Product Description

Home owners, history and architecture buffs, and visitors to the Pacific Northwest will all find a treasure trove of information within these pages. With 300 photographs and illustrations, both historic and contemporary, this text provides a comprehensive overview of the city’s major residential architectural styles, including Victorian, Craftsman, Tudor Revival, and Modern. The homes featured range from the showplaces of the wealthy to humble cottages and bungalows in residential neighborhoods. Beginning with a historical overview and continuing through descriptions of the 120 featured houses, organized by chronological era, this is the first-ever comprehensive guide to Seattle’s historic homes. Checklists of houses by neighborhood and style make this useful for walking tours by residents and visitors alike. Anyone interested in preserving Seattle’s architectural treasures will find this an essential resource. "Classic Houses of Seattle" is a vibrant portrait of the city’s development, an important chapter in the story of American residential architecture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120904 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Released on: 2005-08-15
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 268 pages

Review
"...a thorough guide to the architectural styles of Seattle's residential neighborhoods, a trove of histories of individual dwellings, and will be a welcome companion on your next stroll around town." Lawrence W. Cheek, Sunset March 2007

From the Publisher
Explores in detail more than 120 historic Seattle houses depicted in 325 spectacular period photos, many never before published. Photographs are supplemented with historic house plans and original architectural drawings. Includes a how-to guide for researching the history of your house.

About the Author
Caroline T. Swope is an instructor of art and architectural history at Seattle Central Community College. She holds a doctorate in American art and architectural history from the University of Washington and a master's in historic preservation. She has worked on preservation projects at the federal and local levels, and is active in local historical organizations.

Customer Reviews

Seattle Classic homes 1879 to 1950's

This book covers the basic styles of homes seen in the SEATTLE areas, from around 1879 to around the 1950's.

Many of the earlier homes have since been destroyed, so the author had to rely on archival photos. All those photos are, of course, in black and white.

Then the author did a wonderful research job by showing the following architectural styles from the early 1900's to the 1950's.

The reason that I give this book a 4-star,rather than a full 5-star rating, is because I wish the author had shown more photos of the LATER homes discussed, & that are still available in Seattle. Instead, the author showed one photo (mostly) of the later homes, when she surely could have included a few more photos of the LATER homes, since they are still available for photo-taking.

The photos of the available (modern) homes, are all in black and white also ---not in color. I suppose the author wanted to show continuum throughout her book, so she chose to show all the book's photos (even the modern photos from 2004-2005) in black and white.

Terrific Historical Summary with great photos
I'm the third owner of a 1908 house in downtown Seattle that has survived relatively unmolested. I was looking for details of how the house should have been decorated in the period and how I could make small changes to the house to make it functional, yet remain honest to the period. The book is great at showing the history and architecture of each period with nice photo examples inside and out. I only hoped there would be a little more detail about how to find an architect that specializes in restoring these types of homes.

Classic Houses of Seattle: High Style to Vernacular, 1870 - 1950)
I was very pleased to receive the book. It was sent promptly and arrived in excellent condition. The price was much cheaper than the stated price in the book. Thanks.