Throughout the British Empire, and in Victoria in particular, this architectural style came to symbolize a traditional British way of life. The first examples were architect-designed stately homes in late-nineteenth century England that mimicked the appearance of growth through centuries of additions.

Tudor Revival (also known as English or Elizabethan Revival) is a style that was created to evoke the spirit of traditional medieval English structures, particularly rambling country manor houses and rural cottages. As a result it is sometimes difficult to discern the boundaries between these different styles. Ironically, their admiration of the vernacular meant that they often incorporated elements from medieval buildings in their work that were also copied by the proponents of the Gothic, Queen Anne, and Tudor Revival styles that they criticized. Rather, they espoused architecture that showed evidence of human handiwork, that was functional, and that respected British vernacular traditions of house building.

The Arts & Crafts movement is most simply summarized as one initiated by a group of British artists and architects reacting to several features of Late Victorian life, principally the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and the unquestioning imitation of earlier formal historical styles. This was not as much a style as an ideological movement, although the Victoria architects who were influenced by it left a recognizable mark upon the local landscape.

Arts and crafts building style