OZARK VERNACULAR HOUSES: A STUDY OF RURAL HOMEPLACES IN THE ARKANSAS OZARKS [Hardcover]

JEAN SIZEMORE (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press; First Edition edition (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557283109
• ISBN-13: 978-1557283108
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VERY INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING WORK - PRICELESS!, August 4, 2007

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: OZARK VERNACULAR HOUSES: A STUDY OF RURAL HOMEPLACES IN THE ARKANSAS OZARKS (Hardcover)

First, I must admit to a certain amount of biasness concerning this subject. I have been traveling and photographing old houses and barns in this area, the Ozarks, for over fifty years now. I wish I would have had access to this book in the late 50s and early 60s.

That being said, I can pretty well assure you that this is the best work that I have encountered addressing this subject, i.e. rural home places in the Ozarks of Arkansas. The information contained in this book is quite relevant to the homes found in Southern Missouri also. This work contains over 160 photographs, drawings and locations of home sites located primarily in the Boston Mountain region of N. Arkansas. Some of the photographs are old, some new, all in black and white, which, I feel, make them much more effective than had they been shot in color. Most of the photographs are quite detailed and not only include the subject dwelling, but give a wonderful feeling of setting and cultural impact.

The chapters in the book include an Overview, Ozarks as a Geographical and Cultural Region, State and local history, house types in the Arkansas Ozarks, barns and outbuildings, the house and the Ozark landscape, construction methods and materials, and living in the Ozark house. The text is quite well done and is extremely readable, even the technical portions. The text is very detailed and the footnotes are great, something I personally appreciate. I found not one page in the entire book that was not informative and absolutely fascinating! Of equal importance to the photographs and information on each dwelling featured, the author has stressed, over and over gain, the absolute isolation of many of these homes. One who has not travel the Boston Mountain Region cannot fully understand this, but must realize the fact of this isolation. While this is one of the regions in the U.S. that is not as well know as some other, it is, never-the-less, one of the most beautiful areas in our country, but, my goodness, some of the places are hard to get to. I have spent many hours, indeed days, wondering around, completely clueless as to where I was going and where I had been.

I have had the pleasure of viewing many of the locations, and indeed, many of the homes in this book. These dwellings are quickly vanishing from our landscape, more are gone each year. Many are being replaced by developments and even more by trailers and the like. Much of our heritage is simply either gone, or will be gone within a few years. We are lucky to have works such as Ms. Sizemore's which accurately record how it was, what we had and what we have lost. I cannot recommend this one highly enough. It is one you will want to purchase for your library, if you can find it.