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09 | The Architectural Fashion of Toronto Residential Neighbourhoods
RASEK ARCHITECTS LTD

SECOND EMPIRE

The Second Empire style had its beginnings in France,
where it was the chosen style during the reign of
Napoleon III (1852-70), France's Second Empire, hence
its name.Well-attended exhibitions in Paris in 1855 and
1867 helped to spread Second Empire style to England
and then the United States and Canada.

IDENTIFYING FEATURES
Second Empire mansions or public buildings are often elaborately
detailed, but many other buildings of this style have only the curving
lines of the shingled mansard roof to mark them. Other commonly
seen details are a bracketed cornice beneath the mansard roof,
round arched windows, decorative dormer windows, an iron crest at
the roofline, and columned porches or porticoes.

Form: Tall, can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical; In
asymmetrical houses, a central pavilion often extends above house
Storeys: 2+
Façade: Multiple surfaces, usually brick or stone
Roof: Mansard, with dormers. Iron frieze, often slate tiled, wide
cornices
with heavy brackets, may have tower or turret
Windows: Tall, slender, 2-over-2 sash with decorative moulds or
voussoirs. Bay windows also common.
Entrance: Usually in porch or portico, paired doors