Federal House Plans: Categorized under the umbrella of Colonial house plans, federal house plans are symmetrical, tasteful and historic-looking, often with dentils under the eaves. The federal, or Adam, style was based on the work of the Scottish architect Robert Adam, prominent in England in the 1760s and 1770s. Federal-style homes became popular between 1780 and 1830, and are symmetrical, two-story, rectangular-shaped designs embellished with elliptical fan lights over the front door, curved wrought-iron stair railings and Palladian or Venetian windows.
