You know the look. That perfectly balanced, red-brick facade with the white sash windows and the heavy front door centered like a crown jewel. It’s the house every kid draws in kindergarten. But lately, something has shifted. Walk through the newer suburbs of Nashville, London, or Sydney, and you’ll see the modern georgian style house popping up everywhere, though it’s not exactly like the ones from 1750. It’s leaner. Sharper. Honestly, it’s a bit of a middle finger to the glass-box minimalism that’s dominated Instagram for the last decade. People are tired of living in fishbowls. They want walls. They want privacy. They want that weird sense of calm that only comes from a house that obeys the laws of classical proportion.
The original Georgian era, named for those four King Georges in England, was obsessed with the Roman architect Vitruvius. It was all about the "Golden Ratio." If you move a window six inches to the left, the whole thing falls apart. That’s the pressure of building a modern version today. You can't just slap some shutters on a tract home and call it a day.
The Anatomy of a Modern Georgian Style House
What makes it "modern"? In the old days, these houses were drafty, dark in the middle, and had kitchens tucked away in the basement where the help lived. Nobody wants that now. The modern iteration keeps the "face"—the symmetrical, five-bay front—but blows out the back. You get the 12-foot ceilings and the grand entry hall, but then you walk through to a massive, open-concept kitchen with floor-to-ceiling steel-framed glass doors. It’s a mullet, basically. Business in the front, party in the back.
Architects like Ben Pentreath or the late Hugh Petter have basically written the playbook on how to do this without looking like a "McMansion." The secret is in the math. Georgian design relies on the "Five-Bay" rule. You have a central door, and two windows on either side. Five total openings. If you try to do it with four, it looks lopsided. If you do it with six, your eye doesn't know where to land. It's rigid. It's stubborn. And that's exactly why it works so well in a chaotic world.
Materials That Actually Last
Brick is the obvious choice. Specifically, handmade or reclaimed bricks that have some soul to them. If you use those perfect, machine-cut bricks from a big-box store, the house looks like a plastic toy. You need "mortars" that are slightly recessed. You want texture. Some builders are even moving toward lime wash or white-painted brick to give it a lighter, "Coastal Georgian" vibe that feels less like a dusty museum and more like a summer home in the Hamptons.
Then there's the roof. Historically, it was slate. Today, high-end builds still use Welsh or Vermont slate, but we're seeing more zinc or standing-seam metal roofs. It’s a sharp contrast. A traditional brick body with a dark, matte metal roof makes the modern georgian style house feel current rather than like a costume.
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Why Symmetry Isn't Boring
We’ve been told for years that "asymmetry is dynamic." We're told that "organic shapes" are more natural. Maybe. But there is a biological comfort in symmetry. When you look at a symmetrical house, your brain doesn't have to work as hard to process the information. It feels safe. It feels sturdy.
Robert Adam, a titan of 18th-century design, understood that humans crave order. In a modern context, where our lives are digitally fragmented, coming home to a house that literally centers you is a massive luxury. It’s a physical manifestation of "having your life together." Even if the inside is a mess of kids’ toys and half-finished projects, that front door says everything is fine.
The Window Problem
Windows are where most modern versions fail. In a true Georgian home, the windows are "double-hung" and they get smaller as you go up. The ground floor windows are huge because that's where the formal rooms are. The second floor is slightly smaller. The third floor (the attic or staff quarters) are the smallest. This creates an optical illusion that makes the house look taller and more grounded.
Modern builders often make all the windows the same size because it's cheaper. Don't do that. It kills the "stately" vibe instantly. And for the love of all things holy, use real muntins (the bars between the glass panes). Those "grids-between-the-glass" look cheap from fifty feet away. If you’re going for this style, the shadows cast by the window frames are half the beauty.
Interior Flow: Breaking the Rules
Inside, the modern georgian style house is a different animal. Traditional Georgians were a series of closed-off boxes. You had a dining room, a drawing room, a library, and a parlor. Modern living hates this. We want to see the kids while we're making coffee.
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The trick is "Enfilade." This is a fancy architectural term for aligning doorways so you can see all the way from one end of the house to the other. It keeps the rooms defined—which helps with acoustics and heating—but creates a sense of massive scale. You get the "wow" factor of a modern open plan without the feeling of living in a warehouse.
- The Entry Hall: This is the most important room. It needs to be oversized. A sweeping staircase is the cliché, but a simple, stone-floored hall with a single piece of heavy furniture and a massive piece of art is more "modern."
- The Kitchen: This is usually the "extension." While the front of the house is brick, the back might be a glass-and-steel "orangerie." It’s a way to flood the house with light without ruining the historical facade.
- The Millwork: This is where you spend the money. Deep baseboards. Crown molding that doesn't look like foam. If the trim is wimpy, the house feels like a hollow shell.
The Sustainability Paradox
Can an 18th-century design be "green"? Actually, yeah. Georgian houses were originally designed to maximize natural light (because candles were expensive) and use thermal mass (thick brick walls) to regulate temperature.
A modern georgian style house often uses Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) or high-performance timber frames behind that brick skin. Because the shape of the house is usually a simple rectangle or square, it’s incredibly efficient to heat and cool. There are fewer "corners" and "roof valleys" where heat escapes. It’s a "dumb" shape that works brilliantly with "smart" technology. Solar panels are the only tricky part. They look terrible on a slate roof. Most architects now hide them on the flat "M-roof" sections in the middle of the house or on a detached garage.
Small Details, Big Mistakes
I see this all the time: a beautiful Georgian-inspired build ruined by a garage. In the 1700s, horses lived in a separate stable. Today, we want to park the SUV right next to the kitchen. Putting a three-car garage on the front of a Georgian house is like putting a bumper sticker on a Bentley. It ruins the symmetry.
If you're building one, the garage must be side-loaded or detached. You want people to see the architecture, not the plastic garage doors.
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The Market Reality
Let's talk money. These aren't cheap to build correctly. A standard "Modern Farmhouse" (you know, the white siding and black windows) is much more forgiving. You can mess up the proportions and it still looks "trendy." You mess up a Georgian, and it looks like a bank.
However, the resale value is insane. While "trends" like the industrial look or the ultra-modern "cube" houses tend to date quickly, the Georgian aesthetic is basically bulletproof. It’s been "in style" for 300 years. If you build a high-quality modern georgian style house today, it will look just as good in 2076 as it does now. It’s a legacy play.
Actionable Steps for Future Owners
If you're serious about this style, don't just hire a general builder. You need someone who understands "The Orders." Here’s how to start:
- Buy the Bible: Get a copy of The Elements of Style by Stephen Calloway. It breaks down exactly how these houses were proportioned. Even if you're going modern, you need to know the rules before you break them.
- Focus on the Entry: Spend 20% of your exterior budget on the front door and the windows surrounding it. This is the "face" of the house. Everything else can be simpler, but the entry must be perfect.
- Choose a "Lesser" Brick: Avoid the perfectly uniform red bricks. Look for "oversize" or "tumbled" bricks. Ask for a "Flemish Bond" pattern—it's more expensive because it uses more labor, but it’s the hallmark of a real Georgian home.
- Landscape for Structure: A Georgian house needs a formal garden. Think boxwood hedges, gravel paths, and clear lines. A "wild" garden looks messy against such a rigid house. You want the landscaping to echo the symmetry of the building.
- Scale the Hardware: Tiny door handles and thin light fixtures will look ridiculous. Everything needs to be slightly "over-scaled" to match the high ceilings and heavy walls.
Building a modern georgian style house isn't about living in the past. It’s about admitting that maybe, just maybe, the architects of the 18th century knew something about human psychology that we’ve forgotten. It’s about the peace of mind that comes from a house that feels like it’s been there forever—and will be there for a long time after we’re gone. This isn't just a "style." It's an anchor. If you're going to build, build something that lasts. Simple as that.