Georgian (1700-1776)--This style reflects Renaissance ideas made popular in England, and later in the United States, through the publication of books on 16th-century Italian architects. The most-studied Italian of this period was Andrea Palladio (1508-80), who had freely adapted classical Roman forms. Georgian houses are characterized by a formal arrangement of parts employing a symmetrical composition enriched with classical details, such as columns and pediments. In the United States, the style was seen as an appropriate expression of the relative prosperity and security of the colonies. It was a sharp contrast to the unadorned Colonial style that preceded it.

Georgian buildings share the following characteristics:

A formal, symmetrical arrangement

A roof with four uniformly pitched sides

A balustrade (a railing with balusters, or posts)

A central projecting pavilion topped by a pediment (a low-pitched triangular feature) and supported by colossal columns or pilasters (rectangular columns projecting only slightly from a wall)

A transom light above the front door

Palladian windows

Quoins (cornerstones in a distinctive material)

Double-hung sash windows

St. Paul's Chapel, on Broadway between Vesey and Fulton streets (1764-66, Thomas McBean), the only pre-Revolutionary building remaining in Manhattan, is an almost perfect example of the Georgian style, with a pediment, colossal columns, Palladian window, quoins, and balustrade above the roof line. Although it's a 20th-century reconstruction of a formal English house built here in 1719, Fraunces Tavern, 54 Pearl St., is another fine example of the style.