Italianate Invasion – The Architecture of Cabbagetown

The Italianate style, also known as the Tuscan or Bracketed style, revisited the architecture of the Italian Renaissance in America during the 1840s. Historians consider this style to be a form of the Neo-Renaissance as well as a member of the picturesque movement.   For Canada, this movement gained momentum around the same time as confederation.  All across the country homes were being built in reflection of this Italianesque form.  Toronto, specifically, has many preserved locations of Italianate architecture.  One example of this can be found at 397 Carlton Street, Toronto (James Reeves House).

The Italian villa became a popular model for Canadian homes but some architects considered this style a subtype of Italianate.  This is because the villa’s defining feature is a tower whereas the basic Italianate style relies more-so on square, classical elements.  Italianate commercial buildings differ slightly than residential.  The key contrasts between these two structures are that the first floor façade is made of cast iron, rather than brick, and that the building is capped by a bracketed cornice.  An Italianate home can be characterized by the following features:

–          A low-pitched roof

–          Two or three stories with a single entry porch

–          Wide eaves with decorative bracketing underneath

–          Rectangular, round-arched, or segmentally-arched doors and window (single or paired)

–          Window crowns and lintels

–          Tower or square cupola