American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home

Be the first to write a review

Overview

American Houses is a historical guide to the architecture of the American home. While other architectural field guides show only façades, this book includes floor plans, showing how the form of a house arises from its function. Photographs and drawings of exteriors illustrate the significant field marks of each style and help pinpoint the key elements that can identify a house even when it has been remodeled beyond recognition. Beautifully illustrated, clearly written, and impeccably researched, American Houses ...

See more details below
Available through our Marketplace sellers.
See All Options
Other sellers (Paperback)
  • All (13) from $6.03   
  • New (3) from $63.99   
  • Used (10) from $6.03   
Close
Sort by
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Note: Marketplace items are not eligible for any BN.com coupons and promotions
$63.99
Whiteysbooks Ny
Seller since 2005

Feedback rating:

(276)

Condition:

New — never opened or used in original packaging.

Like New — packaging may have been opened. A "Like New" item is suitable to give as a gift.

Very Good — may have minor signs of wear on packaging but item works perfectly and has no damage.

Good — item is in good condition but packaging may have signs of shelf wear/aging or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Acceptable — item is in working order but may show signs of wear such as scratches or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Used — An item that has been opened and may show signs of wear. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Refurbished — A used item that has been renewed or updated and verified to be in proper working condition. Not necessarily completed by the original manufacturer.

New
New 0618387994 This is a trade paperback.

Ships from: Staten Island, NY

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$136.78
woodysbooks
Seller since 2009

Feedback rating:

(4031)

Condition: New
Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed!!

Ships from: Martinez, CA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
$155.00
bluehouse
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(39)

Condition: New
Brand new.

Ships from: acton, MA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Close
Sort by
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Overview

American Houses is a historical guide to the architecture of the American home. While other architectural field guides show only façades, this book includes floor plans, showing how the form of a house arises from its function. Photographs and drawings of exteriors illustrate the significant field marks of each style and help pinpoint the key elements that can identify a house even when it has been remodeled beyond recognition. Beautifully illustrated, clearly written, and impeccably researched, American Houses is an essential reference for anyone interested in the history of American residential architecture.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
While the U.S. boasts many great public buildings, designed by architects both homegrown and imported, Foster's operating premise is that most of America's vital and expressive architectural tradition has been a domestic one. The great breadth of this tradition-from Monticello through "Early Louisiana Shotgun" to Frank Lloyd Wright-is immaculately and exhaustively described by Foster, a teacher and former partner of Walter Gropius's Architects Collaborative. The book's three extensive sections ("Colonial Traditions," "19th-Century Styles" and "20th-Century Revivals and Innovations") offer not only a visual primer on virtually every important strain of American home building but also extensive and useful annotation on their social and aesthetic backgrounds. The author's numerous drawings are models of clarity. It is useful to have the characteristics of such familiar styles as Gothic Revival and Mission so clearly delineated, and less well-known styles are amply explored. The author of two previous Field Guides, on trains and airplanes, Foster clearly intends this book to be used rather than consulted, to be thrown in the car or jammed in a shoulder bag rather than put on a shelf. While Foster is no Tom Wolfe-style polemicist, he is not afraid to be critical when it aids understanding. And more through implication than direct statement, Foster considers the vernacular tradition he describes as belonging to a quickly receding past, one that this book will do much to help preserve. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
For armchair architectural historians and students of American architecture, this book is a gem. Arranged in roughly chronological order, it covers the architecture of American homes from 1600 to the present. Foster (A Field Guide to Airplanes) introduces each architectural style with a general history, photograph, sketch, and floor plan. The style is broken down into form (a description of the major defining characteristics of the home), stylistic detail (the specific details that differentiate one style from another), and construction (the materials commonly used), then described historically. Variations are also discussed. Foster's background as an artist, architect, writer, architectural historian, and instructor makes this book both informative and interesting. The photographs and illustrations allow readers to scan for specific architectural styles, yet Foster's descriptions are complete and easy to read. A similar title (though lacking floor plans) is Virginia and Lee McAlester's A Field Guide to American Houses. Recommended for public libraries and academic libraries with art and architecture collections.-Valerie Nye, New Mexico State Lib., Santa Fe Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780618387991
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  • Publication date: 3/9/2004
  • Pages: 416
  • Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 9.00 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Formerly vice president and partner of the Architects Collaborative, the famous firm founded by Walter Gropius, Gerald Foster has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Boston Architectural Center as well as the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited at the DeCordova Museum and at various galleries. His books include A Field Guide to Airplanes, A Field Guide to Trains, and American Houses: A Field Guide.

Read More Show Less

Table of Contents

An Introduction to American Houses
Pt. 1 Colonial Traditions
The New England Hearth 3
The One- and Two-Room English Cottage (1620-1800) 8
Two-Story Houses: Saltbox and Garrison (1620-1700) 12
The New England Large House (1690-1850) 18
The Cape Cod Cottage (1690-1800) 22
The Rhode Island Stone-Ender (1640-1700) 26
The New England Georgian (1700-80) 30
The Hudson River Valley Hearth 37
The Brick Farmhouse (1650-1750) 42
The Stone Farmhouse (1700-1800) 46
The Lower Hudson River Farmhouse (1750-1835) 50
The Mid-Atlantic Hearth and the Upland South 55
The Quaker Plan House (1675-1800) 58
The Continental Plan House (1715-1800) 62
The Mid-Atlantic Georgian (1750-1875) 66
The Mid-Atlantic "I" House (1750-1915) 72
Log Building Traditions (1640-1850) 76
The Chesapeake Bay Tidewater Hearth 81
The One-Room English Cottage (1620-1860) 86
The Hall-and-Parlor House (1620-1860) 90
The Center-Passage House (1700-1860) 94
The Cross House (1665-1700) 98
Three-Room Plan, "L," and "T" Houses (1700-1800) 102
The Catslide, Tidewater Cottage, and Tidewater Gambrel (1750-1860) 106
The Four-Room Plan House (1700-1800) 110
The Chesapeake Bay Georgian (1700-80) 114
The Late Chesapeake Bay Georgian (1750-80) 120
Andrea Palladio 126
The Southern Tidewater Hearth 131
Medway (1705) 136
Middleburg (1699) and Mulberry (1714) 140
The Raised Southern Tidewater Cottage (1700-1800) 146
Hanover (1720) 148
Brick House (1725) 150
Drayton Hall (1738-42) 152
The Charleston Single House (1750-1863) 154
The Charleston Double House (1730-1863) 158
The French Mississippi Hearth 163
The Creole Cottage (1700-1830) 168
The Creole Plantation House (1765-1830) 174
The Cajun House (1790-1850) 180
The New Orleans Urban House (1788-1850) 186
The Urban Creole Cottage (1790-1850) 188
The Creole Townhouse (1795-1850) 190
The Shotgun House (1830-1930) 192
The Spanish Colonial Hearths 197
The Spanish New Mexico House (1600-1846) 200
The New Mexican Territorial House (1848-1912) 204
The Spanish California House (1769-1848) 208
The Monterey House (1835-80) 212
Pt. 2 19th-Century Styles
The Early Classical Revival 219
The Federal-Adamesque Style (1780-1820) 222
Jeffersonian Classicism (1770-1830) 228
The Greek Revival (1825-60) 232
Early Victorian Styles 237
The Gothic Revival (1840-60) 240
The Italian Villa (1830-80) 246
The Italianate Style (1845-80) 250
The Octagon (1850-60) 254
Late Victorian Styles 259
Second Empire Style (1855-80) 262
Stick Style (1855-75) 266
Richardson Romanesque (1870-1900) 270
Shingle Style (1880-1900) 274
Queen Anne Style (1880-1910) 278
The Colonial Revival (1880-1950) 284
Pt. 3 20th-Century Revivals and Innovations
The Academic Revivals 291
The American Classical Revival (1895-1950) 294
The Second Italian Renaissance Revival Urban Palace (1890-1935) 298
The Second Italian Renaissance Revival Rural Villa (1890-1935) 302
Extreme Academic Architecture 307
The Beaux-Arts Style (1880-1920) 310
The Chateauesque Style (1890-1910) 314
The English Revival (1890-1940) 318
Southwestern and California Styles 323
The Mission Style (1890-1920) 326
The Spanish Colonial Revival (1915-40) 330
The Spanish Pueblo Revival (1912-present) 334
Indigenous Styles and the Bungalow 339
The Prairie Style (1900-1920) 342
The Craftsman Style (1905-30) 346
The Bungalow (1900-1930) 350
Modern Trends 355
Art Moderne (1920-50) 358
The International Style (1930-present) 362
Glossary 367
Recommended Reading 390
Photo Credits 393
Index 394
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)