Customer Reviews

American Colonial: Puritan Simplicity to Georgian Grace

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Wendell Garrett once again produced another great collection on fine furnishings and architecture. There is great range from simple colonial design to grand represented in this book. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in colonial furnishings and architecture, or who simply likes the finer things!

Do buy if you want a coffee table picture book. Also if you want something that focuses on New England. Don't buy this if you want a scholarly work, which it is not. Also, don't bother if you want something that gives a good overview of colonial buildings in the South, as you will not find it. The entire first one hundred years of Southern colonial seems to be summed up by statement that Virginia settlers were "unruly and not given to hard work." The photos of 18th century houses in Virginia and the Carolinas usually discusses the furniture and where it was made (usually New England) rather than the architecture of the house.

The photographs in this book are superb and could stand on their own as examples of craftsmanship.

The book is an orderly and well written discussion of building styles brought from England and Europe and elaborated in America into something truly original. In many ways, the houses shown and discussed here were the highpoint in American residential design.

The author is careful to describe the history of the regions in which these houses were situated. He does so with an easy grace.

If you are restoring an old house or decorating a less old house, this is an excellent reference and source of inspiration.