Federal & Adam Profiles

The Federal style — sometimes called Adam style after the Scottish brothers who popularized it — shaped American homes from roughly 1780 to 1830, just after independence. Where Georgian trim is robust and Greek Revival is heavy, Federal moulding is delicate and refined: slim reeded pilasters, fine bead-and-reel detailing, oval and elliptical motifs, and crisp, narrow profiles that feel almost neoclassical-jewelry in scale.