The Regal Queen

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Of all the Victorian house styles, Queen Anne is the most elaborate and the most eccentric. The style is often called romantic and feminine, yet it is the product of a most unromantic era -- the machine age.

Virginia and Lee McAlester, authors of A Field Guide to American Houses, identify four types of detailing found on Queen Anne homes.

Spindled - This is the style we most frequently think of when we hear the term "Queen Anne." These are "gingerbread" houses with delicate turned porch posts and lacy, ornamental spindles.
Free Classic - Instead of delicate turned spindles, these homes have classical columns, often raised on brick or stone piers. Like the Colonial Revival houses that would soon become fashionable, Free Classic Queen Anne homes may have Palladian windows and dentil moldings.
Half-Timbered - Like the early Tudor style houses, these Queen Annes have decorative half-timbering in the gables. Porch posts are often thick.
Patterned Masonry - Most frequently found in the city, these Queen Annes have brick, stone, or terra-cotta walls. The masonry may be beautifully patterned, but there are few decorative details in wood.

A list like this can be deceptive. Queen Anne architecture is not an orderly or easily classified. Bay windows, balconies, stained glass, turrets, porches, brackets and an abundance of decorative details combine in unexpected ways.

Even the history of the style is bewildering. These homes were built during the age of Queen Victoria. So, why are they called Queen Anne? Popular during the time of Britain's Queen Victoria, Queen Anne architecture has little to do with the 18th century Queen Anne. Moreover, the exuberant style bears little resemblance to the formal architecture which was popular during her time. Rather, British architects borrowed ideas from the earlier Medieval era.

In the United States, Queen Anne houses became lofty, fanciful, showy, exuberant expressions of the machine age.
Excerpts from About.com