This book is an outgrowth of, and in many respects a supplement to, our Field Guide to American Houses (1984). In that work we attempted to treat "the entire spectrum of American domestic building, from the most modest folk houses to the grandest mansions, but with a heavy emphasis on the smaller dwellings that lie between these extremes." Here the focus is shifted to the grand mansions themselves and to the story they tell of our country's changing tastes in housing design over the past three hundred years.
Each of the twenty-five landmark dwellings treated was chosen to illustrate one of the principal styles of American houses built during the long period from the first European colonies until about 1940. As in the Field Guide, the houses are presented chronologically. Six illustrate the dominant styles of the Colonial era (c. 1600-1820); three represent the Romantic era (c. 1820-1880); five the Victorian era (c. 1860-1900); and eleven the Eclectic era (c. 1880-1940), which was a high point in the diversity of American housing styles.
Choosing a single representative landmark for each style was a difficult task made only slightly easier by adhering to three criteria we felt were essential:
1. An exterior design typical of the style and, when at all possible, designed by a leading proponent of that style.
2. Interior design and furnishings, again when possible, appropriate to the period and style of the house. (We usually opted for houses with original fixtures and furnishings over those that are primarily restorations.)
3. Open to the public so that the interrelations between interior and exterior design can be viewed firsthand by all.
Theserestrictions, particularly the second and third, eliminated many potential choices. Some landmarks retain their original exteriors but the interiors have been extensively updated to reflect later fashions. Likewise, many superb houses are still private residences whose interiors can seldom, if ever, be visited. This is especially true for Victorian—and Eclectic—era landmarks, relatively few of which have been converted into museum-houses.
Even with these restrictions numerous difficult choices remained. The final selections must thus be considered only as our personal preferences among the many hundreds of superbly preserved and appropriately furnished American museum-houses available today for all to enjoy.
Virginia and Lee McAlester
Colonial Houses
Iron Works House: Saugus, Massachusetts; First-Period English Style
Lee House: Marblehead, Massachusetts; Georgian Style
Russell House: Charleston, South Carolina; Federal Style
Monticello: Charlottesville, Virginia; Early Classical Revival Style
Parlange: New Roads, Louisiana; French Colonial Style
Spanish Governor's Palace: San Antonio, Texas; Spanish Colonial Style
Romantic Houses
Melrose: Natchez, Mississippi; Greek Revival Style
Lyndhurst: Tarrytown, New York; Gothic Revival Style
Morse-Libby House: Portland, Maine; Italianate Style
Victorian Houses
Château-sur-Mer: Newport, Rhode Island; Second Empire Style
Mark Twain House: Hartford, Connecticut; Stick Style
Glenmont: West Orange, New Jersey; Queen Anne Style
Naumkeag: Stockbridge, Massachusetts; Shingle Style
Glessner House: Chicago, Illinois; Richardsonian Romanesque Style
Author Biography: Virginia and Lee McAlester, authors of the classic architectural work A Field Guide to American Houses, live in Dallas.
Alex McLean is the photographer of Private New York and Private Palm Beach. He lives in New York and his work appears in the New York Times, Metropolitan Home, Mirabella, and Vanity Fair.
Anonymous
Posted October 8, 2008
I really liked the book. The pictures were fastinating! I reccomend this book!
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