Northside - City of Riverside

during Phase II.
This era is part of the Eclectic Period (circa 1880-1940) during which American
architects drew on the broad collection of architectural tradition for stylistic
inspiration, producing revivals of American, English, French, and Mediterranean
period homes. Architectural interpretations of European designs were generally
pure, yet the movement toward European period styles was diverse by nature.
Generally, the early reign of the Eclectic Movement was curtailed by the rise of the
Prairie and Craftsman styles yet revived by World War I, causing period revival
architecture to be most prevalent in the 1920s and 1930s (McAlester 2000:319).
Similarly, previous study in Riverside has characterized this period of development
as a time when interest in diversification in response to the catastrophic 1913 freeze
and the effects of World War I prompted Riverside’s residential, civic, and
commercial architecture to become less locally distinct and more closely mirror the
styles found across the country.
Residential design within the Northside, however, did not seem to conform to this
accepted view of architectural design trends in the 1920s and 1930s. Though strongly
represented in the previous period, Craftsman examples persist into the 1920s,
dominating the residential landscape of the survey area despite the popularity of
period revival designs seen one after another in other Riverside neighborhoods like
Palm Heights to the south. Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Pueblo Revival,
Colonial Revival, and Classical Revival designs are represented here, though in
surprisingly small numbers perhaps revealing the influence of preceding,
neighboring designs on new construction.
Making up for the deficit in period revival styles in the survey area, however, are
the high-styled, large homes that make up the North Hill Historic District in
Fairmount Heights. Here the Northside boasts 12 grand, mostly architect-designed
homes in the Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Monterey Revival, Pueblo
Revival, and French Eclectic styles, and one in the Minimal Traditional style, the
earliest modern style to emerge from the Eclectic Period. Also, pre-WWII vernacular
examples exist throughout the survey area.
Craftsman
See Residential Architecture 1870-1900 and 1901-1918.
Spanish Colonial Revival
Initially spawned by the popularity of the Mission style, following the 1915 Panama-
California Exposition, held in San Diego, California, the Spanish Colonial Revival
style was redefined by the entire history of Spanish architecture. Buildings in the
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