Châteauesque

Châteauesque (or Francis I style, or in Canada, the Château Style) is a Canadian revival architectural style based on the French Renaissance architecture of the monumental French country houses (châteaux) built in the Loire Valley from the late fifteenth century to the early seventeenth century.

As of 2011, the Getty Research Institute’s Art & Architecture Thesaurus includes both “Château Style” and “Châteauesque”, with the former being the preferred term for Canada.

The style frequently features buildings incongruously ornamented by the elaborate towers, spires, and steeply-pitched roofs of sixteenth century châteaux, themselves influenced by late Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture. Despite their French ornamentation, as a revival style, buildings in the châteauesque style do not attempt to completely emulate a French château. Châteauesque buildings are typically built on an asymmetrical plan with a roof-line broken in several places and a facade composed of advancing and receding planes.

History
A relatively rare style in the United States, its presence was concentrated in the Northeast,, near Canada. It was mostly employed for residences of the extremely wealthy, although it was occasionally used for public buildings.

The first building in this style in Canada was the 1887 Quebec City Armoury. Many of Canada’s grand railway hotels were built in the Châteauesque style, with other buildings mainly public or residential. The style may be associated with Canadian architecture because these grand hotels are prominent landmarks in major cities across the country and in certain national parks.

In Hungary, Arthur Meinig built numerous country houses in the Loire Valley style, the earliest being Andrássy Castle in Tiszadob, 1885–1890, and the grandest being Károlyi Castle in Nagykároly (Carei), 1893–1895.

The style began to fade after the turn of the 20th century and was largely absent from new construction by the 1930s.

Architects who designed in Châteauesque form
Archibald and Schofield
Solon Spencer Beman
Bradford Gilbert, Ross and Macfarlane
Richard Morris Hunt
Bruce Price
Francis Rattenbury
Ross and Macdonald
Sproatt and Rolph
Eugène-Étienne Taché
Hippolyte Destailleur
Walter-André Destailleur
Will Price

Examples in Europe
Massandra Palace, Yalta (1889 palace)
Meyendorff Castle near Moscow (1874–1885)
Euxinograd, Varna, Bulgaria

United Kingdom
Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, England 1874–1889
Retford Town Hall by Bellamy and Hardy 1866–8
Former Town Hall, Ipswich by Bellamy and Hardy 1867

Examples in the United States
William K. Vanderbilt residence, Petit Chateau, 1878–82, Manhattan, by Richard Morris Hunt.
Ochre Court, Newport, Rhode Island, 1892
Kimberly Crest, Redlands, California, 1897, Dennis and Farwell, architects
Carey Mansion, Newport, Rhode Island
Biltmore Estate, 1890–95, Asheville, North Carolina, Richard Morris Hunt, architect
Hotel du Canada, Orlando, Florida, 1982

Examples in Canada
Many of the Châteauesque-style buildings in Canada were built for the Canadian Pacific Railway’s CP Hotels chain, now part of the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts empire.
The Empress, Victoria, British Columbia, 1904–1908
Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1939
Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Alberta, 1887–1888
Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Ottawa, Ontario, 1909–1913
Quebec City Armoury, Quebec City, 1885–1889
Hôtel Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, La Malbaie, Quebec, 1899
Place Viger, Montreal, Quebec, 1898
Gare du Palais, Quebec City, 1915
Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1913
Delta Bessborough, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1928–1932

Source From Wikipedia