Architectural Spotlight: Free Classic Queen Anne

As of late, I have been working on a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the c. 1890 Thomas & Louisa Little House in Hendricks County, Indiana. The home, which was threatened with demolition due to development, was placed on Indiana Landmarks' 10 Most Endangered List in 2023. In 2024, in order to save it, the house was moved approximately 650 feet north of its original location. It is now undergoing a thoughtful and extensive restoration by its new owners.

Thomas & Louisa Little House undergoing restoration, November 2025. Photograph by Belloni Research Consulting.

I am nominating the house to the National Register for its architectural significance, as it's an outstanding example of a subtype of Queen Anne architecture known as Free Classic. In this blog post, I’d like to share more about the origins of the Free Classic style, what distinguishes it from other Queen Anne variations, and how the style is represented across Hendricks County today.

The origins of Queen Anne architecture

Queen Anne architecture was most popular in the United States from roughly 1880 to 1910. The style is distinguished primarily by its asymmetrical massing, complex rooflines, and abundant decorative surface treatments. It is not uncommon to see a tower incorporated into a Queen Anne house, often becoming one of its most distinctive elements.

The style emerged in England during the 1860s as part of a broader movement to revive and reinterpret earlier house forms, drawing inspiration from Elizabethan and Jacobean architecture popular between 1558 and 1625. The name “Queen Anne” is actually a misnomer, as the style bears little connection to the architecture of Queen Anne’s reign from 1702 to 1714.

Queen Anne architecture marked a sharp departure from the restrained symmetry and simplicity of earlier traditions inspired by Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Instead, the Queen Anne style embraced irregularity, color, and texture as defining elements of beauty. To illustrate this contrast, compare the Thomas and Louisa Little House with the Scearce House, a Greek Revival home in nearby Danville built about forty years earlier:

Scearce House, constructed 1852. Photograph by Belloni Research Consulting.

Little House, constructed c. 1890. Photograph by Belloni Research Consulting.

These two photographs show quite clearly the radical break the Queen Anne style made from the architectural traditions that preceded it.

In the United States, the Queen Anne style became widely popular after the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, which introduced American audiences to British architects who championed the style, most notably Richard Norman Shaw. American architects and builders quickly adapted Queen Anne design to local tastes and needs, helped by new industrial technologies that made intricate wood ornamentation both affordable and widely available. Pattern books, architectural journals, and the expanding railroad network further accelerated the style’s spread, allowing Queen Anne houses to appear in cities, small towns, and rural communities across the country.

The Spindlework Queen Anne subtype

The majority of Queen Anne houses fall under what is known as the Spindlework subtype. Spindlework Queen Annes are characterized by their elaborate wood ornamentation. Porch supports are typically slender and delicate, and spindlework is often suspended from beneath the porch roof, placed in gables, and used to accent wall overhangs. Spandrels that resemble lace, beaded or knob-like turned elements, and decorative roof cresting are also common. The abundance of these features has led Spindlework Queen Annes to be popularly associated with the gingerbread houses we often see during the holidays.

A Spindlework Queen Anne cottage in Atlanta, Indiana, c. 1895. Note the roof cresting, woodwork in the gables, and the knob-like turned elements below the porch roof. Photo courtesy of The Indiana Album: Helen Wilson Marlowe Collection.

A highly decorated Spindlework Queen Anne, c. 1900. Location unknown, but likely near Orleans, Indiana. Note the spandrels above the window on the upper right corner. Photo courtesy of The Indiana Album: Amber Hiscock Collection.

The rise of the Free Classic Queen Anne subtype

By the 1890s, a growing national preference for a return to classical simplicity began to challenge the exuberance and complexity of the Spindlework Queen Anne. The late nineteenth-century movement in American art and architecture known as the American Renaissance reconnected the United States to the ideals of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. This shift gained further momentum with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where the fair’s grand classical buildings celebrated order, proportion, and symmetry.

Architects working within the Queen Anne tradition began to consider how this renewed interest in classical design could be incorporated into their work. While many retained the irregular massing and varied rooflines characteristic of the Queen Anne style, they replaced slender porch supports with large classical columns, removed much of the spindlework ornamentation, and introduced classical motifs such as Palladian windows and elements of the classical entablature, including cornices and friezes.

When the Little family built their new home, they chose the traditional form of a Queen Anne. However, instead of the ornate spindlework that would have been the norm for the day, they decided to follow a new, emerging trend in architecture and accented their house with classical detailing.

The Little family on the porch of their home, c. 1900. The classical columns and balustrades seen in this photo are being restored by the current owners and will be reinstalled in the near future. Photo Courtesy of the Guilford Township Historical Collection; Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library.

The Free Classic style in Hendricks County, Indiana

An important part of the National Register nomination process is placing the nominated building within its local context. Because the Little House is being nominated for its architectural significance, I needed to examine how the Free Classic style appears elsewhere in Hendricks County. Below, I highlight a few representative examples.

Avon

The house that is most similar to the Little House, though much smaller in scale, is the c. 1910 Jerry & Mary McClain house on US 36 near the Marion County line.

Jerry & Mary McClain house, c. 1990. Today the home is painted in a monochromatic bright blue, which severely impacts its integrity. Photo courtesy of the Hendricks County Museum.

The most notable feature of the McClain House is the Palladian windows in its front dormer and side gable. The Little House lacks this quintessential Free Classic element, which may be because it predates the McClain House by around twenty years and represents an earlier iteration of the style.

North Salem

A particularly beautiful—though in need of a bit of TLC—Free Classic Queen Anne can be found on West Pearl Street in North Salem.

Free Classic Queen Anne home on West Pearl Street in North Salem. Likely constructed c. 1900. Photograph by Belloni Research Consulting.

Like the Little House, the Pearl Street house is dominated by a large front gable and expansive wraparound porch. My favorite thing about this house is that the classical columns supporting the porch are Ionic columns, different than the Little House's Doric columns. Though it's hard to see, the home also has dentil molding running above its entire frieze (look where the walls meet the roofline).

Danville

Not all homes with Free Classic detailing are as grand as the Little House. The Little House could be called a high-style home, meaning there was a clear and intentional use of formal architectural design. Simple vernacular homes, where design and construction is shaped mostly by local traditions rather than professional architects, can also employ Free Classic styling. One of these houses sits on Mill Street in Danville.

A vernacular brick cottage with simple Free Classic details on Mill Street in Danville. Likely constructed c. 1900. Photograph by Belloni Research Consulting.

The two primary Free Classic elements on the house are the prominent white gable returns and the single Doric column supporting the porch (partially obscured by the tree). This house is a great example of how the Free Classic style appealed even to those who could not afford a high-style home. Although simple, the house on Mill Street is one of my favorite Free Classic examples in Hendricks County.

In the end

Working on the National Register nomination for the Little House has given me a new appreciation for the Free Classic Queen Anne style. There’s something to be said for its clean lines and subtle beauty. No matter where you are, keep an eye out while driving through town or countryside. You’re bound to come across examples of the style. Hopefully, this post gives you a bit more context to appreciate it more deeply.