folly
FALL´-ee A folly is a decorative and often extravagant garden structure. Follies, which are meant to catch the eye and accentuate the landscape, are often built to resemble historic or […]
Architecture
porte-cochère
PORT´-coh-SHAIR´ (French for ‘coach door’) A porte-cochère is an entrance, wide enough to accommodate cars and carriages, that leads from the street—through a wall or building—to a courtyard. True portes-cochères […]
pilaster
pih-LAS´-ter A pilaster is a rectangular column attached to a wall. Pilasters project into a room in a shallow manner, usually by less than one-third of their width. Pilasters may […]
boiserie
BWAHZ´-ree (French for ‘wood paneling’ in general) When used in English, the term usually refers to the various styles of elaborate paneling used to adorn the 17th- and 18th-century palaces […]