Bertram Goodhue: His Life And Residential Architecture (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "A silver-trimmed, dove-gray sombrero cast a shadow over the handsome features of the young man as he sat sketching the cityscape spread across the distant..." (more)
Key Phrases: stylistic freedom, New York, San Diego, Bertram Goodhue (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Wyllie's work is a complete survey of Goodhue's life....Taking up this book is like walking through paintings of Pierre Bonnard. (channelwebscene.co.uk) REVIEW: A splendid...sympathetic biography of one of America's greatest architects and a thorough account of Goodhue's non-ecclesiastical buildings. (Journal of Stained Glass) REVIEW: A principal strength...is her deep research and her ability to create a compelling portrait from thousands of historical fragments. (Southern California Quarterly, Anthony Denzer)

Review

A splendid...sympathetic biography of one of America's greatest architects and a thorough account of Goodhue's non-ecclesiastical buildings.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393732193
• ISBN-13: 978-0393732191
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #811,848 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rich Narrative on the Life and Work of Bertram Goodhue, September 11, 2007

By	Pamela Skewes-Cox (Sudbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Written by Pamela Skewes-Cox in EDEN, Vol. 10 No. 2, Summer 2007. Permission to reprint granted by the California Garden & Landscape History Society

Romy Wyllie's newly released book Bertram Goodhue; His Life and Residential Architecture, published by W.W Norton and Company, Inc., is an engaging and well researched investigation into the life and work of one of the most talented and productive architects practicing in the U.S. at the turn-of-the-last-century. In a highly readable text Wyllie provides an analysis of 26 of Goodhue's most comprehensive commissions, as well as a description of the lives and excessive tastes of his clients. The author also tracks the progression of Goodhue's style - including his eventual break from tradition - and weaves all into a deft portrait of both the man and the artist.

Wyllie's research benefited greatly from the abundance of archival materials that have been carefully preserved by the Goodhue family and by academic institutions. However, it takes exceptional talent and perseverance to weed out the best of it. Wyllie has done just that. For example, Bertram Goodhue ( 1869-1924) was a prolific letter writer who wrote articulately about himself and others. Wyllie takes careful advantage of her sources, using them wisely to give a particular richness to the narrative. In a speech to his staff at the 1922 Twelfth-Night party, he says:

"I can't begin to tell you how fond I am of every member of the office force, - how much I value them all, and their various abilities. Of this force I am but one, a man-in-a-blouse, so to speak, with this difference; that I have the power of veto. I believe it makes for happiness that men's work should be interesting and not always mere work.... And everybody is free to differ with me in my solution of any given problem .... I often come back to find my own solution drawn out, with another, and distinctly better one, alongside."
[From "Twelfth-Night in Mr. Goodhue's Office", Pencil Points 3, no.2 (February 1922): 26]

The reader comes away not only with a thorough knowledge of the architectural work and Goodhue's relationship with his clients, colleagues and staff, but also an appreciation of Goodhue as a human being.

For those drawn to an architect's vision of how a structure works in relation to its surrounding, Wyllie is generous in offering up this side of Goodhue's innovations with landscaping and gardens. A trip to the Mediterranean, India, and Persia in 1901 with his new client, James Waldron Gillespie, marked a turning point for Goodhue. From this point on, he became adept in integrating shallow reflecting pools, pavilions, exotic tress and shrubs, courtyards, fountains, and waterways into his plans. The Dater and Gillespie residences in Santa Barbara, and the Coppell residence in Pasadena are a few of Wyllie's well documented examples of Goodhue's innovations and his ability to bring garden, landscape, and residence together seamlessly.

Bertram Goodhue will take his place alongside some of the best and brightest of his generation. Wyllie's book comes at an opportune time; her book is an excellent addition to recent publications on other architects and architecture of this period.
Pamela Skewes-Cox, Sudbury, MA

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GOODHUE, July 3, 2007

By	Shannon Deason "SchylarRex" (Houston) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A very good book with well researched text and wonderful archieval images. I cant say im a total fan of Goodhue, his work could be overwhelming, especially his residental work, but this book is very well done. I highly recommend it to anyone with any interst in Goodhue, it does the great architect proud.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bertram Goodhue: His Life and Residential Architecture. Review by R. W. Liscombe, July 17, 2007

By	Romy Wyllie (Pasadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

REVIEW by R. W. Liscombe, Professor of Art History, University of British Columbia. Published September 1, 2007 in CHOICE, a monthly review service of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

Beautifully produced, superbly illustrated, carefully researched, convincingly argued, and gracefully written, this book by Wyllie, historian, teacher, and practitioner of design has considerably extended an understanding of both American architectural culture during the transition from academic to modernist paradigms and Bertram Goodhue's accomplishment, especially in residential commissions. Wyllie adopts a traditional historical method to compile a highly readable and informative account of Goodhue's life in architecture. She is especially adept at discussing his various iconographic and theoretical sources while defining the distinct qualities of his formal and spatial articulation. A particularly commendable feature of the text is the excellent choice of Goodhue's fine drawings, historical and contemporary, color, photographs, and the effective positioning of plans in relation to elevation or views. The reader is additionally equipped with a concise bibliography, endnotes, list of buildings and projects, and index. Thus, Wyllie enhances the main literature exemplified by Richard Oliver's 1983 Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; graduate students; faculty and researchers; professionals.