Product Description

What are the unique characteristics that make a house Colonial or Craftsman, Modern or Deco, or any of the other approximately 20 styles of domestic architecture common in the United States? At a time of near-obsessive attention to home design and renovation, this compact, easily accessible guide-the only book of its kind with all color photography-makes the identification of house styles a breeze. Each style is described by author William Morgan, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated architectural historian, in a short historical summary, alongside a list of its distinguishing features. Multiple examples of each house style are provided-the book includes 350 houses from more than 40 states-so the reader can see the region-specific variations. Complementing the beautiful color photographs is a selection of line drawings highlighting each style's key attributes.

Both at the desk and in the field, for a wide audience of discerning house hunters, homeowners, and realtors; architects, builders, and students; and the ever-increasing public with a seemingly insatiable curiosity about residential design, this elegant, informative, portable volume will be an invaluable resource for years to come. AUTHOR BIO: William Morgan has taught at Princeton University, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Louisville. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, and he is the author of Abrams' American Country Churches. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Radek Kurzaj is a travel and architecture photographer based in Sczecin, Poland, and New York City. His books include Abrams' Living Large in Small Spaces, American Country Churches, and Treehouses of the World.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #387428 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 424 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Morgan presents a sort of dummy’s guide to American architecture, dressed up in a pretty hardcover with copious color photographs and minimal, elegant descriptions. Househunters, homeowners, realtors—or anyone simply interested in what distinguishes a Victorian from a Colonial, what the difference is between Georgian and Greek Revival, or which empire inspired the Second Empire style—will love this book. Morgan aims "to simplify—in text, image and graphic presentation—what has become a complex subject to understand," and his book largely succeeds. In 15 color-coded chapters, Morgan, whose writings on architecture have appeared in The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Smithsonian and other publications, demystifies American house styles, giving a two-page overview for each, photographic examples from around the country and notes on the style’s defining characteristics. With its clear prose, comprehensive scope and excellent photos, this book will be a useful resource for all who care about American design.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
William Morgan has taught at Princeton University, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Louisville. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, and he is the author of Abrams' American Country Churches. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Radek Kurzaj is a travel and architecture photographer based in Sczecin, Poland, and New York City. His books include Abrams' Living Large in Small Spaces, American Country Churches, and Treehouses of the World.

Customer Reviews

Predictable text, nice pictures
The color pictures are all new and the subjects very well chosen, and paging through this book is enjoyable. The concise text reviews the usual classifications in the usual ways, its academic tone partly redeemed by occasional wit.

He renames Richardson Romanesque as Richardsonian, Federal as Late Georgian, and says Queen Anne originated from Arts and Crafts rather than medieval styles, although I think there's a little of each. Like most authors, he discusses the white flat-roofed Modern examples as though they were the next in line to follow the Tudors and Colonial Revivals, despite the fact that they never amounted to more than an insignificant fraction of houses built, then continues with the Post Modern and Deconstructivist styles, pure "magazine architecture", marking an era in which architects begin to serve a new and powerful patron of the arts, the media.

But the countless postwar ranches and split-levels are never mentioned. Trying to keep it highbrow, I guess.

He returns to ordinary houses at the very end, to jump on the mock-the-McMansions bandwagon, using as examples, ironically, some of the prettiest houses in the book.

A few nits to pick:

* Medieval homes had steep roofs because they used thatch, not due to the narrow London streets.

* Le Corbusier's "machines for living" quote actually was intended to extoll creature comforts, not stark Modernism.

* The Arts and Crafts post-and-beam masterpiece, the Gamble House, is ordinary stud construction where it doesn't show.

* Beams are always horizontal, as are clapboards.

* It was Louis Sullivan who said architecture was set back 50 years by a late 19th Century exhibition, not some academic.

Still like the James C. Massey book, available used. But you may like this one for its pictures.

The Definitive Book On the Subject
I've always wondered how people came up with all the different names for house designs: Georgian, victorian, georgian and all the rest. I have periodically looked at a house and proclaimed it to be something, and been patiently corrected by people somewhat of a superior attitude telling me: "No, (with an implied You Fool), that's not a __________ it's a _________."

In this book Pulitzer candidate William Morgan definitively describes the fifteen house styles. Each style is presented in a short historical summary text along with a bulletid list of its distinguishing characteristics. Within each broac style, there are variations. Within Victorian, for instance he discusses stick style, queen anne, richardsonian and shingle style.

There are about 350 houses illustrated from more than 40 states so that region-specific details can be identified. Well over 400 pages, most with multiple photographs illustrate the details of the various styles.

Very enjoyable book.

RE: "A Very Poor Effort"---An unjust criticism
Despite the unfavorable comments in "A VERY POOR EFFORT," I decided to buy this book and try it for myself. I'm so glad I did. This reviewer seems to be confused about this book. Of all the books on the subject, this is the only one that's written by a Pulitzer-nominated architectural historian, comprised of all-color photos, inclusive of the late-20th and 21st cent styles, designed like an art book, and packaged in a compact/portable format for taking it on the road. These 5 features are completely NEW to this genre! The unhappy reviewer's other point of criticism (that there are too many trees on the property of some of the photographed houses) is simply absurd. How can a photographer remove trees and foliage from a house's property before photographing the house? These houses are important examples, not slouches. The book states clearly that each picture was taken from public property. Should the photographer have given each house a fresh coat of paint, too, before he photographed it? Such a criticism is illogical. For my dollar, this is the best book in the genre and thus should be given a fair evaluation. I'm glad I bought it. As a realtor, I need this kind of book, and this one's the easiest to use of all of them.