The look:Colonists initially built chimneys with clay bricks, and the material’s varying tones, from red to blue-black, appear in nearly every architectural style that followed. T… See more

The look:Stamped steel came into fashion when Victorian homeowners used panels as a less expensive way to mimic decorative plaster (itself a less expensive way to get t… See more

The look:The new machines of the Industrial Revolution gave owners of Italianate and Gothic Revival homes some of the first uniformly milled tongue-and-groove woo… See more

The look:By the 1800s, countertop materials such as marble and soapstone started replacing wood in kitchens along the East Coast. Stone, while durable, requires ca… See more