Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania boast a wealth of architectural styles. Here are a few of the most popular from about 1810 to 1900.

Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania boast a wealth of architectural styles. Here are a few of the most popular from about 1810 to 1900.
FEDERAL
1810 - 1835
Identifying features: two-story box-shaped house with side-gabled roof or, less often, a hipped roof; semicircular or elliptical fanlight over the front door; doors and windows arranged in strict symmetry; windows usually have six panes per sash; front door sometimes features a small porch; cornice sometimes has decorative moldings. Ohio's earliest settlers built Federal-style homes. This delicate, refined type of architecture was transplanted to the Western Reserve from New England and, less frequently, from the Southern United States.
GREEK REVIVAL
1825 - 1860
Identifying features: usually a two-story house with a low-pitched, gabled roof; cornice line of main roof has a wide band of trim. This is the most universal feature of Greek Revival houses; some porches are supported by prominent square or rounded columns reminiscent of classical Greek and Roman architecture; front door flanked by narrow sidelights and often a rectangular line of transom lights above.Greek Revival homes were inspired by the architecture of ancient Greece and were the dominant style in America from about 1830 to 1850. Today, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio sport the largest number of surviving Greek Revival homes.
GOTHIC REVIVAL
1835 - 1870
Identifying features: Steeply pitched roof; gables decorated with vergeboards; windows with pointed arches; one-story porch supported by flattened Gothic posts.Built to mimic the style of medieval cathedrals, gothic homes were made from both wood and brick, but wooden-frame homes were most popular. Vertical board-and-batten siding was also popular.Gothic-style homes were more common in rural areas than in urban areas because the style was said to be more pleasing in a natural landscape.Most Gothic Revival homes were constructed between 1840 and 1870.
ITALIANATE
1840 - 1885
Identifying features: two or three stories high (rarely one story); low-pitched roof with wide, overhanging eaves that may sport decorative brackets; sometimes a gabled roof also with decorative brackets; tall, narrow windows sometimes with inverted U-shaped tops; sometimes a square cupola tower on roof; paired or single doors.Homes built in the Italianate style mimicked the rambling, informal farmhouses of the Italian countryside. The Italianate style was popularized in America by the books of Andrew Jackson Downing and reached its height from about 1855 to 1880. Earlier examples display simple detailing, and later examples are more decorative.
OCTAGON
1850 - 1870
Identifying features: easily recognized by the 8-sided shape of the exterior walls; most are two-story with low-pitched, hipped roofs and wide eaves; some have eave brackets; some have octagonal cupolas on the roof; most have spacious porches.
Orson S. Fowler, a lecturer and writer, was responsible for the popularity of Octagon houses. Fowler contended that Octagon homes offered more floor space per linear foot. He also contended that Octagons were superior to square houses because they increased sunlight and ventilation and eliminated dark corners. Octagon-style homes were rare, and only a few thousand were originally built, mostly in New York, Massachusetts and the Midwest.
SECOND EMPIRE
1855 - 1885
Identifying features: mansard roof with dormer windows; decorative brackets beneath eaves; sometimes with a rectangular or square tower.
Although the Second Empire style was part of the Picturesque movement that turned toward the romantic past for inspiration, this style was considered very modern because it imitated the latest French building fashions. The distinctive roof was named for French architect Francois Mansart.
STICK STYLE
1860 - 1890
Identifying features: steep, gabled roof; decorative trusses at apex; overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends; wooden shingles or boards interrupted by patterns of horizontal, vertical or diagonal boards (called stick work).
Stick-style homes were free adaptions of Medieval English buildings where the exterior wall surface itself was used as a decorative element. During the 1880s, Stick style was eclipsed by Queen Anne-style architecture.
QUEEN ANNE
1880 - 1910
Identifying features: steeply pitched roof of an irregular shape usually with a dominant front-facing gable; patterned shingles; bay windows; asymmetrical fa & ccedil;ade with partial or full-width porch usually one story high; spindlework ornamentation.
Queen Anne-style homes dominated American domestic architecture from about 1880 to 1900. The style was introduced by a group of English architects led by Richard Norman Shaw. Although the style is called Queen Anne, it bears little resemblance to the architecture that was popular during Queen Anne's reign (1702-1714). Instead, it is reminiscent of the architecture of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
SHINGLE
1880 - 1900
Identifying features: exterior walls and roofing made of wooden shingles; asymmetrical fa & ccedil;ade with irregular, steeply pitched roof; roofs have multilevel eaves; extensive porches were common.
The Shingle style was a uniquely American variation of the Stick and Queen Anne styles, but unlike the Queen Anne style, which became widely popular among the masses, Shingle style was a high-fashion choice of the elite.
RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE
1880 - 1900
Identifying features: round-topped arches over windows, porch supports and entries; masonry walls with rough, squared stonework; round towers with conical roofs; asymmetrical fa & ccedil;ade.
Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson, who died in 1886, introduced this style around 1880. The style became popular for large public buildings during the 1880s but wasn't popular in domestic buildings until about 1890. Because they were always of solid masonry construction, Romanesque houses were expensive to build and were not very common.
FOLK VICTORIAN
1870 - 1910
Identifying features: a simple house with porches sporting spindlework or flat, jigsaw-cut trim; symmetrical fa & ccedil;ade; cornice brackets.
The railroads were responsible for the spread of Folk Victorian houses. Heavy woodworking machinery could be transported by railroad to local lumberyards and an abundance of pre-cut detailing could be produced. Thus, fashion-conscious homeowners updated their old, simple homes with new Victorian porches. Many builders simply grafted the fancy pieces of trim onto their home's plain exterior.
Source: "A Field Guide To American Houses" by Virginia and Lee McAlester