Italianate Style

The Italianate style was very popular for commercial buildings in Omaha in the 1870’s and into the 1890’s. Distinguishing characteristics of the style include heavily bracketed cornices, and a mixture of window openings that might include a combination of round, segmental and stilted segmental arches, sometimes with decorative hood moldings. Storefronts were often made of cast iron. Nearly every downtown in America had Italianate style commercial buildings.