This website makes references to a number of terms that may not be familiar to you. Use the links below to explore this glossary.

 

Balcony

Structural platform extending from the wall of a building and enclosed with a balustrade; supported from below or cantilevered from a supporting wall.

 

Baluster

upright post that supports a handrail

 

Balustrade

series of balusters under a handrail (as in a porch or stair railing); may also refer to a low parapet

 

Bargeboard

Board, often decorative, covering the projecting edge of a gable edge or eaves line.

 

Baroque

architectural style that developed in 17th century Italy from the late Renaissance style; characterized by the use of interacting oval spaces, curved forms, exuberant decoration, sculpture and color

 

Base

projecting member between the shaft of a column and its plinth

 

Battered

vertical element such as a wall or a column that slopes in from the base; the wall or column appears to flare outwards at its base

 

Battlement

parapet built atop a wall with openings for defense

 

Bay

regularly repeated visual division of a facade, usually related to the building’s structural system; division often indicated by pilasters, columns or piers on the facade

 

Bay Window

A roofed window unit that projects from an exterior wall; projection could be angular or curved

 

Beam

horizontal structural member that spans an opening

 

Belt course

slender, horizontal band that projects from an exterior wall often at window sill or interior floor levels

 

Belvedere

raised turret or lantern

 

Board and Batten

wide vertical wood sheathing (boards) with narrow vertical wood strips (battens) covering the joints between all the boards

 

Boomtown

false front masking a roof line

 

Bracket

A small projecting piece of stone or wood that supports a horizontal member such as eaves.

 

Bungalow (1910 - 1940)

The word Bungalow can be traced to the Bengali term bangala, which is the typical one-story native dwelling found in British Bengal. The style came to North America in the early twentieth century and was closely associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. The typical bungalow is a one or one and a half storey high structure with a low pitched gable roof that extends out to incorporate the front porch. Eaves are broad and left open underneath thereby exposing rafters, ridge poles, and purlins. Roof brackets are standard, while porch roofs are often supported by oversized piers. Exterior finish materials are usually wood shingles, textured brick, or stucco. Chimneys are sometimes massive.

 

Buttress

vertical structural member resembling a massive post built against an exterior wall; designed to absorb outward-pushing (lateral) forces of a roof