Customer Reviews

Prairie Style

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What is Prairie Style? You'll never find out from this book. It is a mish-mash of things that are rather geometric. It uses some terrible new designs that detract from the otherwise wonderfully executed designs by the original designers. There is so much Stickley presented here it should have a different title. Some of the best of the Prairie School is not included. This book had a chance with the great cover but after flipping through it, looking at the photographs, it went right down hill. Taking time to read the text took it right to the bottom. Someone should try this subject again, with an understanding of the subject.

I moved next door to the Babson house in Oak Park in 1990 and can guarantee that the photo in the book is from the street and not the back yard as the author suggests. A couple of years later I moved just around the corner from the Charles Barr home. This is in River Forest, not Riverside. I could overlook this dubious research if there were more that was worth reading or looking at, but the writing is uninspired rehash and the photos are not great. There are many much better done books available on the subject.