the LANGUAGE

ARCADE A series of arches with their supporting columns.

ASHLAR Smooth-faced, dressed masonry with square edges.

BAY A three-sided projection with windows, which goes to the foundation.

BELVEDERE Translated roughly as “beautiful vista,” it’s a lookout with windows, usually square, on a roof.

BRACKETED STYLE Alternative name associated with architect A.J. Davis, for the romantic Italianate style along the Hudson River, named for the large decorative brackts under the roof cornice.

CAMPANILE From campana ( bell), it’s the square tower projecting from a villa in Italian architecture.

LOGGIA The arcaded or colonnaded porch on an Italian building.

MODILLIONS Repeating blocks or console brackets running along the entablature and below the cornice.

OCULUS A round (eye-shaped) or oval window; window in a dome.

ORIEL A window structure that projects from the wall surface, but does not extend to the ground.

PEDIMENT A triangle-shaped crown, as in a gable or over an opening.

PIANO NOBILE The main floor in Italian architecture, usually reached by a staircase and having the highest ceilings.

PILASTER A rectangular pier treated as a column and engaged partly “in” the wall or trim.

ROUND-TOP WINDOW Half-circle (rather than segmental) arched sash, often seen in paired entry doors on Italianate houses.