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spanish houseThe Spanish Mission style, also known as Spanish, or Mission, is easy to spot, with the white stucco exterior walls (sometimes tinted toward brown), wrought black-iron railings, red clay tile roofs, and … Often times, there will be a parapet façade. This style cam be broken down further to differentiate between Spanish Mission (1900’s – 1920’s) and Spanish Colonial Revival (1910’s – 1940’s), and Mediterranean.
There are many similarities between these three styles, so we’ve lumped them into this generic category of Spanish Revival. Howeverr, each of the three styles do have their own unique distinctions. The first one, Spanish Mission is loosly based on the California Missions of the 1700’s – 1800’s. These are usually less ornate, but almost always have a parapet wall that hides the roof (the curvilinear-shaped gable wall). The Missions have little decorative detailing, in contrast with the Spanish Colonial Revival, which is usually very ornate.

  • Spanish Mission
  • Curvilinear-shaped parapet
  • Round arched entryways and windows
  • Tile roof
  • Arcades
  • Stucco or plaster finish

    • spanish houseThe Spanish Colonial Revival has the unique distinction of being very ornate. There is usually very elaborate, complex details around the windows and doorways. Oftentimes there is also a bell tower. Here in Minnesota, the chimney is often in the shape of a belltower. The chimney will often have arched openings on all 4 sides, with a “roof” on the top, also in clay tiles.
    The Mediterranean, usually found around the 1920’s, features the clay tile roof as a dominate feature. This is usually low pitched and a contrasting color to the rest of the exterior. Where the Mission hides the roof, the Mediterranean shows it off. Both the Mission and Mediterranean lack the elaborate ornamentation of the Spanish Colonial Revival. Wrought iron grill work will usually be found surrounding a window or balcony, there will usually be arches above windows and doors.
    On this website, we will try to differentiate between the three styles within this section. Here in Minneapolis, we mostly have Spanish Colonials.