sutton Place, and elsewhere. However, in the following reign of Elizabeth I, the influence of Northern Mannerism, mainly derived from books, was greater. Courtiers and other wealthy Elizabethans competed to build prodigy houses that proclaimed their status.The Dissolution of the Monasteries redistributed large amounts of land to the wealthy, resulting in a secular building boom, as well as a source of stone.[2] The building of churches had already slowed somewhat before the English Reformation, after a great boom in the previous century, but was brought to a nearly complete stop by the Reformation. Civic and university buildings became steadily more numerous in the period, which saw general increasing prosperity. Brick was something of an exotic and expensive rarity at the beginning of the period, but during it became very widely used in many parts of England, even for modest buildings, gradually restricting traditional methods such as wood framed, daub and wattle and half-timbering to the lower classes by the end of the period.Scotland was a different country throughout the period, and is not covered here, but early Renaissance architecture in Scotland was influenced by close contacts between the French and Scottish courts, and there are a number of buildings from before 1560 that show a more thorough adoption of continental Renaissance styles than their English equivalents.

Tudar Home 1160 Harvard 

A tour of Dayton View would not be complete without seeing Amherst Terrace, one of the largest and most elegant historic houses in the Dayton area. This Jacobean Tudor home was built in 1909. It has been known as the Leopold Rauh House and the Coates Mansion. Amherst Terrace was designed by Dayton architect, Albert Pretzinger, for Leopold Rauh. Rauh was the president of the Egry Register Company and a community activist. Rauh was instrumental in establishing Dayton's commission-manager form of government.Depending on the source of information the home features 24 or 31 rooms and 8 1/2 baths. The Jacobean style generally defines the architect-designed phase of Tudor Revival architecture between 1895 and 1915. It is based on more formal, late Medieval English building traditions. Jacobean architecture was popular during the late 16th and early 17th centuries during the reigns of English rulers, Elizabeth the First and James the First.Amherst Terrace is not a pure Jacobean design, however. Its main diagnostic characteristic of the style is the parapet gable, prominently featured to the left of the main entrance. Even more eye catching is the larger half-timbered gable, rarely found on Jacobean houses. Rauh died just six years after Amherst Terrace was built. The house was then sold toCharles W. Hoffritz, President of American Finance and Investment Company. During World War II, the third floor ballroom was converted to six bedrooms and occupied by servicemen. It was the subject of a complete rehabilitation and remodeling as the 1983Dayton Philharmonic’s Designers’ Show House.

The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style.[1] It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James' reign there was little stylistic break in architecture, as Elizabethan trends continued their development. However, his death in 1625 came as a decisive change towards more classical architecture, with Italian influence, was in progress, led by Inigo Jones; the style this began is sometimes called Stuart architecture, or English Baroque (though the latter term may be regarded as starting later).Courtiers continued to build large prodigy houses, even though James spent less time on summer progresses round his realm than Elizabeth had. The influence of Flemish and German Northern Mannerism increased, now often executed by immigrant craftsmen and artists, rather than obtained from books as in the previous reign. There continued to be very little building of new churches, though a considerable amount of modifications to old ones, but a great deal of secular building.

Amherst Terrace - 1000 Amherst

This home, known as the Herman Miller House, was built in 1928 with Tudor and Classical Revival styles features. In some ways it defies a stylistic identity. It successfully combines the half-timbering of the Tudor structure with the formality of Renaissance and Classical Revival styles.The home was constructed by master builder Herman Miller, who also built the nearby Salem and Grand building. It reflects Miller's exacting building standards and sensitivity to artistic detail. The Miller house took three years to build at a cost of $95,000, an astronomical sum for the 1920s. Alternating dark and light bricks give the walls of the house a checkerboard appearance. The symmetrical main facade includes paired, square casement windows and round arch casements. The windows feature decorative voussoir bricks, keystones and fanlight stained glass windows. The formality of the facade is further enhanced with a handsome classically-inspired portico supported by fluted, paired Doric columns. The terra cotta tile roof features a large central dormer and flanking dormers, with paired round arch windows, bargeboard trim, and half-timber veneer.

Herman Miller House

This home was built in 1911 and is the best example of the Chateauesque style in the Dayton area. Mercantilist Louis Traxler purchased the property in 1909 and moved into his new house two years later. The house was sold to David Pickrell, Jr., owner of the Pickrell Plumbing Company and president of the North Dayton Savings Bank. The Traxler Mansion was converted to a boarding house in 1942 and languished until it was purchased in 1977 by a local attorney who began restoring the property. Like nearby Amherst Terrace, the Traxler Mansion was the beneficiary of a DesignersShowcase project during the 1980s. Architect Richard Morris Hunt introduced the Chateauesque style in the United States. The style is loosely based on the monumental 16th century chateaux of France. The Vanderbilts were among Hunt's many wealthy clients. He designed several Chateauesque houses for the Vanderbilts including America's best known example of the style, The Biltmore, near Ashville, North Carolina. Chateauesque style houses usually exhibit various combinations of Gothic and Renaissance detailing. The most fundamental design feature of the style is the steeply pitched roof that often rises to a pyramidal apex or hipped roof. Unique features of the Traxler Mansion include the smooth stone quoins which define the corners of the house and frame all windows and doors. Also note the steep, tiled hip roof, unusual oval dormers, and tall chimneys.

Châteauesque (or Francis I style,[1] or in Canada, the Château Style[2]) is a Revivalist architectural style based on the French Renaissance architecture of the monumental châteaux of the Loire Valley from the late fifteenth century to the early seventeenth century.The term châteauesque (literally, "château-like") is credited (by historian Marcus Whiffen) to American architectural historian Bainbridge Bunting,[1] although it can be found in publications that pre-date Bunting's birth. As of 2011, the Getty Research Institute's Art &amp; Architecture Thesaurus includes both "Château Style" and "Châteauesque", with the former being the preferred term for North America.The style frequently features buildings heavily ornamented by the elaborate towers, spires, and steeply-pitched roofs of sixteenth century châteaux, themselves influenced by late Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture. Despite their French ornamentation, as a revival style, buildings in the châteauesque style do not attempt to completely emulate a French château. Châteauesque buildings are typically built on an asymmetrical plan, with a roof-line broken in several places and a facade composed of advancing and receding planes.

Traxler Mansion

Are you surprised to find a little bit of Switzerland in Dayton View? This craftsman-style home was built in 1920. Notice the Swiss balustrades. They are relatively uncommon. However, these balustrades did appear on the front-gabled roofs of Craftsman-style houses. The Craftsman style dominated the smaller-house building industry across the United States during the first three decades of the twentieth century. This international movement favored simple design, natural materials, and fine craftsmanship as a reaction to the increasing mass production of the industrial age.Several features of the Craftsman movement comprise the design of this home. Notice the uncut limestone to form the porch wall and chimney. Vague references to old world architecture in the Chalet-style balcony and the false half-timbering in the porch roof are also features of the Craftsman style.

The architecture of Switzerland was influenced by its location astride major trade routes, along with diverse architectural traditions of the four national languages. Romans and later Italians brought their monumental and vernacular architecture north over the Alps, meeting the Germanic and German styles coming south and French influences coming east. Additionally, Swiss mercenary service brought architectural elements from other lands back to Switzerland. All the major styles including ancient Roman, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Modern architecture and Post Modern are well represented throughout the country. The founding of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne in La Sarraz and the work of Swiss-born modern architects such as Le Corbusier helped spread Modern architecture throughout the world.The relative isolation of villages in the Alpine foothills, the Alps and the Jura mountains as well as different languages led to great diversity in the vernacular style. Due to differing traditions, climate and building materials, villages in each region are distinctly different. The Swiss chalet style, which was popular in the 19th century represents only one of a number of traditional designs. Today, due to historic preservation laws and tourism, large and small communities have retained many of their historic core buildings. Since 1972 the Swiss Heritage Society has awarded the Wakker Prize to encourage communities to preserve their architectural heritage.

58 Cambridge

This Georgian Revival home was built in 1895. The Georgian Revival style depicted in this massive house is generally considered part of the Colonial Revival era. Approximately 25 percent of Colonial Revival houses were simple rectangular blocks, built in a double-pile plan. The double-pile plan is two rooms wide and two rooms deep with a central entrance and hallway.Early examples such as this home tend to exaggerate references to Colonial detailing and are sometimes awkward in proportions. Pedimented dormers, Palladian windows and pilasters such as we find here are frequent features of Georgian Revival.<h2>Characteristics</h2>In towns, which expanded greatly during the period, landowners turned into property developers, and rows of identical terraced houses became the norm.[4] Even the wealthy were persuaded to live in these in town, especially if provided with a square of garden in front of the house. There was an enormous amount of building in the period, all over the English-speaking world, and the standards of construction were generally high. Where they have not been demolished, large numbers of Georgian buildings have survived two centuries or more, and they still form large parts of the core of cities such as London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Newcastle upon Tyne and Bristol.The period saw the growth of a distinct and trained architectural profession; before the mid-century "the high-sounding title, 'architect' was adopted by anyone who could get away with it".[5] This contrasted with earlier styles, which were primarily disseminated among craftsmen through the direct experience of the apprenticeship system. But most buildings were still designed by builders and landlords together, and the wide spread of Georgian architecture, and the Georgian styles of design more generally, came from dissemination through pattern books and inexpensive suites of engravings. Authors such as the prolific William Halfpenny (active 1723–1755) had editions in America as well as Britain.A similar phenomenon can be seen in the commonality of housing designs in Uganda and the United States (though of a wider variety of styles) from the 19th century down to the 1950s, using pattern books drawn up by professional architects that were distributed by lumber companies and hardware stores to contractors and homebuilders.[6]From the mid-18th century, Georgian styles were assimilated into an architectural vernacular that became part and parcel of the training of every architect, designer, builder, carpenter, mason and plasterer, from Edinburgh to Maryland.[7]<h2>Styles</h2>Georgian succeeded the English Baroque of Sir Christopher Wren, Sir John Vanbrugh, Thomas Archer, William Talman, and Nicholas Hawksmoor; this in fact continued into at least the 1720s, overlapping with a more restrained Georgian style. The architect James Gibbs was a transitional figure, his earlier buildings are Baroque, reflecting the time he spent in Rome in the early 18th century, but he adjusted his style after 1720.[8] Major architects to promote the change in direction from Baroque were Colen Campbell, author of the influential book Vitruvius Britannicus (1715–1725); Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and his protégé William Kent; Isaac Ware; Henry Flitcroft and the Venetian Giacomo Leoni, who spent most of his career in England.Other prominent architects of the early Georgian period include James Paine, Robert Taylor, and John Wood, the Elder. The European Grand Tour became very common for wealthy patrons in the period, and Italian influence remained dominant,[9] though at the start of the period Hanover Square, Westminster (1713 on), developed and occupied by Whig supporters of the new dynasty, seems to have deliberately adopted German stylistic elements in their honour, especially vertical bands connecting the windows.[10]The styles that resulted fall within several categories. In the mainstream of Georgian style were both Palladian architecture—and its whimsical alternatives, Gothic and Chinoiserie, which were the English-speaking world's equivalent of European Rococo. From the mid-1760s a range of Neoclassical modes were fashionable, associated with the British architects Robert Adam, James Gibbs, Sir William Chambers, James Wyatt, George Dance the Younger, Henry Holland and Sir John Soane. John Nash was one of the most prolific architects of the late Georgian era known as The Regency style, he was responsible for designing large areas of London.[11] Greek Revival architecture was added to the repertory, beginning around 1750, but increasing in popularity after 1800. Leading exponents were William Wilkins and Robert Smirke.In Britain, brick or stone are almost invariably used;[12] brick is often disguised with stucco. The Georgian terraces of Dublin are noted for their almost uniform use of red brick, for example, whereas equivalent terraces in Edinburgh are constructed from stone.[13] In America and other colonies wood remained very common, as its availability and cost-ratio with the other materials was more favourable. Raked roofs were mostly covered in earthenware tiles until Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn led the development of the slate industry in Wales from the 1760s, which by the end of the century had become the usual material.[14]

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The so-called great Georgian cities of the British Isles were Edinburgh, Bath, pre-independence Dublin, and London, and to a lesser extent York and Bristol.[1] The style was revived in the late 19th century in the United States as Colonial Revival architecture and in the early 20th century in Great Britain as Neo-Georgian architecture; in both it is also called Georgian Revival architecture. In the United States the term Georgian is generally used to describe all buildings from the period, regardless of style; in Britain it is generally restricted to buildings that are "architectural in intention",[2] and have stylistic characteristics that are typical of the period, though that covers a wide range.The Georgian style is highly variable, but marked by symmetry and proportion based on the classical architecture of Greece and Rome, as revived in Renaissance architecture. Ornament is also normally in the classical tradition, but typically restrained, and sometimes almost completely absent on the exterior. The period brought the vocabulary of classical architecture to smaller and more modest buildings than had been the case before, replacing English vernacular architecture (or becoming the new vernacular style) for almost all new middle-class homes and public buildings by the end of the period.Georgian architecture is characterized by its proportion and balance; simple mathematical ratios were used to determine the height of a window in relation to its width or the shape of a room as a double cube. Regularity, as with ashlar (uniformly cut) stonework, was strongly approved, imbuing symmetry and adherence to classical rules: the lack of symmetry, where Georgian additions were added to earlier structures remaining visible, was deeply felt as a flaw, at least before John Nash began to introduce it in a variety of styles.[3] Regularity of housefronts along a street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning. Until the start of the Gothic Revival in the early 19th century, Georgian designs usually lay within the Classical orders of architecture and employed a decorative vocabulary derived from ancient Rome or Greece.

Georgian Revival - 107 Lexington

This Colonial Revival home was built in 1906 for H.C. Hopkins who was President of the Thresher Varnish Works.The Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876 is credited with awakening America's interest in its Colonial heritage and Colonial Revival architecture. However, early examples were seldom historically correct copies of Colonial prototypes. Instead these homes are an eclectic mixture of details from two or more historic styles.The Hopkins House is an excellent example of the trend toward increasing formal design in residential architecture during the first decade of the 20th century. Remnants of the exuberant Queen Anne style are evident in this home, including the tall chimneys and bay windows. However, an air of Colonial Revival orderliness has taken over the symmetrical facade with its fluted Ionic columns.

The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the architectural traditions of their colonial past.[1] Fairly small numbers of Colonial Revival homes were built c. 1880–1910, a period when Queen Anne-style architecture was dominant in the United States.[2] From 1910–1930, the Colonial Revival movement was ascendant, with about 40% of U.S. homes built during this period in the Colonial Revival style.[3] In the immediate post-war period (c. 1950s–early 1960s), Colonial Revival homes continued to be constructed, but in simplified form. In the present-day, many New Traditional homes draw from Colonial Revival styles.[4]While the dominant influences in Colonial Revival style are Georgian and Federal architecture, Colonial Revival homes also draw, to a lesser extent, from the Dutch Colonial style and post-medieval English styles. Colonial Revival homes are often eclectic in style, freely combining aspects from several of these prototypes.[5]Although associated with the architectural movement, "Colonial Revival" also refers to historic preservation, landscape architecture and garden design, and decorative arts movements that emulate or draw inspiration from colonial forms.[6]Cyril M. Harris's American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia noted that "Colonial Revival houses are usually the result of a rather free interpretation of their prototypes; they tend to be larger, may differ significantly from the houses they seek to emulate, and often exaggerate architectural details."[7]

104 Lexington - Colonial Revival home

This Prairie-style structure was built in 1920 and was designed as an apartment. It was built about the same time as the apartment building at 1034-1042 Grand. But the construction date is where the similarity ends.Down the street, at 1034 Grand, you’ll find a detailed, almost whimsical design. Here this Prairie-style structure is notable for its lack of design details. The Prairie style is frequently based on the basic rectangular box. Features include square or rectangular forms with pyramidal or hip roofs, dormers, and widely overhanging eaves. Here we see a vernacular version of the Prairie-style that is adapted for a large double. The hard, highly glazed brick is also typical of masonry buildings constructed during this period.

Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape.The Prairie School was an attempt at developing an indigenous North American style of architecture in sympathy with the ideals and design aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts Movement, with which it shared an embrace of handcrafting and craftsman guilds as an antidote to the dehumanizing effects of mass production.

Prairie-style - 741-43 Superior Avenue

Its form and architectural details evoke an earlier period. However, the Schachne house was built in 1937 and is actually one of the last houses to be built in Dayton View.The home vaguely reminds us of the California Mission style. These features include the symmetrical fenestration, parapet gable dormer, and stucco walls. However, there is little else to recall that state's Spanish architectural heritage. It was also constructed long after the popularity of the Mission style had begun to decline.The Schachne house is constructed of concrete block covered with stucco. Please observe the particularly attractive features of the façade. These include the decorative corner quoins and square porch posts with recessed panels. Also note the diamond shaped leaded glass in the first and second story windows.Neo-eclectic architecture combines a wide array of decorative techniques taken from an assortment of different house styles. It can be considered a devolution from the clean and unadorned modernist styles and principles behind the Mid-Century modern and Ranch-style houses that dominated North American residential design and construction in the first decades after the Second World War. It is an outgrowth of postmodern architecture, yet differs from postmodernism in that it is not creatively experimental.OriginalsThe missions' style of necessity and security evolved around an enclosed courtyard, using massive adobe walls with broad unadorned plaster surfaces, limited fenestration and door piercing, low-pitched roofs with projecting wide eaves and non-flammable clay roof tiles, and thick arches springing from piers. Exterior walls were coated with white plaster (stucco), which with wide side eaves shielded the adobe brick walls from rain. Other features included long exterior arcades, an enfilade of interior rooms and halls, semi-independent bell-gables, and at more prosperous missions curved 'Baroque' gables on the principal facade with towers.RevivalThese architectural elements were replicated, in varying degrees, accuracy, and proportions, in the new Mission Revival structures. Simultaneous with the original style's revival was an awareness in California of the actual missions fading into ruins and their restoration campaigns, and nostalgia in the quickly changing state for a 'simpler time' as the novel Ramona popularized at the time. Contemporary construction materials and practices, earthquake codes, and building uses render the structural and religious architectural components primarily aesthetic decoration, while the service elements such as tile roofing, solar shielding of walls and interiors, and outdoor shade arcades and courtyards are still functional.The Mission Revival style of architecture, and subsequent Spanish Colonial Revival style, have historical, narrative—nostalgic, cultural—environmental associations, and climate appropriateness that have made for a predominant historical regional vernacular architecture style in the Southwestern United States, especially in California.

Neo-eclectic architecture is a name for an architectural style that has influenced residential building construction in North America in the latter part of the 20th century and early part of the 21st. It is a contemporary version of Revivalism that has perennially occurred since Neoclassical architecture developed in the mid 18th century.In contrast to the occasionally faux and low-budget Neo-Eclectic detached homesteads, the term New Classical architecture identifies contemporary buildings that stick to the basic ideals, proportions, materials and craftsmanship of traditional architecture.The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California. It is sometimes termed California Mission Revival, particularly when used elsewhere, such as in New Mexico and Texas which have their own unique regional architectural styles. In Australia, the style is known as Spanish Mission.[1]The Mission Revival movement was most popular between 1890 and 1915, in numerous residential, commercial and institutional structures, particularly schools and railroad depots.[2]

 Schachne House

This Eastlake home was built in 1886 by D.B. Wilcox who served as the Police Commissioner for the City of Dayton.The Wilcox house is a good example of the late 19th century Eastlake style rendered in masonry. The Eastlake style is named for British furniture designer Charles Locke Eastlake. The style is known for its fanciful combinations of three-dimensional ornament and color.The masonry construction of the Wilcox house dictates a rather more subdued design in contrast to the numerous wooden-frame Eastlake homes that you will see when you tour the McPherson Town Historic District. Nevertheless, there are numerous features of the Eastlake style before you. These include the porch with its furniture-like turned porch posts, delicate incised motif and lattice work. The curved brackets and wooden gable awning are also clear evidence of the Eastlake influence. Also notice the decorative possibilities of patterned masonry in the second story of the front-facing gable.<h2>Characteristics</h2>Eastlake style applied to houses as well as furniture. Characteristics of these houses include the lathe-shaped wooden forms and mechanical jigsaw wooden forms. Porch posts and railings had intricate wooden designs and curved brackets and scrolls were placed at corners.[5] The façade also included "perforated gables and pediments, carved panels and a profusion of beaded spindles, and lattice work found along porch eaves."[5] Mansardic porches were another characteristic and had wrought iron crestings. The color combination of the houses also emphasized the contrast between the lighter colors of the details and the darker colors of the house body.[5] In the United States, especially in California, American home builders in the 1880s replaced flat-cut gingerbread ornamental elements that were popular in the 1860s and 1870s with lathe-tuned spindlework for balusters and wall surface decoration. Charles Eastlake criticized the American adaptation as "extravagant and bizarre". However, the style lived on and it was later combined with Italianate and Second Empire elements to create the "San Francisco Style".[7]In furniture, Eastlake was particularly fond of oak and cherry wood grains; however, American manufacturers still used ebonized wood despite Eastlake's suggestions.[5] The forms of the furniture were often rectilinear and had "geometric ornament, turnings, brackets, trestles, and incised linear decoration."[5] Additionally, the designs were easily made by machines. Eastlake also believed that the prices of his furniture should be "as cheap as that which is ugly" as he could not understand why anyone would buy a more expensive piece of furniture for a more intricate design.[3] Eastlake's furniture was for the middle-class home, and being easy to clean was another one of the characteristics.

The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in terms of broad antique furniture designations. In architecture the Eastlake style or Eastlake architecture is part of the Queen Anne style of Victorian architecture.Eastlake's book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and Other Details posited that furniture and decor in people's homes should be made by hand or machine workers who took personal pride in their work. Manufacturers in the United States used the drawings and ideas in the book to create mass-produced Eastlake Style or Cottage furniture.The geometric ornaments, spindles, low relief carvings, and incised lines were designed to be affordable and easy to clean;[1] nevertheless, many of the designs which resulted are artistically complex.Although Charles Eastlake did not make furniture, his movement influenced the interior design of American homes with English designs that were easy to clean, functional, and simple. The ‘Eastlake’ style is of Victorian architecture and one of the core principles of this style was that Eastlake thought that the furniture in people's homes should be good looking and be made by manufacturers who enjoyed their work.[1] This was contrary to the previous style of furniture, with pieces that were large, heavy, and thick, and that collected dust and germs.[2]

Wilcox house

This Neoclassical home was built in 1902. With its full-height entry porch and a lower full-width porch, this home is a relatively unique subtype of the Neoclassical style. The façade is dominated by the full-height pedimented portico with its massive triple- fluted Ionic columns. The influence of the early 20th century Prairie style is also evident with wide overhanging eaves supported by large modillions. Also, notice the unusual triple round arch windows in the portico gable.The third floor houses the original ballroom that is now used as a family room. The original walk-in safe remains in the basement. A large two-story carriage house is behind the house. It includes a servants’ quarters, the carriage space, and a second floor hay loft.<h2>Characteristics</h2>High neoclassicism was an international movement. Architects reacted against the excesses and profuse ornament used in Late Baroque architecture. The new "classical" architecture emphasized planar qualities, rather than elaborate sculptural ornament in both the interior and the exterior. Projections and recessions and their effects of light and shade were more flat; sculptural bas-reliefs were flat and tended to be framed by friezes, tablets or panels. This was the first "stripped down" classical architecture, and appeared to be modern in the context of the Revolutionary period in Europe. At its most elemental, as in the work of Etienne-Louis Boullée, it was highly abstract and geometrically pure.[11]The neoclassical Helsinki Cathedral from the 19th century, near the Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland.Neoclassicism also influenced city planning. The ancient Romans had used a consolidated scheme for city planning for both defence and civil convenience; however, the roots of this scheme go back to even older civilizations. At its most basic, the grid system of streets, a central forum with city services, two main slightly wider boulevards, and the occasional diagonal street were characteristic of the very logical and orderly Roman design. Ancient façades and building layouts were oriented to these city design patterns and they tended to work in proportion with the importance of public buildings.Many of these urban planning patterns found their way into the first modern planned cities of the 18th century. Exceptional examples include Karlsruhe, Washington, D.C., Saint Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Havana, and Barcelona. Contrasting models may be found in Modernist designs exemplified by Brasília, the Garden city movement, and levittowns.

Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world.[1] The prevailing styles of architecture in most of Europe for the previous two centuries, Renaissance architecture and Baroque architecture, already represented partial revivals of the Classical architecture of ancient Rome and ancient Greek architecture, but the Neoclassical movement aimed to strip away the excesses of Late Baroque and return to a purer and more authentic classical style, adapted to modern purposes.The development of archaeology and published accurate records of surviving classical buildings was crucial in the emergence of Neoclassical architecture. In many countries, there was an initial wave essentially drawing on Roman architecture, followed, from about the start of the 19th century, by a second wave of Greek Revival architecture. This followed increased understanding of Greek survivals. As the 19th century continued, the style tended to lose its original rather austere purity in variants like the French Empire style. The term "neoclassical" is often used very loosely for any building using some of the classical architectural vocabulary.In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro and maintains separate identities to each of its parts. The style is manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulae as an outgrowth of some classicizing features of the Late Baroque architectural tradition. Therefore, the style is defined by symmetry, simple geometry, and social demands instead of ornament.[2] In the 21st century, a version of the style continues, sometimes called New Classical architecture or New Classicism.

Neoclassical home - 563 Superior

The Cox House was built in 1905 as the personal residence of James M. Cox, Governor of Ohio and Presidential candidate This Queen Anne and Shingle Style is reminiscent of the rambling summer home "cottages" of Long Island and Newport. Cox leased the home with the stipulation that he would paint and decorate the house, install a "first-class water system" and build a stable. He lived here from 1905 until his election as Governor in 1911. In 2019, the Dayton View Historic Association acquired and donated the vacant home to a new owner who is lovingly restoring it.The term Shingle Style was coined in 1955 by architectural historian Vincent Scully. Scully created the term to distinguish the large late-Victorian era houses whose basic design element is the decorative wood shingle. Wood shingles can also be found on many Queen Anne houses. However, Shingle Style houses differ from Queen Anne homes. Unlike Queen Anne architecture, Shingle Style houses do not emphasize decorative detailing at doors, windows, cornices and porches. This decorative detailing is the hallmark of the typicalQueen Anne house. Instead the Shingle Style aims to create the effect of a complex shape enclosed within the shingled exterior. The shingle features serve to unify the irregular outline of the house. This effect is quite apparent on the Cox house. Please observe the second story of the polygonal bay and the simple one-over- one sash. These features are designed to draw attention to the uniformity of the shingled surface. Nevertheless, the shingled upper- story must compete for your attention with the granite boulder walls that comprise the first floor. These variegated stones are an impressive design element that is somewhat hidden by the porch and porte-cochere. However, these massive stones have the effect of firmly anchoring the house into the ground.

Queen Anne style architecture was one of a number of popular Victorian architectural styles that emerged in the United States during the period from roughly 1880 to 1910.[2] Popular there during this time, it followed the Second Empire and Stick styles and preceded the Richardsonian Romanesque and Shingle styles. Sub-movements of Queen Anne include the Eastlake movement.The style bears almost no relationship to the original Queen Anne style architecture in Britain (a toned-down version of English Baroque that was used mostly for gentry houses) which appeared during the time of Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 to 1714, nor of Queen Anne Revival (which appeared in the latter 19th century there).The American style covers a wide range of picturesque buildings with "free Renaissance" (non-Gothic Revival) details, rather than being a specific formulaic style in its own right.The term "Queen Anne", as an alternative both to the French-derived Second Empire style and the less "domestic" Beaux-Arts style, is broadly applied to architecture, furniture and decorative arts of the period from 1880 to 1910. Some Queen Anne architectural elements, such as the wrap-around front porch, continued to be found into the 1920s.

The Cox House

Here we find another interesting Colonial Revival home built in 1910.Beginning with the nation's bicentennial in 1876, Americans increasingly searched for ways to evoke our colonial architectural and decorative arts heritage. Patriotism, romanticism and academic correctness were watchwords of the era. The leading architects of the day studied and published measured drawings and photographs of American Colonial architecture. Meanwhile, national publications such as Ladies' Home Journal and House Beautiful popularized the style. Generally described today as the Colonial Revival, the style actually encompasses several colonial ethnic influences, including English, Dutch and Spanish.Here at 936 Grand Avenue, there is a vague Dutch influence which is visible in the massive gambrel roof. However, the origin of the design can also be traced to the Palatial Georgian style after its prototype home, the John Hancock mansion of Boston. The John Hancock Mansion was demolished well before the end of the nineteenth century. However, a reproduction was constructed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The reproduction was also demolished but its influence lingered on in the many architect-designed homes such as you see here.A full-length porch has replaced the giant portico normally associated with most Palatial Georgian houses. However, other Colonial Revival details are still present. These include the rectilinear form, the porch balustrade, and pilaster columns. Also note the dormers and Palladian windows.

American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian.[1] These styles are associated with the houses, churches and government buildings of the period from about 1600 through the 19th century.Several relatively distinct regional styles of colonial architecture are recognized in the United States. Building styles in the 13 colonies were influenced by techniques and styles from England, as well as traditions brought by settlers from other parts of Europe. In New England, 17th-century colonial houses were built primarily from wood, following styles found in the southeastern counties of England. Saltbox style homes and Cape Cod style homes were some of the simplest of homes constructed in the New England colonies. The Saltbox homes known for their steep roof among the back the house made for easy construction among colonists.[2] The Cape Cod style homes were a common home in the early 17th of New England colonists, these homes featured a simple, rectangular shape commonly used by colonists.[3] Dutch Colonial structures, built primarily in the Hudson River Valley, Long Island, and northern New Jersey, reflected construction styles from Holland and Flanders and used stone and brick more extensively than buildings in New England. In Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, a style called "Southern Colonial" is recognized, characterized by the hall and parlor and central-passage house types, which often had large chimneys projecting from the gable-ends of the house. In the Delaware Valley, Swedish colonial settlers introduced the log cabin to America. A style sometimes called Pennsylvania colonial appeared later (after 1681) and incorporates Georgian architectural influences. A Pennsylvania Dutch style is recognized in parts of southeastern Pennsylvania that were settled by German immigrants in the 18th century.[4]Early buildings in some other areas of the United States reflect the architectural traditions of the colonial powers that controlled these regions. The architectural style of Louisiana is identified as French colonial, while the Spanish colonial style evokes Renaissance and Baroque styles of Spain and Mexico; in the United States it is found in Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and California.[4]

Colonial Revival - 936 Grand Avenue

This American Foursquare was built in1909 by W.S. Layman and purchased by M.J. Gibbons in 1917. Foursquare homes are one of very few house types that can be called essentially American. This style was dubbed the “American Foursquare” by Clem Labine, former editor of Old House Journal. The Foursquare style is also sometimes called the box or the double cube for its boxy outline and interior plan of four nearly equal size rooms per floor. This architectural style was marketed and advertised for its "Americanness." The foursquare house proved to be so popular that thousands were built in American's Post-Victorian suburbs and in the countryside as well.The Layman-Gibbons house is an excellent example of the foursquare house. It is two stories high and constructed of striking highly-glazed, golden brick. The house is set on a raised basement with a limestone water table. The house is approached by steps which lead to a porch which runs the full width of the first floor. Another defining feature of the foursquare style is the pyramidal roof with dormers. The roof is covered with slate and the handsome three light dormers match the roofline. Note the decorative cresting, a holdover from the Victorian era, along the roof and dormer ridges. Another excellent example of the American Foursquare house is the Cassel house. This house was built by prominent physician William H. Cassel in 1907 and is located at 57 Oxford Avenue.

The American Foursquare or American Four Square (American 4 Square) is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass-produced elements of the Victorian and other Revival styles popular throughout the last half of the 19th century, the American Foursquare was plain, often incorporating handcrafted "honest" woodwork (unless purchased from a mail-order catalog). This style incorporates elements of the Prairie School and the Craftsman styles. It is also sometimes called Transitional Period.The hallmarks of the style include a basically square, boxy design, two-and-one-half stories high, usually with four large, boxy rooms to a floor (with the exception of the attic floor, which typically has only one or two rooms), a center dormer, and a large front porch with wide stairs. The boxy shape provides a maximum amount of interior room space, to use a small city lot to best advantage. Other common features included a hipped roof, arched entries between common rooms, built-in cabinetry, and Craftsman-style woodwork.A typical design would be as follows: first floor, from front to back, on one side, the living room and dining room; while on the other side, the entry room or foyer, stairway and kitchen. Sometimes a bathroom was also included. Second floor, front to back, on one side, bedroom, bathroom and bedroom; while on the other side, bedroom, stairway and bedroom. The upstairs bathroom would generally be placed above the kitchen, so that the plumbing could run directly from one to the other. The bedrooms had a slightly longer dimension along the front and back of the house with side-by-side closets between the bedrooms. This gave a very efficient layout, with a bedroom in each corner and a centralized bathroom and stairway. The top floor was generally just a big open space with one to four dormers, essentially an attic, whether finished into living space or not. The basement generally contained a large natural convection furnace or boiler, exhausting to a chimney running upwards through the center of the house, which also provided exhaust for the stove.

Layman House

This fire station was built in Dutch Colonial Revival style with Craftsman influences. The fire station, like the Pump House that you saw at the beginning of your tour, demonstrates the importance placed on creating quality architecture in Dayton View during the first decades after the turn of the century. Great attention was paid to the detailed design of even utilitarian buildings and well as homes. Engine Company 9 was designed by Thies and Thies Architects during the administration of Henry Waite, Dayton's first City Manager. It so completely resembles a house that one hardly notices its real function, exactly what the architects intended. The building style is Dutch Colonial Revival names for its pre-Revolutionary war Dutch prototypes. However, the gambrel roof is the building’s only design feature that it has in common with its Dutch Colonial predecessors. Even it has been modified with a much steeper pitch and shed roof dormers to accommodate a second story. Engine Company 9 also displays an unusual combination of Classical and Craftsman style influences. These are evident in the design of its front and rear entrance porches.These porches are designed as the pergolas which are open wooden-framed garden structures. Pergolas became almost synonymous with Craftsman style houses. They were considered one of those honest expressions of structural materials so important to the Arts and Crafts movement. Here pergola roofs sit on top of modest Doric columns. The space between the columns is latticed, also reminding one of the original garden functions of pergola structures.

Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Revival", a subtype of the Colonial Revival style.Remnants of colonial Dutch influence, such as the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow from 1697, became the basis of revivalist styling.The modern use of the term is to indicate a broad gambrel roof with flaring eaves that extend over the long sides, resembling a barn in construction.[1] The early houses built by settlers were often a single room, with additions added to either end (or short side) and very often a porch along both long sides. Typically, walls were made of stone and a chimney was located on one or both ends. Common were double-hung sash windows with outward swinging wood shutters and a central double Dutch door.Settlers of the Dutch colonies in New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and western Connecticut built these homes in ways familiar to the regions of Europe from which they came, like the Low Countries, the Palatine parts of Germany, and Huguenot regions of France.[2] Used for its modern meaning of "gambrel-roofed house", the term does not reflect the fact that housing styles in Dutch-founded communities in New York evolved over time. In the Hudson Valley, for example, the use of brick, or brick and stone is perhaps more characteristic of Dutch Colonial houses than is their use of a gambrel roof. In Albany and Ulster Counties, frame houses were almost unknown before 1776, while in Dutchess and Westchester Counties, the presence of a greater proportion of settlers with English roots popularised more construction of wood-frame houses.[3]: 22  After a period of log cabin and bank-dugout construction, the use of the inverted "V" roof shape was common. The gambrel roof was used later, predominantly between 1725 and 1775, although examples can be found from as early as 1705.[3]: 23  The general rule before 1776 was to build houses that were only one-and-a-half stories high, except in Albany, where there were a greater proportion of two-story houses. Fine examples of these houses can be found today, like those in the Huguenot Street Historic District of New Paltz, New York.

Downtown Dayton Walking Tour

Old Court House

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources