Marjorie Stolz, age 15, of San Francisco, Calif., for her question:

WHAT IS GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE?

Georgian architecture is the building style used in England and the English colonies during the 1700s and early 1800s. The name comes from the period of time when George I, II, III and IV reigned as English kingsThe style of building has symmetry or balance in design. It makes extensive use of brick and stone. Most small Georgian houses are square or rectangular in shape, and are built around a central stair hall.

Architects using the Georgian style often decorated the rooms with large panels and large, richly ornamented, rectangular fireplaces. The builders often designed imposing main doors, using a projecting hood or a porch with columns.

Georgian architecture influenced American colonial building styles. Southern mansions built just before the Civil War are sometimes wrongly called Georgian.