Architecture of the Old South [Hardcover]

Mills Lane (Author), Van Jones Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1993 | Series: Architecture of the Old South

This photographic and scholarly tribute includes the finest examples of architecture of the Old South from early colonial times to the onset of the Civil War. Encompassing the whole of the South this volume covers the romantic plantations of Charleston to the governers palace in Williamsburg. It spans three centuries of distinctive American architectual forms. Organized chronologically, each period and region is covered thoroughly with many examples of country dwellings and urban structures. From colonial to Federal and from Greek Revival to the Romantic styles, this book illustrates and describes all the important and beautiful styles of buildings - restored, unrestored, and sometimes designs that were never executed.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Over the past 15 years, Lane has researched and written extensively about the architecture of America's South, producing seven state surveys, with an eighth on the way. This volume contains the series' highpoints, lavishly illustrated with Martin's color photographs and numerous period drawings and watercolors. Organized chronologically through the Romantic styles of the mid-19th century, the book provides stunning examples from each period and region, ranging from modest frontier cabins to sumptuous state capitals. The important contributions of European and Yankee designers are acknowledged, without slighting the work of such Southern talents as Robert Mills and Gideon Shryock. With broad appeal to an audience of architects, social historians, and preservationists, this book is recommended for larger regional libraries and architecture collections.
- H. Ward Jandl, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press; 1st edition (October 14, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558590447
• ISBN-13: 978-1558590441
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #986,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rich and immensely-informative, June 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Architecture of the Old South (Hardcover)

"Architecture of the Old South" is a rich and immensely-informative volume.

Mills Lane spent over fifteen year of "exploration, research, and writing" to produce this now classic work. He has attempted (and succeeded) in documenting how, surprisingly, "the great buildings of the Old South were created by outsiders and newcomers, especially New Englanders, whose contribution to Southern society and culture has been long underestimated."

Laudable buildings from such great cities as Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans are amply represented here, as are country houses and plantation estates. And to Lane's credit, he includes some quirky homes and frontier houses that have architectural connections to some of the region's more familiar buildings.

Van Jones Martin's color photography is crisp and unfussy. The best pictures include William Bryd II's handsome 18th-century mansion, in Westover, Virginia; Charleston's elegant, 18th-century Unitarian Church; and the grand, curving stair in Peter Wilson Hairston's 19th-century, two-story home in Advance, North Carolina.

A fine Bibliography and Index can also be found in this handsome and important work.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GLORY OF THE OLD SOUTH, October 23, 2006

By 

Shannon Deason (Houston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Architecture of the Old South (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book on some of the most spectacular buildings in American. The text is highly informative and the images are crisp and vivid, the author does a fine job of capturing the buildings in their best light, and he is quite thorough. The south is a special place, with it's own pace and culture, much is made of the divide of European and African American's, but as a southerner I can tell you that, both groups understand each other totally, for better or worse and for the most part work and live together better than in other parts of the country, these buildings where built for the most part by the whole of the south, and the styles reflect the culture, be it french, spanish, english, irish, african, scottish or whatever. The architecture of the great southern cites, Charlston, New Orleans, Natchez, and Savannah are on display here as are the wonderful rural plantations. I highly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in the architecture of the south or just enjoys well conceived books on interesting topics.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars depends on what you need it for, December 9, 2008

By 

carls "momof4" (Minneapolis,MN) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Architecture of the Old South (Hardcover)

I thought this book was only OK for what I needed. I wanted very specific information about architectural features for Southern homes. The pictures were great, but the writing was very general and talked about specific houses only, but not about Southern architecture in general, drawing out some of the characteristics that were common to the Southern Belles. I wanted information that was more specific to the general architecture of the South; not information about specific Southern mansions.