Neo-eclectic 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.  It differs from postmodernism in that it is not creatively experimental.  Neo-eclectic architecture is most prominent in what are pejoratively known as McMansions, but it has been embraced by almost all residential builders.  Across North America most suburbs built in the last three decades can largely be described as neo-eclectic.