American Victorian Staircases 1840-1910

Much was done, particularly late in the 19th century, to exploit the architectural and decorative value of well designed carved turned stairs parts  Until the mid-century central stair halls were typical.  This changed with the freedom in planning introduced with the Gothic and Italianate revivals.  Stairs were located asymmetrically near the front door and usually near the principal parlour.  Gothic and Italianate stairs tend to be a single flight from floor to floor.  The stair parts balusters spindles newel posts finial were complex carved round turnings and the newels were turned, faceted and chamfered.  In simpler dwelling the stair parts newel could be the most elaborate piece of woodwork in the house.

With the adoption of combination living spaces and stair halls late in the period, stairs with the carved turned stair parts design of balusters spindles newel posts finials became the focus of further experiments, and more elaborate series of flights and landings were contrived.  Often the principal landing between the entrance floor and the floor above featured a stained-glass window.  The richest windows were pictorial, while the more modest ones were geometric.  Stair halls were regularly lit skylights, either with plain glazing or stair glass, sometimes with elaborate designs.

Carpet was the preferred stair covering, but floor cloths and matting were also used.  Brass was a popular material for the stair rods, but iron and even, occasionally, silver are also found.

Arts & Crafts Staircases 1860-1925

The staircase with its well designed impressive carved turned stair parts became a central feature of the entrance of living hall. The importance of the design of the stairs that is stair parts balusters spindles newel posts made the stairway with its role in welcoming visitors was recognised by critics, who praised those architects who provided both a gallery from which the hostess could be seen when a guest arrived, and an intermediary landing on which the actual greeting could take place.  Most 19th-century staircases are of solid wood, either painted, if the wood is of inferior quality, or ideally, polished if mahogany or oak  Stair parts Balusters spindles newel post finials are often carved and turned, like 17th and 18th century prototypes, and newel posts can be richly carved. The newels at Stanmore Hall, Middlesex, designed by Morris and Company in the 1880s, incorporated early electric lights.

In later Arts and Crafts taste the balusters are much simpler, with square profiles.  They are frequently extended, to enclose the staircase within a cage of uprights, a system often used in Britain by C.F.A. Voysey.  In the United states, the enhancement of the staircase within an open hall led to tours de force of carvers turners craftsmanship, in highly finished wood, epitomized by the work of Charles and Henry Green.

Art Nouveau Staircases 1888-1905

In most houses novelties are found only in the detailing.  Piercing design of stair parts  balusters spindles newel posts finials with simple shapes was adopted by many manufacturers.  Stair carpets, which seldom reflected the Art Nouveau style, were often used with decorative metal rods tapering at each end to a heart-shaped finial.

Staircase windows contributed to the overall effect, as they were often distinctively patterned and often tall so that they emphasized the vertical movement that a staircase implies.

Sometimes, in the Arts and Crafts manner, plain square-section balusters were placed so close together that they formed a kind of screen, the lower part of which could be filled in to form a rectangle of solid wooden panelling.  The plain newel post could be extended right to the ceiling.  If there was space on the landing this could be used to display a striking piece of furniture, such as a tall-backed chair, perhaps harmonizing with a striking lighting pendant.

Edwardian Staircases 1901-1914

Perhaps the main departure from Victorian precedent was the wish for a proper stair hall in even comparatively modest houses.  Mrs Peel in her book The New Home, published in 1903, recommends making an archway between the hall passage and the front living room of a small terraced/row house.  The space thus gained was seen as appropriate for entertaining, and could double up as a dining room.  A screen could be placed across the corner to obscure the front door.  In larger houses an effort was made to accommodate the stairs (with well designed impressive stair parts ) in a generous entrance hall , usually with a grand chimneypiece, or cosy inglenook.

In the average house the actual joinery details of the staircase differed little from those of the late Victorian period.  “Georgian” and “Adam” ornamentation might be found in the grander stair parts balustrade, spindles newel posts finials but many houses, influenced by Arts and Crafts styles, favoured a simple staircase with thin undecorated stair parts balusters spindles newel posts placed close together.

In middle-class houses it was now commonplace for housewives to do their own dusting, and this had some subtle design implications.   Stair rods, which had hitherto been almost always brass and needed polishing once a week were now made in oak and were virtually maintenance-free.  The deep-cut mouldings of the Victorian staircase were softened to make cleaning easier.