The Opulent Interiors of the Gilded Age: All 203 Photographs from Artistic Houses, with New Text (Dover Architecture) [Paperback]

Arnold Lewis (Author), James Turner (Author), Steven McQuillin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Architecture | Publication Date: May 1, 1987

Rare photographs recall interiors of late Victorian mansions belonging to William H. Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, U.S. Grant, and many others. New informative text.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This collection of 203 black-and-white photographs of the interiors of late 19th century mansions originally appeared as Artistic Houses, a book published in 1883. Reprinted here, the pictures are accompanied by a new text and new captions, which give detailed information about the families these houses were built for and about the history of the structures in the past 100 years. Most of these 97 homes were located in the Northeast, and some of themand their ownersare instantly recognizable. For example, there are shots of the interior of the Henry Villard house, now a part of New York City's Helmsley Palace Hotel, that show the landmark building in its original splendor. Sadly, many of the other structures are gone, and their charm and ostentation can be enjoyed only through photographs.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (May 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486252507
• ISBN-13: 978-0486252506
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars INSIDE THE GILDED AGE, April 18, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: The Opulent Interiors of the Gilded Age: All 203 Photographs from Artistic Houses, with New Text (Dover Architecture) (Paperback)

The interiors of these homes are just spectacular, the B&W period images are crisp and clean; impressive considering their age. It is a tragedy that so many of these rooms represented in these photos are gone along with the houses that possessed them. The craftsmanship of these rooms cannot be dublicated today and the estates are irreplaceable, at least a few where saved to give us an idea of how people really once lived and what an art true craftmanship was, but you can't help but be sickened at how easily they were demolished and the inferior buildings that replaced them...that are now themselves being replaced...sic transic gloria.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another of Arnold Lewis' photo books on homes of THE GILDED AGE, March 2, 2008

By 

LinAnne "Lin22" (Puget Sound) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Opulent Interiors of the Gilded Age: All 203 Photographs from Artistic Houses, with New Text (Dover Architecture) (Paperback)

I purchased this book as a companion to another book that I enjoyed very much by Arnold Lewis called : "American Country Houses of the Gilded Age: Sheldon's "Artistic Country-Seats". I do not regret this purchase in the least, though I must say that I preferred Arnold Lewis' "AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES,etc" slightly more.

I give this book four stars for the following reasons:

(+) The plus points:

1) The size of this book is large (approximately 12 X 9 inches) and therefore the photos are also quite large and detailed.

2) The Introduction is marvelous, just as the Introduction to Lewis' other books are just as informative (eg: in "American Country Houses, etc").
As I recommended in my review to Lewis' other book called "American Country Houses of the Gilded Age: Sheldon's "Artistic Country-Seats", I would recommend reading the Introduction to this book before jumping-in and looking at all the photos first. The reason I say this is because the Introduction explains the backgrounds to the wealthy homeowners, and the Architects, and the builders, and more inmportantly, it gives an excellent background to the GILDED AGE, in general.

To better understand why the homeowners chose to decorate their lavish homes as such, a reader would need a background as to the Economic and Social trends important to the Gilded Age. I feel that Lewis' Introduction lays an excellent foundation to this book, & this nice Introduction will help the reader to better understand the photographs (12 X 9 inches).

3) The paper quality is excellent. The authors did not skimp on paper and binding, especially considering that this is a large paperback book.

(-) The minus point:

1) As even the authors stated, the 203 photos from THE ARTISTIC HOUSES, showed mostly the "public spaces" in each homes. Even though this book showed a few Victorian bedrooms, however, this book did not show photos of what would have been extremely valuable Victorian spaces, such as: the bathrooms, or the servants' quarters, or the kitchens.

I understand that Lewis was limited as to the photos he could show, since this book was focusing mainly on the 203 photos from ARTISTIC HOMES, however I so wished that there had been photos (ANY photos would do, if even from other sources) of the non-public spaces.
This point is the only minus I could find in this book, and therfore I gave this book 4 stars rather than five. However, if a reader has some supplemental books on Victorian interiors showing the non-public spaces, then those supplements can complete the picture, as they say, of what the lavish homes of the 1880's-1890's must have looked like.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful window . . ., May 27, 2006

By 

Karen (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Opulent Interiors of the Gilded Age: All 203 Photographs from Artistic Houses, with New Text (Dover Architecture) (Paperback)

This book is a wonderful 'window' into a lifestyle long since gone. It's photographs show beautiful rooms that represent the craftsmanship that is almost nonexistent today. It is sad to know that many of the homes represented here have been demolished and replaces by greatly inferior buildings or even worse, parking lots and such!!
If you love the Victorian era, and want a peek into that era's homes, then you will truly enjoy this book.