Opulent and grand, French Chateau house plans are based on the monumental style of 16th century French mansions and castles. With their decidedly European sensibilities and grand scale, Chateau style home designs makes a bold statement in upscale neighborhoods where they provide privacy and room to roam for large or extended families.

Popularized in America between 1880 and 1910 by architect Richard Morris Hunt, massive Chateauesque house plans feature steeply pitched hipped roofs, sometimes highlighted by cast-iron cresting, wall or roof dormers, spires, corner turrets, and tall chimneys crowned with an ornamental caps. Encrusted with decorative flourishes, their handsome masonry exteriors of smoothed square limestone or brick are often graced by single- or full-width balconies. Paired windows divided by heavy stone mullions or set in arches, combined with semicircular bay windows, let light into formal rooms fit for a king.