Jane's Walk: Nineteenth-century American Domestic Architecture

Learn how to identify nineteenth century revival style homes in this walking tour led by New London's own Tom Couser!

Jane's Walks exist as community led walking tours or conversations in honor of Jane Jacobs, author of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities". Her work as an activist, city planner, urbanist, and writer encourages us to re-contextualize and value our buildings and communities.

In the United States, the nineteenth century saw a rapid succession of styles in domestic architecture. Many were “revival” styles: Classical, Greek, Gothic, Egyptian, Romanesque, Italian Renaissance, and finally Colonial. Others are Queen Anne, French Second Empire, Stick, Octagon, and Shingle. Because its economy boomed during this century, New London features houses in most of these styles; because of its compact size, it is possible to find many of them in a relatively small area. The tour of New London’s historic Post Hill neighborhood will…