Style for the Zeitgeist: The Stealthy Revival of Historicist Housing Since the Late 1960s

A revival has occurred in the use of historical architectural styles for modern suburban houses but this has attracted little attention from journalists and academics. Those who have noted it disagree about when it began and gathered momentum. Newspaper and trade journal evidence for Canadian cities indicates that the revival began in the late 1960s; that it has reached market saturation; and that Victorian and neo-classical styles became dominant after 1980. Coinciding with the beginnings of inner-city gentrification, the historicist revival in suburban dwellings preceded the recent interest in neotraditional urban design. Not a fringe taste, it says something about the zeitgeist.