Victorian House Plans & Floor Plans | The Plan Collection (2024)

FAQs

How do I find floor plans for an old house? ›

Consult local inspectors, assessors, and other building officials. Examine fire insurance maps for your neighborhood. Review local archives at the historical society, including historic plan books. Look for archived editions or local newspapers with real estate advertisem*nts featuring simple floor plans.

Typically, most homeowners spend between $250,000 and $600,000. The average cost per square foot to build a Victorian-style home is $100 to $200. For homes with high levels of intricate Victorian architecture in their plans, the price can reach as high as $500 per square foot.

As the Arts and Crafts Movement began to hit America, critics accused the Victorians of needless complexity and clutter, advocating a more streamlined, handcrafted home. The style fell out of fashion, but is still very prevalent in historic communities around the country.

This is one of the easiest ways to define a Victorian house. They will generally be two to three stories. A single story building is not usually classified as Victorian architecture. The roofs of the homes are typically steeply pitched and triangular.

You should be able to check with your city or county's Assessor's office. Often this information is available online through their websites. This official info is what your taxes are based on, so is probably the best "official" number for what your house square footage is.

Yes, you can still build Victorian houses. As stated earlier on this page, Victorian technically refers to a period rather than a style, so any home built in the present day would be in the style of a Victorian house.

Old Louisville in Kentucky has the highest concentration of restored Victorian homes in the US. Originally called the Southern Extension, Old Louisville was built in the 1870s as a suburb, which was 48 city blocks long and filled with Victorian mansions.

Unfortunately, this did not reduce overcrowding or improve building standards. The houses were cheap, most had between two and four rooms – one or two rooms downstairs, and one or two rooms upstairs, but Victorian families were big with perhaps four or five children. There was no water, and no toilet.

What did poor Victorian houses look like? ›

The homes of the poor were small, cold and damp and often infested with lice and vermin. Water would be collected from a dirty pump in the street and filthy outdoor toilets would be shared with dozens of neighbours. Stoves were new and expensive, so many homes didn't have any way of making hot meals.

By the end of the Victorian era, many houses had gas. A basem*nt with a cellar for the storage of coal, required for open fires and to heat water. Sash windows but with larger panes of glass, from the 1850s, than the characteristic 6 plus 6 smaller panes seen in Georgian and Regency architecture.

These homes emphasize space, focusing on grandeur rooms with a sense of hierarchy. These homes often have 2-3 stories, with the living spaces, kitchens, and study rooms typically residing on the bottom floor while the bedrooms typically reside on the upper levels.

The top floor would typically house the servants quarters and the children's rooms with a nursery. The second floor would include the master bedroom and the second bathroom. On the first floor you'd find the drawing room or parlour, which acted as a receiving room for guests and visitors.

Terraced and town houses. Richer, middle-class families often lived in town houses. They would have running water and their rubbish would be taken away. There was no central heating.