Board and Batten
A construction method for doors or walls in which the wood is arranged in vertical boards and held in place with a horizontal board called a batten.

Chair Rail
A decorative wooden trim attached horizontally at the approximate height of the back of a straight chair.

Clapboard
A narrow wooden board, thinner at one edge than the other, applied horizontally to the exterior walls of buildings to form a weather-tight wall surface.

Column
A support pillar, usually round, found on porches and as a decorative detail.

Column Capitals
Capitals are the tops of round columns and may be of several distinct types or orders. Greek Doric capitals are fluted and plain, Roman Doric capitals are smooth and plain, Ionic capitals have a rams horns at all four corners, and a Corinthian capital is highly decorative with curling acanthus leaves.

Coping
The capping at the top of a wall for protection from weather elements.

Cornice
A cornice is the finished edge of the roof where it meets the exterior wall of a building.

Crenelated Parapet
A low retaining wall at the edge of a roof or porch with a uniform pattern of openings creating a battlement. Historically, the openings were used for the defense of a fortresses, hence the term battlement.

Cupola
A cupola is a decorative, small, projecting tower at the top of the roof of a building, often square, round or octagonal in shape.

Dormer
A window opening at the roof level, topped by a front gable or shed roof.

Eaves
The edge of the roof that overhangs the exterior walls, sometimes with exposed rafters.

Facade
The face of a building, usually referring to the front.

Floor Plan
The layout of the various levels of a building, showing the location of rooms, interior walls, five places, porches and staircases.

Fluting
Fluting is a decorative finish for wooden columns or trim where parallel grooves are carved vertically along the surface.

Lintel
The flat horizontal piece at the top of a window.

Masonry
A type of construction using stone, brick, tile or concrete block and mortar.

Mortar
A mixture of sand, water, lime and cement used to lay bricks, stone, tile or concrete block.

Mullions
The wooden divisions between panes of glass on windows.

Parapet
A parapet is a low stone or brick wall at the top of a building.

Pent Roof
A narrow shed style roof placed above the first floor of a building to protect the doors, windows and
lower walls, often covering all four sides of the building.

Pilar
A support column without classical detailing.

Pilaster
A protruding column attached to a wall, giving the illusion of a free standing support column.

Porch
A roofed space outside the mains support walls of a building.

Portico
A small entrance porch.

Quoins
Quoins are decorative rectangles or squares of stone, brick, wood or concrete, placed at the corners of buildings to add architectural interest.

Rafters
The wooden structural support beams for a roof, usually visible on the exterior.

Sill
The flat horizontal bottom piece of a window or door, usually made of wood, but sometimes stone.

Stoop
The uncovered wide step leading into the front or main door of a building.

Stories
The number of stories a building reflects its height by counting the stacked floors. If a building has dormer windows inset into the roof, that top section of the building is called a 1/2 story.

Stucco
A thin coating of plaster applied over exterior walls.

Transom
A flat, glass panel above a door, usually multi-paned.

Turret
A small tower at the corner of a building.

Wainscot
Type of wall paneling typically covering the lower portion of an interior wall, usually topped by a chair rail. A wooden wainscot can be plain or paneled with a batten of raised wooden trim.

Weatherboard
An exterior horizontal wooden board applied with the lower edge overlapping the board below used to form exterior walls (wider and less shaped than a clapboard, although used for the same purpose).