In Latin, antebellum means “before war” but around the southern parts of the United States, the term antebellum home refers to the stylish plantation homes that were built in the 30 years preceding the Civil War.

Antebellum is not your typical house, rather it is a place and time in history. People who took up residence in the American South or who moved into the area after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 first introduced the features associated with this type of beautiful home.  These homes are the ones that little southern belles dreams were made of.

Antebellum Homes

The majority of antebellum homes were built in the Federal, Classical, or even the Greek Revival style. This type of architecture is boxy, symmetrical and contains grand pieces, featuring pillars, balconies and center entrances both in the front and the rear of the home.

Antebellum houses are most often adorned with the following features:

Gabled or hipped roof – A gable is a triangle formed by means of a sloping roof while the hip slopes down on all four sides to the eaves. A hipped roof differs from a gabled roof since it has connecting wings with gables.

• Symmetrical facade
• Evenly-spaced windows

The palatial plantation home featured in the beloved movie, Gone with the Wind, is a pillared Greek Revival mansion, and is a classic example of an antebellum home. Although the Greek revival style originated from ancient Greece, it truly represents the spirit of democracy. It began in Philadelphia with public buildings, and as a result many European-trained architects designed the popular Grecian style… and it started the spread of the fashion. Isn’t Scarlet O’Hara’s mansion such a perfect example?

The Federal style antebellum home gained its style from the British Isles where two Scottish brothers added urns, garlands, swags and other delicate details to the adaptation of the pragmatic Georgian style. Americans, inspired by the work of these Scottish brothers and by the temples of early historic Roman and Grecian architecture, began building homes with oval-shaped rooms, recessed wall arches, elliptical or circular windows, and Palladium windows.

Antebellum Home Tour

Their public buildings, homes, and entire colonies took on graceful airs, and so the new Federal style turned out to be forever associated with America’s sprouting new national identity.Federalist architecture and Georgian colonial style are quite similar; however, the details of the Georgian home are angular and squared as opposed to the Federal style that is more likely to have decorative flourishes and curved lines that are clearly distinguishable.

No matter what the detail of the style, the originally built the grand antebellum home was a reflection of the even grander status of its owner.  The size of the antebellum home, really did matter.