Antebellum architecture

The main exterior characteristics of antebellum architecture included huge pillars, a balcony that ran along the whole outside edge of the house creating a porch that offers shade and spot to enjoy a breeze, and a sitting area in the cooler evenings.

Common features included enormous foyers, sweeping open stairways, ballrooms, grand dining rooms, and detailed design work.

[4] Greek revival components apparent in antebellum architecture include doorways, often recessed and flanked by pilastered and entablatured columns.

[7] Similarly, Georgian architecture is illustrated with highly decorated entrances featuring colonnades, including a lunette over the door.

The building's classical features, including columns and symmetry, reflect the style's influence in the Antebellum South.

The Louisiana State Capitol (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) Though constructed after the Antebellum period, this Art Deco building reflects the continuing influence of classical design elements in the state's architecture, including the use of grand columns and verticality somewhat falling under the umbrella of Antebellum Architecture.

It is a key example of Charleston's role as a major port city, involved in trade and slavery during the Antebellum era.

The features associated with antebellum architecture were introduced by people of largely British descent who settled in the Southern states during the colonial period and in U.S. territories after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 along with a wave of immigration from Europe in 1812.

[9] Great numbers of Europeans seeking economic opportunities emigrated to America after Napoleon's defeat and the end of the war of 1812.

It was built in the Federal Style which, while losing favor in the more trendy East, was still popular in Western slave states like Tennessee.

Later, renovations made the house more in line with contemporary styles, adding Doric columns and making it more Classical and Revivalist in appearance.

Antibellum architecture holds close ties with social and racial structures that existed throughout the 19th-century Southern United States.

The mansion, located in Milledgeville, was designed by Charles Cluskey, an Irish immigrant who emigrated to New York City in 1827 where he trained to be an architect under the firm Town and Davis, and was built by Timothy Porter in 1839.

For over thirty years, this mansion housed many Georgian chief executives such as George Crawford, Howell Cobb and Joseph E. Brown.

This mansion also played a part in the Civil War; General William T. Sherman headquartered in the building in 1864 and it was claimed as a prize in the "March to the Sea."

Regional variations can be found such as in Middle Georgia which reveal how variables such as local resources, climate, and numerous other factors can influence the architectural style.

The iconic plantation homes of the antebellum style were largely faithful to the original design but incorporated locally sourced brick, which acted as an insulator against the hotter summer climate.

[17] The regional variations also differ due to local economic conditions, with the economy being primarily based on cotton cultivation and farming.

[17] An estimated 20% of antebellum mansions remain intact in the south today due to many being burned during the Civil War, natural disasters, and their neglect.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for example helps to preserve important architectural properties, especially those affected by Katrina.