Victorian-style homes are trendy and often require a lot of attention and money for their decorations.
They gained popularity in the United States in the 1840s.
They have captured the hearts of many people for over two hundred years now.
They reflect the architectural styles that were popular at the time of Queen Victoria’s region.
Victorian-style homes are usually large and eye-catching with wood or stone exterior. At the time of Queen Victoria’s region, the genuine Victorian-style homes were way very different compared to new ones.
They had detailed feature structures and excessively used expensive and lavish materials like stained glass, jewels, woodwork, etc., throughout their houses.
Still, the advanced Victorian homes show these materials only in a few parts of their house.
Few defining features of Victorian homes include;
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Cost to Build Victorian Style Home
The Victorian house has intricate features on each side of the home, which is undoubtedly meant to build a complicated design that could never be cheap.
There is a significant variation in the cost of building Victorian-style houses. However, the average price is about $350,000. While on some places, homeowners spend between $250,000 and $600,000. The per square cost of building a house can be $100 to $200. The cost of building Victorian-style homes may not seem as high as other houses, but it may not include all the detailed features of a genuine Victorian-style home.
If you want to add more complicated parts as a genuine Victorian-style home, expect to spend as high as $500 per square foot.
Building any type of home adds a lot to planning and budgeting. The most significant difference between a Victorian-style home and a modern home is how it is decorated.
You can easily go out of your budget by choosing more sophisticated and decorative features, so it’s important to hire an architect or designer to help you plan your budget and keep it or bring your ideas to life.
Factors that affect the cost
Purchasing a house plan Cost
Before building a Victorian-style home, choosing and purchasing a perfect design for your home is very important.
The cost for purchasing a plan can be different depending on the source of purchasing. If you buy the design online, the cost can be between $2,000 and $6,000. But the price will go higher for the more complicated designs.
If you do not find the plan of your choice online or do not want to purchase a pre-made plan, you can hire an architect to design a plan of your choice.
Hiring an architect can also allow you to customize the layout of your house and add more details that you want.
It will be best to hire an architect that can make your house more beautiful.
However, the cost of hiring an architect will be much more than purchasing a pre-made plan. It can go between $800 and $1500.
Pre-construction cost
Even before starting the construction of the house, there are plenty of factors to consider that add the cost;
Purchasing land
The cost for purchasing the land can vary widely depending on the location ( you can consider to build an house in Beverly Hills or Brisbane) but on average, ready to pay the cost range from $50,000 to $100,000.
Preparing the land
Preparing the land for construction is very important as if you have not bought the land on housing development, you have to clear it for construction that will add extra cost to your actual cost.
Excavation and grading the land can cost between $1,500 and $5,000. Moreover, if there is an existing building on the land you have bought, you also have to demolish it, which can cost about $3,000 to $25,000 or more.
This cost depends on the size and location of your land.
Building permits
Building permits are a type of authorization that the government must grant before constructing the house.
You should expect to spend between $1,200 and $2,000 on building permits.
Costs and requirements vary depending on local authority regulations.
Installing a foundation of a house
To install a foundation of the house can cost anywhere between $18,000 and $30,000, including excavation.
Often, the Victorian homes are two-story buildings.
So also calculate the cost for installing a foundation of your Victorian-style house into the actual cost.
Cost for buying the materials
Purchasing materials for a Victorian-style home is a significant cost factor in planning a budget for your home.
If you desire to build a genuine version of a Victorian-era home, you have to buy wood and roof tiles or shingles that will add much more expenses to the actual cost.
This is especially true when you start looking at turrets and other special features not always included in modern homes.
Size and location of the house
The average U.S house size is 2,000 square feet; however, the Victorian-style house can vary in size according to your need or space’s design.
The bigger the house will be, the more cost you will have to spend on the construction.
The cost also varies depending on the location like if you want to build a home near major cities, which will inevitably cost more.
The price for buying land, buying materials will be more than in rural areas.
Customizing the design of your Victorian Style home Cost
Customizing your home means which part or detail you want to add to your home. This is a very exciting and considerable part of building a Victorian Style home that affects the overall budget.
So you should carefully access the budget to decide what details you want to add that you can afford easily.
Woodwork: Woodwork is an essential feature of Victorian-style homes, but it can be very costly to decorate the entire house with woodwork.
If your budget does not allow so, you can add woodwork to fewer parts of your house.
To accomplish this, you also need to hire an experienced woodworker who can charge $22 for a single small decorative porch bracket.
And there are several porch brackets in Victorian-style houses.
Stained Glass: However, stained glass is also an important and appealing feature of Victorian-style houses.
The actual Victorian homes used stained glass throughout their place, but it can be very expensive; you can only decorate your windows with stained glass if it meets your budget.
These all are the extra expenses that will add the additional cost into your budget.
Colorful paints: bright and colorful paint is a unique feature of a Victorian house. You can choose a color of your choice and according to your budget need.
These all are the additional features that you need to plan according to your budget. The more details that you will add, the more the expenses will increase.
Maintenance Cost
Maintaining the historical accuracy of Victorian-style houses is an important aspect that can add considerable expenses.
You can do it by yourself, but it’s better to take help from a historian or architect who specializes in the Victorian style.
Others style cost :
Cost of Purchasing a Victorian Style home rather than building it
Building a new Victorian-style home provides you the opportunity to customize the house according to your own choice. However, there is a big difference in the price of both houses. Generally, purchasing a Victorian-style home can be less expensive than building a new one of the same size in the exact location.
Detailed Features of Victorian Style houses:
Decoration
Victorian-style buildings are specially designed to be ornamental. The house’s interior is decorated with luxurious, fancy furniture and beautiful gable shapes and rooftop finials adorned the exterior.
Stained Glass
Stained glass was an extraordinarily favorite and famous feature during the Victorian era.
People often choose to decorate their houses with stained glass.
It was costly to produce and make stained glass, so people preferred to decorate their homes to show their social status.
In the Victorian era, stained glass was used throughout the house, but now people only choose to use it like stained glass windows to highlight the house area.
Bright colored exterior
Victorian-style homes are usually painted with many jewel tones, pastels, and earthy colors.
Some houses are painted in monochromatic color schemes, while others are painted with several contrasting colors.
At the time of Queen Victoria’s era, the colors used in homes had different meanings and purposes, so you will need to research before choosing a color if you want an authentic Victorian home.
The colors used often indicated the design period of the home or the message the homeowner wanted to convey.
Large houses were often painted in brighter colors, while smaller houses were often painted in darker colors.
See also: How Much Does It Cost To Build A Dance Studio In Your House?
Complex structure
Unlike the simple structures of earlier times, Victorian buildings have a complicated structure with open windows, steep roofs, and large entrances.
They are also decorated with woodwork from both inside and outside of the home, making their structure much more appealing.
Exterior
- Decorative woodwork
- Steep, gabled roofs
- Round angles
- Bright colors
- Shapely windows
- Stained glass
- Towers and dormers
Interior is designed with
- Two or three stories
- Ornate furniture
- Intricate wooden trim
- High ceiling
- Ornate stair-cases
