Palladian Style (Life Style) [Hardcover]

Steven Parissien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1994 | Series: Life Style

Inspired by the Classicism of the great Italian architect Palladio, designers such as Burlington, Campbell and Kent adapted his ideas to the English climate. They thus created a new style which was to pervade town and country house design throughout England and become a major influence in the colonies of North America. In this book Steven Parissien explores the appearance of Palladian villas in England and follows the style as it spread to the average home through pattern-books. The book examines the origins, forms and development of the style through building materials, fixtures and fittings, as well as period colours and coverings, presenting the reader with a full picture of the architecture, furnishings and decor of the style.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714829218
• ISBN-13: 978-0714829210
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,487,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully illustrated, beautifully written, December 23, 2000

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palladian Style (Life Style) (Hardcover)

If nothing else this would make one of those fabulous coffee-table books - gorgeous to just to look at and stacked to the gunnels with a huge variety of photographs of interiors, stunning old masters reproduced, and pretty architectural line drawings. However I hope people will get this and read it for more than that for Parissen has done a thorough job on a detailed and thoughtful text .

This is the history of the Palladian style, its growth in England in the early eighteenth century and mostly looking at the typical Palladian style homes and how they developed over a 40 year period from 1715-1755. The book takes us inside the home, as well as outside looking at all the elements from the structural, and architectural to the decorative such as fittings and wallpapers. I have just finished reading Spencer-Churchills "Georgian Style" which takes a much broader time span of the whole Georgian period and looks far more at the style rather than the substance. With a more focused subject and a shorter period Parissien takes us far deeper into the development of style and the people who influenced it. He also shows how it filtered through from the grand mansions to the villas and homes of the less well-off both in England and America. There is a reasonable glossary in the back, along with some good potted biographies of the main people mentioned in his text. He has also provided a page of additional reading on the style if this book sparks your interest further.