Architectural Styles - Mission Revival
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th Century and drew inspiration from the early Spanish missions in California. The movement enjoyed its greatest popularity betweren 1890 and 1915, though numerous modern residential, commercial, and institutional structures (particularly schools and railroad depots) display this instantly-recognizable architectural style.
The style is quite simple with covered archways and half-rounded windows, smooth stucco walls that mimic the adobe walls of the Spanish missions, and flat or shallow-sloped tile roofs. Towers and roof parapets are often found. Extended roofs may form covered arcades with large square pillars or columns—a feature that allows building interiors to remain relatively cool in hot climates.
Some Examples of Mission Revival Houses at the Bay
(Past and Present)
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400 North Beach Boulevard
National Register # 27
Former Weston Hotel. Ca 1928. Mission Revival style.
2-story brick L-plan building with shaped parapet roof with 2 small
towers each with tile hip roof. Paired round-arched windows on
first floor of main block. Other windows with 12-over-1 sash.
Survived Katrina but has not been restored by December 2007.
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216 North Beach Boulevard
National Register # 33
Ca 1945. Mission style.
2-story irregular plan house stucco-clad with tile hip roof and
tile hip-roofed projecting entrance porch. Casement windows.
Arch porch supports. This house survived Katrina and was immediately
restored.
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118 North Beach Boulevard
National Register # 38
Ca 1930. Bungalow-Mission style.
1-story 4x6-bay stucco house with flat parapet roof. Undercut
porch supported on Pyramidal posts on piers. Central entrance with
transom and sidelights. Tile window hoods. This house was
demolished prior to Katrina.
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205 North Beach Boulevard
National Register # 45
Merchants Bank Building. 1907 (actually 1905) with
renovations in 1924. Mission style. 2-story 3x8-bay
brick building with tile hip roof. Carved parapet projects
above the cornice in the center of the front façade. Corner
entrance with arches supported on granite corner columns.
Windows set in round-arched openings. Bracketed eaves.
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305 Main Street
National Register # 508
Ca. 1920. Mission style.
1-story 4x4-bay stucco house with hip roof undercut gallery.
Polygonal bay. Arcaded porch. Off-center entrance with
sidelights and transom.
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Railroad Depot
National Register # 403
Ca. 1928. Spanish Colonial
Revival style. 2-story 5x3-bay main block with a 3-bay addition to
the north side. Shaped parapet roofline. Central entrance
with sidelights and ogee-arched transom. Entry portal is pilastered,
recessed, and decorated. Windows include pairs of round-headed
and ogee-arched in groups of three.