LYCOS RETRIEVER 
French Second Empire: Styles
built 633 days ago
The most characteristic feature of the French Second Empire style is the mansard roof, which in this case covers the second story of the building. On a larger Second Empire Style building – for example, Philadelphia’s City Hall – the mansard roof covers one of three or four stories. The Landis House ... sports a front porch with columns.
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The Fulton Mansion was one of the earliest French Second Empire buildings constructed in Texas. It was one of the very few to embody virtually all of the major characteristics of the Second Empire style. While numerous Second Empire villas similar to the Fulton Mansion may be found in other parts of the United States, its classic design coupled with its unusual construction and technologically advanced systems make it one of the most significant Second Empire residences not extant in the Southwest.
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In the United States, the Second Empire style usually combined a rectangular tower, or similar element, with a steep, but short, mansard roof; the roof being the most noteworthy link to the style’s French roots. This tower element could be of equal height of the top most floor, or could exceed the height of the rest of the structure by a story or two. The mansard roof crest was often topped with an iron trim, sometimes referred to as “cresting”. In some cases, lightning rods were integrated into the cresting design, making the feature useful beyond its decorative features. The exterior style could be expressed in either wood, brick or stone. More elaborate examples frequently featured paired columns as well as sculptured details around the entrances, windows and dormers.
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The Temple’s structure blends Gothic Revival, French Renaissance Revival, and French Second Empire styles. The Temple is used for Mormon religious ceremonies like marriages, and each summer the Temple grounds are the site of the Mormon Miracle Pageant. Make sure to take a moment to catch the brilliant view of the temple at dusk and then again late in the evening; the Temple glow will most certainly add to the cherished memories you’ve built while staying at the park.
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Familiar with a range of historical styles and skilled at using them effectively, architect Philip Brooks Maher adapted French Second Empire forms for this building, contributing to the Parisian- influenced development of North Michigan Avenue in the 1920s. Maher (1894-1981), the son of Prairie School architect George W. Maher, designed more buildings on North Michigan Avenue than anyone but the large firm of Holabird and Root. Many of these structures have been demolished, but the Farwell (664 North Michigan Avenue, 1926) and the Decorative Arts (620 North Michigan Avenue, 1927-8) buildings remain. In this 9-story structure, home to the country's oldest women's athletic facility, a number of non-athletic functions were accommodated. The first floor was devoted to swank retail shops; the second, or "piano nobile", was reserved for public occasions; the crowning 7th and 8th floors were designed for a grand ballroom in which large social gatherings were held. The window treatments mark these special uses: a Palladian window heralds the second floor on Ontario Street, while on the upper stories niches housing winged griffins flank large windows decorated with swags and bucrania (ox skulls with garland-festooned horns).
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Empire features and mansard roofs are so often found together that the style itself is frequently referred to as the Mansard Style. While it is true that every Second Empire house has at least one mansard roof (and some have many), does the presence of a mansard roof always signify a Second-Empire house? In a word, no. In Second Empire buildings, the mansard roof must be the dominant feature, not a subsidiary one. You might, for example, have a Queen Anne house with a gabled main roof and a mansard-roofed tower. Such a house is still a Queen Anne, not a Second Empire. In the same way, many Stick-Style houses have mansard roofs—but they are not Second Empire because it is the Stick Style features that dominate the design.
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