Rundlet-May House

Fanlights in Federals

The fanlight over the door to the front entrance hall provides one of the most noticeable elements of sophistication as soon as one enters the house. Scottish-born architect Robert Adam made fanlights distinctive and elegant elements of Neoclassical ornamentation for the house in Great Britain, and America was soon inspired to follow in the early nineteenth-century. A fanlight was not merely a decorative addition though, it was a way of introducing another window to allow more light in with the sun’s warmth to keep the front hall warm and welcoming to guests.