The Victorian Home: Historical or Contemporary Setting?

 I'm currently "building" my own Victorian mansion as a setting for my contemporary WIP, "Worth the Risk."  (Working title.)  Really, what could be better for a romantic suspense?  All those nooks and crannies -- and the ghostly, sheet-draped furniture -- are stirring my imagination!

My Victorian house/mansion is becoming a character in its own right and I shouldn't be too surprised. This has happened before with my WIP "Ghost of a Promise" with a Federal Style house in the suburbs of Washington, DC.  Then and now, somehow, the house fits the characters and the characters fit the house.  Okay, the picture above is a bit more Norman Bates than I might want.  But it's not too far off.  When I had my hero deliver my heroine to a "safe house," somehow the simple "cabin in the woods" she expected didn't appear.  Instead, she gets an abandoned, spooky mansion.

Below is part of my research I originally compiled for a historical setting, but now I'm finding it provides a lot of inspiration for my contemporary story.  I knew it would come in handy. (Well, at the time, not really!)  Some things won't be needed because my modern setting does need certain things...like plumbing, central heating and electricity! I discovered I had to delete many out of date links, but the ones remaining and the new ones should be good!

So whether your setting is historical or contemporary, here's a bit of information on Victorian architecture and interiors.  Much like a castle, there's a romantic quality in the details.  Better yet, especially in America, its style is more attainable than a castle for even a contemporary setting.

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Exteriors - Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and more describe the Victorian styles.  The Queen Anne style in particular is what we think of as a "Victorian House."  From Victorian Houses: A Guide to Major Architectural Styles:

 The Queen Anne style at its most extreme is characterized by bewildering excess, featuring large projecting bay windows, towers, turrets, porches (often on multiple stories), balconies, stained glass decoration, roof finials and crestings, walls carvings and/or inset panels of stone or terra-cotta, cantilevered upper stories, acres of decorative trim, patterned shingles, belt courses, elaborate brackets, bannisters and spindles — even the chimneys on Queen Anne houses are spectacularly crafted...

Home Interiors
Depending on your preference, one might describe Victorian decor in a positive light of having great detail and a cozy atmosphere or, in another's opinion, a style of excessive clutter and dark colors.

Some elements of Victorian decor were:

• Walls and ceilings - often the walls had richly patterned wallpaper that was the backdrop for many pictures and mirrors. The ceiling would have ornate plaster work.
• Furniture - dark, heavy, and of intricately carved wood, there was numerous pieces of furniture in all rooms. Victorian bedrooms did not have closets, and clothing was stored in bureaus (the chest of drawers) and wardrobes (tall cabinet with doors).
• Fabric and Color - Upholstery for chairs and couches were often of velvet or brocade, and the drapes were also of a heavy material.

Lighting.  (Historical.) The 19th century began with the candle and ended gas lighting, which produced about five to ten times more light than the candle. As a general timeline:

• Candles. To candle enthusiasts, the 19th century has been referred to as the "Renaissance of Candle Making." Prior to the 19th century, candles were made from tallow (made from animal fat and thus giving off an unpleasant odor), or from beeswax (more expensive). In the 1850s, manufactured paraffin wax (a byproduct from the oil-refining process) combined with stearic acid (a candle additive used to harden and opacify wax) would replace tallow. Wax candles were also made from whale oil from the 1830s.
• Oil lamps were common after about 1850 when kerosene (a much cleaner fuel than fish oil or grease!) became available.
• Gas lighting became available in London in the 1870s.
• The remarkable invention of electricity began to be available in about 1905, but did not become common until after the First World War.

Related links:

Victorian Houses - A guide to the major architectural styles.

The Victorian Home - a nice printable seven page .pdf document from CenterForHistory.Org with exterior and room by room descriptions of Victorian features.

Lighting in the Victorian Home - an article from buildingconservation.com describing candles, oil lamps, gas and electric lighting.

From the site Eras of Elegance - Victorian Architecture

Candle Making History - a brief overview from early to modern candles.

Victorian Interiors and More