Italian Villa (1840's - 1870's)

Popularized by the pattern books of Andrew Jackson Downing, in consequence of a movement to a romanticized residential architecture, characterized as "picturesque."  All the rage when they first appeared, the several manifestations of Downing's fascination with the Italian country house became the building standard of a generation between the 1840's and the later 1870's.

Italian villas are characterized by the asymmetry of their massed forms.  Combinations of low-pitched gable and hopped roofs are supported under broad bracketed eaves.  Square towers cover entries, while square and octagonal cupolas perch atop roofs, often crowned by widow's walks.  Tall narrow windows, typical of Victorian-era construction and often paired, are characteristic of this vernacular form, as are balustrated verandas and balconies.

[from A Field Guide to the Architecture and History of Allentown, page 42]