Regency

King George III had reigned for fifty years when he was struck by ‘madness’ in which his mind went into a world of its own and he was unable to carry on his duties as monarch. He remained in that state for a further ten years until his death and during that period his son George, Prince of Wales was his regent, a king in all but name.

Once again, the term Regency defines a time period not an architectural style and famous Regency buildings would include the Anglo-Indian Brighton Pavillion. However the period, coming towards the end of the end of the architectually eclectic Georgian period is most associated with the gradual refinement on the earlier new-classical or Anglo-Palladian styling. This had pioneered in the large country houses and elegant villas of architects like William Kent and patrons like the Duke of Buckingham. As developers began to find ways of applying the new styles to the first large scale housebuilding beginning to define Georgian London, the Regency style added an elegance and lightness of touch to the new squares and crescents being laid out by architects like John Nash and Thomas Cubitt. they also moved away from the almost austere lack of ornamentation that was the signature of early Anglo-Palladian Neo-Classicism.

Many buildings of the Regency style have a white painted stucco facade and an entryway to the main front door (usually coloured black) which is framed by two columns. Regency residences typically are built as terraces or crescents. Elegant wrought iron balconies and bow windows came into fashion as part of this style. This is the main page for the Regency category of articles including references to great house builders or the time such as John Nash and Thomas Cubitt

References

Georgian and Regency Houses Explained. Trevor Yorke. Published 2007 by Countryside Books. ISBN 978 1 84674 051 0