The Good Home: Interiors and Exteriors [Hardcover]

Dennis Wedlick (Author), Philip Langdon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

11 1/2 x 9 3/8 250 color and 75 black-and-white illustrations US and Canada Distribution architecture What exactly makes a "good home"? According to the author, it is a house that is poetic, one that stimulates feelings and ideas. In The Good Home, readers will discover, step by step, the picturesque techniques they can use to give their house a sense of soul-a character that arouses emotions and sentiment. Drawing from a full-color portfolio of "soulful" homes, this guide examines such interior and exterior design techniques as focal points, shaped spaces, transparency, and enfilade, as well as, lighting, landscaping, and much more. For anyone considering building a house who likes traditional building styles with a contemporary twist, The Good Home will be an important addition to the library.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dennis Wedlick is an award-winning architect whose work has been widely published in The New York Times and Architectural Digest. Philip Langdon is the author of numerous books and magazine articles on architecture and urban design issues.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823020967
• ISBN-13: 978-0823020966
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,404,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars what makes a home beautiful?, May 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good Home: Interiors and Exteriors (Hardcover)

This book was well reviewed in the Washington Post, so I bought it.

Gorgeous photos and floorplans without measurements are shown for 13 houses, ranging from small to medium size, but all expensive.

The best thing about the book is that it discusses what makes a residence interesting to live in and beautiful to look at. It gave me some things to think about when I design my next house.

The worst part, normal for architect designs, is that closets and bathrooms are small or few or both. No rooms have TV sets or any clutter. You couldn't live in the house as shown.

But it is a feast of good and beautiful ideas!

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book About a Rare Talent, September 9, 2003

By 

R. MacTaggart (Right in the Middle, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Good Home: Interiors and Exteriors (Hardcover)

This is a gorgeous book. The images are of extraordinary quality, and, like another reviewer commented, make one feel as though you're in the room. The text is, well, charming. And that's a good thing. This isn't a dry, academic tome, and the reader is engaged by the almost poetic descriptions. One really begins to think about what's being conveyed. My hat is off to authors Dennis Wedlick and Philip Langdon.

But foremost is the rare talent of Wedlick. There are many bad architects out there, and the global built fabric has been significantly diminished these past five decades by Bad Modernism (as opposed to the rare Good Modernism). More rare these past five decades are architects conversant with a language of tradition. Even rarer still are architects who work this ancient language with skill, humor, and economy of line. Wedlick, like Sir John Soane, knows how to break the "rules" without ever descending into silliness.

The crisp plans reveal an impressive attention to compact arrangements, and offer a rebuke to the needless Bigger Is Better phenomenon that has swept America. Wedlick is unusually adept at making sense from complicated geometry (notably with his star-shaped house). His ability to work with both a language of tradition AND modernism is remarkable, and it's to his credit that he has deftly maintained a foot in these opposing camps. The built world would be infinitely improved if more architects kept their feet engaged as such!

My only complaints are:
1) The plans are grouped at the end, forcing one to flip back and forth while reading about a house.
2) Some highlighted houses don't have plans!
3) No site plans are included.
4) There's almost no information about Wedlick. One yearns to know more about the man, his practice, and clients.

These concerns do not offset my giving the book five stars.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational, May 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good Home: Interiors and Exteriors (Hardcover)

I love it.

This book is a great companion book to other "home design" books in my library. It explains why houses can be both practical and personal. Each house illustrated is unique, filled with ideas that everyone wants: cozy window seats, great fireplaces, nooks, and built-ins for strorage throughout. Every room is flooded with light from huge windows and open floor plans. (Plans are illustrated in back!)

The photography is so amazing you feel your are in the rooms. There are renderings and details throughout.

I also enjoyed reading about the stories of each of the homeowners. Their houses are not-too-big, and yet are filled with character and fun at every turn. (They look affordable too.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who dreams of a new house or renovating their current house into a personal "soulfull" house.