Spanish Colonial Revival

This week’s blog is inspired by one of my good friends. She is a working designer, and has a current project having to be in the Spanish colonial style. Since we really didn’t touch on the subject in school, I offered to do some extra research- and boy did I find information (maybe a little too much information)!

Spanish colonial revival (A)

The Spanish colonial revival style became popular in the early 20^th century between the years of 1915 and 1931. The popularity for the style was lost with the beginning of WWII. The style is limited to California and Florida with a small smattering in the Midwest. Spanish colonial became well known due to the Panama- California Exposition of 1915 here in San Diego. Today the exposition location is still standing and is now known as Balboa Park. The main architect for the exposition was Bertram Goodhue. Spanish colonial is inspired by the arts and crafts movement, the pueblo style, and the mission style.

The Spanish colonial is best shown with the California Quadrangle which was built as the entrance the Exposition. Today the California Quadrangle is now home to the museum of man.

California Quadrangle (B)

In 1925 there was a devastating earthquake in Santa Barbara, where a lot of property was destroyed. Santa Barbara adopted the Spanish colonial to create a unifying design for the major rebuilding that needed to happen.

Santa Barbara County Courthouse (C)

Some easily identifiable attributes of the Spanish colonial are:

Architecture

Arches
Large windows (usually clad in wood or metal)
Iron trim (for gates, railings, banisters and window grilles)
Wood ceiling beams
Plaster or stucco walls
Use of terracotta or cast concrete
Living or dining rooms are often sunken or set off by metal railings.

Spanish Window (D)

Interior

Flooring

Floors may be hardwood set into a herringbone or parquet pattern, but they are often of warm-colored tile or stone

Ah, That Flooring (E)

More Flooring! (F)

Furniture

Furniture was made of woods like oak and featured strong designs with very little ornamentation.
Spanish-style furniture was typically made of dark woods, featuring a distressed or worn finish.

Spanish Bench (G)

Decorating

Large indoor gardens bring the outdoors in. Place benches in corners or a stream through the home will do just the trick!
Interiors were devoid of knick-knacks. Think about clustering large items (like pots or planters) together.
Stained glass
Woven wall hangings
Religious decor was very important- so proudly display that oil painting!
Bold colored tiles
Wrought iron chandeliers, wall lights, wall sconces and candlestick