Neo-eclectic architecture is a name for anarchitectural style that has influenced residential building construction inNorth America in the latter part of the 20th century and early part of the 21st. It is a contemporary version ofRevivalism that has perennially occurred sinceNeoclassical architecture developed in the mid 18th century.
In contrast to the occasionally faux and low-budget Neo-Eclectic detached homesteads, the termNew Classical architecture identifies contemporary buildings that stick to the basic ideals, proportions, materials and craftsmanship oftraditional architecture.
Neo-eclectic architecture combines a wide array of decorative techniques taken from an assortment of different house styles. It can be considered a devolution from the clean and unadornedmodernist styles and principles behind theMid-Century modern andRanch-style houses that dominated North American residential design and construction in the first decades after the Second World War. It is an outgrowth ofpostmodern architecture, yet differs from postmodernism in that it is not creatively experimental.
Some Neo-Eclectic buildings will combine an array of different historical styles in a single building. A house so designed may haveCape Cod,Mission Revival,Tudor Revival, orChâteauesque andFrench Provincial elements all at the same time. Often houses, or whole subdivisions, will focus on one revival style. Different historical styles predominated in different regions. InCalifornia elements from theMediterranean Revival andSpanish Colonial Revival Style continue to be a regional vernacular and popular. InNew England and the Mid-Atlantic theColonial Revival Style andGeorgian Revival architecture combinations are common.[1]
In Neo-Eclectic architecture the revival elements are almost always decorative, consisting of surface elements such as claddings and windows. Details such as heavy moldings and/or trim (that would be cut stone or plaster in traditional architecture) are usually extruded foam with a stucco veneer. Aside from specifications adjusted for lower quality, newer growth lumber, the basic construction of Neo-Eclectic houses is unchanged from previous house styles such as the ranch-style house. An important development leading to the modern Neo-Eclectic style is the popularity ofEIFS, a form of external insulation that is easy to apply and can be coloured and shaped to appear like an array of different materials such as stucco and stone.
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Neo-eclectic architecture is most prominent in what are pejoratively known asMcMansions, but it has been embraced by almost all residential builders.[2] Across North America most suburbs built in the last three decades can largely be described as Neo-Eclectic[citation needed].
Critics of Neo-Eclectic architecture see the style as pretentious, wasteful and/or garish, and unoriginal.[3] Typically and somewhat deceptively, the Neo-Eclectic style plays an instrumental role in making cheaply built, over-sizedtract homes on comparatively small parcels of land appear as something far greater than the sum of their parts.