Spanish Revival Style of Architecture
Over 300 years ago, it was unknown to the Spanish priests that the missions they built with such painstaking detail would come to be an architectural phenomenon! Especially when their efforts were a product of inadequate materials and inexperienced labor. The missions were built by the priest in order to forcibly convert the natives on the west coast of the United States.
Even after that was accomplished, the “cheap Spanish palaces” would go on to influence American architecture forever. People in the west and southwest managed to make this architectural style all the rage at the beginning of the 20’s and well into the 40’s. There is an innumerable amount of structures built in this fashionable architectural style such as modern residences, commercial establishments and institutions, including schools and railroad stations. A number of them are the same historic buildings and historic real estate for sale you see today.
Certain design characteristics can be found in all the missions in California, thanks to the lack of necessary building materials available to the founding priests, or Padres, and the lack of experienced construction workers. All the missions were characterized by huge walls with big, simple surfaces with very few windows. All these missions had protruding eaves, low tile roofs made of clay, and long arcaded corridors with pierced arches and curved gables. Walls were covered in plaster to protect the adobe brick that lay underneath. Adobe brick can be very sensitive to weather, so this protected the safety and upkeep of the missions.
Through the use of modern building materials the Spanish revival look and a sophisticated faux rendition can be accomplished today. For instance, the Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana has an amazing long arcade corridor that the wealthy in Los Angeles would shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to recreate. In order to recreate the look of this popular historic building style, people are trying to achieve a rendition of the aesthetic exterior of the Spanish mission style, rather than an exact replica. It’s rather unlikely that anyone commissions their home to be built with traditional adobe anymore!
Take for example a lovely Spanish Revival building in St. Louis, by the architect T.P. Barnett, son of George I. Barnett, another famous architect in St. Louis. The T.P. Barnett building is particularly interesting because it also has Art Deco influences, making it one of the most unique buildings in the Grand Center region of St. Louis. Certainly the next time you’re in St. Louis, you need to visit this Spanish Revival building on Washington Avenue.
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style is credited to be the efforts of George Washington Smith. Both his original Montecito home, as well as “Casa Del Greco” which was his second self-designed home located next door and built in 1920, are still in existence today as family residences.
Smith moved to California and designed and built his own home in Montecito which represented the Spanish farmhouses he so admired in Andalusia. His move occurred after his paintings received a great deal of recognition in New York. The house he built, known as Casa Dracaena, was a beautiful success. Images of the property were used to sell certain kinds of tile and cement for other building project in ads. His neighbors began to fancy his house and Smith became a full-time architect to carry out the requests. He became one of the most renowned architects in the United States.
Credited as the father of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style, Smith’s original Montecito home and his “Casa Del Greco” continue to be popular today. These structures are great examples of historic buildings.
