Customer Reviews

Great Houses of New York, 1880-1930 (Urban Domestic Architecture)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been waiting for a book like this for some time, and this one does not disappoint. It is well researched with wonderful historic black and white photos. The book is of the finest quality and the text is well put together. This is such an interesting subject and the authors are very thorough in their research, the book really feels complete. I highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in wonderful Gilded Age residental architecture or just an interest in the rich history of this great city. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in this book and I commend the authors on doing such a fine job on a most worthy subject. Thank you.

I own a number of the Acanthus Press series, as well as numerous other books on great estates and mansions, some more than 100 years old. So I'm a tough critic. I agree with the other reviewers that this is a very good volume and in my opinion second only to the House of Los Angeles ( two volumes) set. The author has published many of the period photos in full page format. But what I would have liked in this book was more homes. There are a number of well photographed equally grand and important mansions that are missing. The jaw dropping Yerkes mansion for one was extensively photographed at the time. I am pleased however that the author did include the wonderfully gaudy Clark mansion, heretofore overlooked in other books on this subject.
This volume definitely should be part of your collection.
4.5 stars.

A fascinating book, covering the now mostly demolished great homes of New York, during the extraordinary flowering of wealth and enterprise in the late C19th.
All the famous families appear together with Edith Wharton style stories of scandal and excess...
The book boasts beautiful photographs, attractively reproduced, and fascinating floor plans.
Great Houses is exceptionally well written and a joy to the eye. One for architecture enthusiasts everywhere!

Kathrens' book is simply superb and is the only one I know of that pretty much thoroughlly documents the now almost lost domestic architecture of the Gilded Age. Not only are the descriptions of the houses outstanding, but the history of families that built them and under which circumstances is also given, and to completely understand a work of architecture, be it a commercial building or house, this is necessary, though not always included but it is in this book! It's a pity that these great houses of New York are now, for the most part, gone, but at least one can get a wonderful, visual documentation from his wonderful, rare, archival photos of the houses, not just exterior, but interior as well. I reccommend this book to anyone interested in great houses or in New York. It's a book that one must have and will enjoy reading and looking through forever. Lee Govatos

I now have three books by Michael C. Kathrens, "American Splendor", "Newport Villas", and now this fine addition "Great Houses of New York". Each one has a special power to take me back to an era of both wealth and style that is in many ways beyond comparison. Our own "La Belle Epoque" or "The Guilded Age" of the later period of the expanding industrial America came and went in such a great hurry, eventually eclipsed by new tax laws that will most likely forever prevent this kind of great American castle building from ever happening again. Having lived in both New York City and Newport, Rhode Island, I have set foot in a few of these surviving great homes Kathrens has documented from this grand era. But many others are now long gone so to visit these other great (ghost) homes, through concise architectural descriptions including an appropriate amount of social history, rare interior and exterior photography plus the helpful floor plan at the end of each entry is indeed a rare pleasure!

To see the best of European architectural traditions carried out here on these shores during this building period in such refined opulence is extraordinary. (If my words in this small review seem a little over the top, well the truth is, these homes and the lives that were lived in them were just as much "over the top!") There is a serious aspect here as well, the important documenting Kathrens has provided deftly showcases what the great Beaux Arts trained architects of this period were able to achieve, to help clarify to the reader the "excess" from that which is in many instances beautifully executed plans of classical proportion. The architectural language employed by Kathrens adds depth and understanding to each of the photographs. What is essentially a two dimensional presentation of these lost treasures soon takes on volume, weight and shape in the mind through each of the enjoyable "great house tours" Kathrens offers us. This is what I had hoped for when ordering these books, and this is indeed what each have provided!

A must read for design, architecture and house enthusiasts. Well written and althought all pictures are in black and white they are fabulous. An easy read full of great backgound and rich in history.

I love history, and am a frequent visitor to museums around Central Park in NYC. I always marvel at the buildings, many of which I know were former private homes of wealthy New Yorkers. I've always wondered about the history of these homes, and finally decided that I would try to find a good book on them. This book is large; it's intended as a coffee table book, so it has beautiful photos, maps, and drawings. I haven't read it yet, but I have skimmed through it. Each home portrayed in the book (some are no longer standing) has a complete history about it, from the person who had it built, the architects who designed them, various owners (if applicable), and the eventual fate of the home. If you are interested in this kind of thing, this book is very complete regarding the facts surrounding the individual homes.