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What are the key characteristics of a Georgian property?
· Arranged over three or four storeys
· Strong symmetry to the building, as well as the window and door placement
· Brick or Stucco-fronted exterior, either full or partially rendered and painted either white or cream
· Balanced interior layout
· Bricked up windows
· Hip roofs, sometimes with dormers
· Sash windows with smaller panes
· Tall windows on the first two floors and smaller windows on the top storeys
· Grand entrances - often embellished with pediments, arches, and columns
· High ceilings, window headers, and crown moulding
· In larger cities, built around garden squares, as the houses did not have their own garden
The Georgian period covers the reign of George I to George IV and spans from 1714 to 1830 with what we consider the late Georgian period from 1830 to 1837, when King William IV came to power.
Properties built in this era, like those by famous London architects such as John Nash, who designed the original Buckingham Palace, were built to be spacious and comfortable, with grand proportions and a heightened sense of space and light; a stark contrast to the smaller, darker architectural styles that preceded the Georgian era.
With the period lasting over 100 years, there are many nuances in property and the way in which it was built within that time. Early in the 1700s, properties were built in an unadorned way and as the era progressed, they became more ornate with many original embellishments. By the time you get to the Regency period (1811 to 1820), when, the later, King George IV was acting as Regent for his father, far more decoration was seen, with elaborate iron railings and greater details on the exterior.
It was typical, for a Georgian era house to have the first and second storey of a house to be occupied by the owner and their family, while the staff lived on the top storeys. This is why these rooms are typically smaller, with lower ceilings and smaller windows compared to the more elegant rooms at the bottom of the house. Often, kitchens were on the lower ground floor, away from the main house, as this was the servants’ domain.
If you look closely at a Georgian period home, you may notice that some have one, or more, bricked-up windows. This peculiar characteristic was caused by the window tax, levied on homeowners between 1696 and 1851. In place of income tax, the window tax was created with the idea that, the more windows a home had, the bigger it was, and therefore the richer the owner would have been. So, to avoid paying higher taxes, many homeowners bricked up some of their windows to reduce the rate of tax that they had to pay. Rather than reinstate the windows after the tax was lifted, many owners decided to leave the windows as they were.
Inside, these properties have large rooms with high ceilings with some decorative features, like ceiling roses and cornicing with the decorative features continuing on into the Victorian era.
Georgian properties for sale
As mentioned, Georgian properties can vary greatly in appearance depending on the time period that they were built and, of course, the overall wealth of the occupier. Below is a selection of Georgian homes, both sold and available with Stags, that showcase some of those famous Georgian characteristics.
Shurton, Somerset – Guide Price £695,000
Stags Taunton – 01823 256625
Property details - https://www.stags.co.uk/properties/17105352/sales
Boscastle, Cornwall– Guide Price £1,200,000
Stags Launceston – 01566 77499
Property details - https://www.stags.co.uk/properties/17188767/sales
Eastleigh, Devon – Guide Price £1,650,000
Stags Holiday Complexes – 01392 680058
Property details - https://www.stags.co.uk/properties/17359688/sales
Milverton, Somerset – Guide Price £475,000
Stags Taunton– 01823 256625
Property details - https://www.stags.co.uk/properties/16986859/sales
Exeter, Devon – Guide Price £1,350,000
Stags Exeter – 01392 255202
Eastleigh, Devon – Guide Price £2,000,000
Stags Taunton – 01823 256625
Property details - https://www.stags.co.uk/properties/15969197/sales
Combe Martin, Devon – Guide Price £465,000
Stags Barnstaple – 01271 322833
If you are interested in finding out more about other eras of property, and the characteristics that they hold, follow the links below;
or, if you are interested in buying or selling a Georgian home, contact your local Stags office https://www.stags.co.uk/branches
