Summer Cottages in the White Mountains: The Architecture of Leisure and Recreation, 1870 to 1930 [Hardcover]

Bryant F. Tolles Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

This generously illustrated book examines the origins and development of the summer cottage in the resort communities of New Hampshire's White Mountains between 1870 and 1930. Bryant F. Tolles, Jr., author of The Grand Resort Hotels of the White Mountains: An Architectural Legacy (1998) and New Hampshire Architecture: An Illustrated Guide (1979), associates the cottages and their outbuildings with a group of forty architects and architectural firms, as well as noted regional builders. He also links the summer cottage phenomenon directly with the origins and growth of the summer resort hotel industry and its distinctive architecture. While focusing primarily on architecture, including such details as the personal eccentricities, habits, and pastimes of cottage owners that often led to distinctive design features, Tolles also interprets these unique dwellings in a broader context of the nation's social, cultural, and economic history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The scholarship is ground breaking . . . Generously illustrated . . . the book is a pleasure to look through while you learn about the architecture of the cottages, including details of personal eccentricities, habits, and pastimes of the cottage owners." --New Hampshire Antiques Monthly

From the Publisher

9 x 11 trim. 192 illus. (16 color). 53 figs. Map. LC 99-35371

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 318 pages
• Publisher: UPNE; 1st edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874519535
• ISBN-13: 978-0874519532
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Summer Cottages in the White Mountains, June 22, 2000

By 

Linda D. White (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Summer Cottages in the White Mountains: The Architecture of Leisure and Recreation, 1870 to 1930 (Hardcover)

This book is a well researched and, to my personal knowledge, an accurate historical account of these houses. The description of the house that my great grandfather had built for our family was biographically accurate and architectually detailed. Beautifully illustrated. Having personal details of the lives of the people who built these houses adds depth and interest. A wonderful reading experience for people with N.H. roots and interest in turn of the century architecture.

2.0 out of 5 stars exterior photos only, March 23, 2008

By 

paddlerD (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Summer Cottages in the White Mountains: The Architecture of Leisure and Recreation, 1870 to 1930 (Hardcover)

If you are looking for an academic treatise on nice houses of this time and place, or want to get a little history on specific houses in the area, I suspect this is a marvelous book. The basic pattern is one or two exterior pictures, often somewhat small, and a couple of pages of text, for each of a hundred lovely old getaway homes for the wealthy of the time. I buy a lot of books in the general vein of beautiful old homes/camps/cottages/cabins in beautiful recreational areas such as Maine and other Coastal New England and like most of them. This one just wasn't good fodder for the fantasy of what it would be to own one of these houses. There were only a handful of interior photos in the whole book, and many/most of the exterior photos are small black and whites from old magazines from the area. I appreciate being educated a little while I dream, but this one was order's of magnitudes too dry for me.