Georgian Architecture

Georgian architecture has been a strong feature in Dublin since its creation during the 1700’s. Georgian architecture has gone through a cycle of love and hate in the great city of Dublin. From its beginning the people of the city loved the buildings and the people of protestant decent moved into them in flocks. Fast forward a few hundred years, Ireland has gained its independence from England and the Georgian buildings are under siege. During this early period of independence many Irish folk and the government alike were seeking to remove anything that reminded them of England and their occupation of the country. During this period numerous Georgian buildings were torn down to make space for new office buildings and other government infrastructure.

It features the symmetrical look that Georgian buildings have become famous for. It has the stunning front door, larger windows at the bottom tapering to smaller ones at the top. The purpose of having larger windows that the bottom making way to smaller ones with every extra story was twofold. First, it gave the impression that the building itself was larger than it actually was. Secondly, it was all about showing off; windows at the time were taxed heavily so only the wealthy could afford larger windows and with larger windows people could see your guests better. Georgian buildings are designed to all be uniform and create a row of buildings that flows together. Originally when they were created all of the doors on Georgian buildings were the same color adding to the uniformity that comes with the style. However, while the doors used to all be the same color that is no longer the case in Dublin. Because Georgian homes had to follow rules regarding their appearance the owners were allowed little in the way of customization. However, they soon realized that they would be allowed to paint their doors different colors and thus add a taste of color into their uniform home. These doors were then added into a collage by a man named Bob Fearon made a collage of these doors that later became famous because of its placement in the New York based Irish Tourism

The people who lived in the Georgian homes really were all about showing off their wealth and appearance was everything to them. At those times certain home decorations such as windows, carpet, and wallpaper were heavily taxed. Due to this the homes often only had enough money to furnish select rooms with wallpaper and carpet. The rooms chosen to have these amenities were the front rooms of the home where guests were often to be found. The homeowner really wanted their friends and neighbors to know that they could afford to have such luxuries. The bottom floor of the home often contained the dining room where guests would be invited over to have a large meal with many courses. They would then move up to the first floor of the house to have a social gathering in which everyone was encouraged to stand near the extra-large windows in the front of the house. This was to allow others outside the home to see the guests. This was really a method of allowing the homeowner to show who their friends were and show off. Georgian homes were designed around public appearances and were meant to show the families wealth and