So a “Colonial” to us is essentially a two story rectangular home. To be more specific, a
Georgian Colonial, all brick with many of the following:
CHARACTERISTICS OF GEORGEAN HOMES
A square, symmetrical layout.
A row of horizontal, evenly spaced sash windows on each floor of the home.
Early Georgian homes had sash windows.The principal of the double-hung sash, with pulleys and counterweights in sash-boxes, remained unchanged, even in modern times. The same goes for the arrangements of internal folding shutters.
The average Georgian house had 2 to 3 stories, with a chimney on each end of the house.
The traditional number of windows is five on the upper floors, often with a Palladian window in the center over the door.
Georgian houses are known for their large paneled door, usually topped off with a pediment or arch. The doorway is also often framed by pedestals or columns.
Georgian doors are tall, often filling the entire opening, but have often been cut down later to accommodate a fanlight. Front doors were painted in dark colors or grained to imitate wood.
Fashionable homes have a main staircase and a secondary “backstairs” for servants.
Ordinary homes have one wooden staircase of straight flights joined by landings, or winding flight for each story.
You will most likely find the most elaborate decoration on the main flight from the entrance hall to the floor above.
In late Georgian homes, staircases were made of wood, and were now open-string, with a stepped profile rather than a straight one.
