BALUSTER: One of the small individual upright posts that supports the upper rail (and sometimes connects to a lower rail) of a railing, such as on a porch, stairway, balcony or deck.
BALUSTRADE: The entire railing enclosing a porch, staircase, balcony or deck, made up of a series of vertical balusters.
BAY: The number of regularly repeated horizontal openings across the façade of a building. (A building with a door and four windows on the ground floor is said to have a five-bay façade.)
BAY WINDOW: A window that projects from the external wall of a building.
BOND: An arrangement and pattern of masonry units (such as bricks) used to provide strength and stability (and sometimes an ornamental effect) in a masonry wall.
HEADER: The short end of a brick.
STRETCHER: The long side of a brick.
BRACKET: A small projection, usually carved or decorated, that supports (or appears to support) the projecting eave of a roof, a window or door lintel, or the junture of a porch column and roof.
COLUMN: A vertical support that is usually cylindrical. A column may be weight bearing or merely ornamental.
These supports can also be square, tapered, or carved, and are sometimes called posts, piers, pillars, or turned spindles.
CORBEL: A masonry projection from a masonry wall, sometimes supporting a load and sometimes for decorative effect. Corbels appear along cornices, on chimneys, or around archways.
CORNICE: The exterior trim at the meeting point of a building's wall surface and the roofline.
COURSE: A row of masonry units (such as bricks or stones) running horizontally in a wall, and bonded with mortar.
DORMER: A window or windows that project outward from a roof. Dormers provide light and ventilation to attic spaces.
FAÇADE: The front or exterior face of a building.
FANLIGHT: A window, often semi-circular or elliptical, placed above a doorway. (Fanlights often include a delicate, radiating arrangement of windowpanes suggesting a fan.)
KEYSTONE: The wedge-shaped central block or stone at the center of an arch.
LINTEL: A horizontal beam spanning a door or window, or other opening. A lintel may be structural, carrying the weight of the wall above, or just decorative.
MORTAR: A mixture of sand, lime, cement, and water, this is the material used to fill the joints and bind together masonry units (such as bricks or stones).
ORIEL: A window that projects from the wall but, unlike a bay window, it does not extend to the ground. Oriel windows began as a form of porch.
PEDIMENT: The triangular area under the roofline at the ends of a building, or a triangular crowning element added to a roof or used over doors or porch entries.
SASH: The part of a window frame (either fixed or movable) that holds the glass panes. Windows are often described by the number of panes in the top and lower halves of the sash.
For example, this is a "two-over-one" window.
TRANSOM: A small window opening (either fixed or operable) above a door, window, or storefront window.
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BALUSTER: One of the small individual upright posts that supports the upper rail (and sometimes connects to a lower rail) of a railing, such as on a porch, stairway, balcony or deck.
BAY: The number of regularly repeated horizontal openings across the façade of a building. (A building with a door and four windows on the ground floor is said to have a five-bay façade.)
BAY WINDOW: A window that projects from the external wall of a building.
HEADER: The short end of a brick.
BRACKET: A small projection, usually carved or decorated, that supports (or appears to support) the projecting eave of a roof, a window or door lintel, or the junture of a porch column and roof.
COLUMN: A vertical support that is usually cylindrical. A column may be weight bearing or merely ornamental.
CORBEL: A masonry projection from a masonry wall, sometimes supporting a load and sometimes for decorative effect. Corbels appear along cornices, on chimneys, or around archways.
CORNICE: The exterior trim at the meeting point of a building's wall surface and the roofline.
COURSE: A row of masonry units (such as bricks or stones) running horizontally in a wall, and bonded with mortar.
DORMER: A window or windows that project outward from a roof. Dormers provide light and ventilation to attic spaces.
FAÇADE: The front or exterior face of a building.
FANLIGHT: A window, often semi-circular or elliptical, placed above a doorway. (Fanlights often include a delicate, radiating arrangement of windowpanes suggesting a fan.)
KEYSTONE: The wedge-shaped central block or stone at the center of an arch.
ORIEL: A window that projects from the wall but, unlike a bay window, it does not extend to the ground. Oriel windows began as a form of porch.
PEDIMENT: The triangular area under the roofline at the ends of a building, or a triangular crowning element added to a roof or used over doors or porch entries.
SASH: The part of a window frame (either fixed or movable) that holds the glass panes. Windows are often described by the number of panes in the top and lower halves of the sash.
TRANSOM: A small window opening (either fixed or operable) above a door, window, or storefront window.