 It's easy to live in the heritage or St. Vincent's and think of the area as historic. However, there was a time when homes like the one behind me were some of the most modern homes ever made. Sometimes a new form of artistic expression comes out of events in history, and that was true for the Victorian era. The American Industrial Revolution burst into existence in the mid-1830s, just as the reign of Queen Victoria began. American Victorian architecture embraced the benefits of the Industrial Revolution. It was forward-looking and ready to embody the brave new world. Before the Industrial Revolution, nearly all building materials had to be created on site. If a builder needed wood shingles for a roof, he would have to make them. This wasn't an easy task. There might not even be a supplier for lumber in the area. For the first time in history, the Industrial Revolution brought a vast array of different building materials. Ray Rhodes made these building materials available in nearly every part of America. Builders no longer had to make roof shingles. In fact, there were so many different types of shingles available, and at such great prices, builders were using roof shingles to cover entire houses. The Industrial Revolution opened many new possibilities for architecture, and Victorian builders were not shy about flaunting their new style. Victorian homes were built to showcase the best the new Industrial Age could provide. Imitation designs were popular. There were techniques for creating fake woodgrain and fake marble finishes. There was even a man named Thomas Crapper, who was credited with the invention of the pole chain toilet. It's interesting that we call it a toilet. You'd think they would name it after him. Before the Victorian era, much of design had been modeled on classical forms. Most homes were built to resemble simple boxes, or, you know, super elaborate boxes. Boxes are less expensive to build and easier to heat. Boxes are practical. If there was one thing the Victorians were not willing to be, it was practical. Asymmetrical floor plans with elaborate exteriors and intricate designs were the hallmark of this era. Philosophically, the Victorian age was a resistance to rationalism and an embrace of romanticism. It's like the difference between the neat ordered music of Mozart and the expansive larger-than-life Wagner. In Victorian architecture, we see more details, materials, colors, textures, and styles. These homes are bolder and probably weirder than anything that came before them. We look back on Victorian homes as historic. We see them as old-fashioned. But to understand them, we must remember that to the people of the Victorian age, these homes were the most modern homes to ever exist. They were absolutely the new, fandangled thing. The early Victorian aesthetic looked away from classical design and instead looked to reinterpret medieval forms. Early Victorian styles had their roots in medieval architecture. Later Victorian styles became more and more elaborate. In other videos, I'll go into the different styles of Victorian architecture. As we will see, not everybody was in love with the new fandangled thing. Many people were starting to think of the vast array of factory products as cheap junk. As the Queen Anne became the most modern American home of all time, it also fell out of fashion for something a bit more old-fashioned. And we'll talk about that in upcoming videos too. If you have a part of the Victorian story you want to share, I would love to hear from you in the comment section. A few years ago, I started reaching out to neighbors to help with various issues relating to our historic homes. As I took notes and spoke with local experts, I began to think about how I could best share what I know. The result has become vallejohistorichomessupport.com. The website is a video blog series that's meant to encourage local preservation and increase our enjoyment of living in historic vallejo. It's been a tremendous labor of love and I'm excited to share it with you. I'm Chris Jacobson, a local vallejo realtor, and I love our historic homes. Your comments and questions are important to me. Tell me about your Victorian home. I read every comment and I hope to hear from you there.