Greek Revival

The Greek Revival style is an adaptation of the classic Greek temple front employing details of either the Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian order. This style swept through the counrty after the early 1820's. New Hampshire Greek Revival houses are often composed of columned porches or porticos; temple-like rectanular blocks with the gable end forward; low-pitched roofs without dormers; flat-headed windows and doors; and heavy entabulatures under the eaves. Buildings were often painted white to simulate the marble of classical antiquity. A house need not have a bank of white columns or a pedimented entry porch to qualify as a Greek Revival. Many Greek Revival houses display Federal decorative elements and therefore may be considered as transitional.

The Mary Baker Eddie House Circa 1850, Concord, NH. The Mary Baker Eddie House is among only about a dozen two-story, mid-nineteenth century houses in New Hampshire which use true porticos. In addition, this house and two others nearby, stand out from this group in having porches suspended halfway up the column shafts. This house is one of the more elaborate New Hampshire dwellings built in the Greek Revival Style. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, house is maintained by Longyear Historical Society.