Neo-eclectic architecture is a name for an architectural style that has influenced residential building construction in North America in the later part of the 20th century and early part of the 21st. It is a contemporary version of Architectural Revivalism that has perennially occurred since Neoclassical architecture developed in the mid 18th century.
In contrast to the occasionally faux and low-budget neo-eclectic detached homesteads, the term New Classical Architecture identifies contemporary buildings that stick to the basic ideals, proportions, materials and craftsmanship of traditional architecture.
Neo-eclectic architecture combines a wide array of decorative techniques taken from an assortment of different house styles.
It is a response to the clean unadorned modernist styles, such as the Mid-Century modern and Ranch-style house that dominated North American residential design and construction in the first decades after the Second World War. It is an outgrowth of postmodern architecture.
Some neo-eclectic buildings will combine an array of different historical styles in a single building. A house so designed may have Cape Cod, Mission Revival, Tudor Revival, or Châteauesque and French Provincial elements all at the same time. Often houses, or whole subdivisions, will focus on one revival style.
