Customer Reviews

Victorian Domestic Architectural Plans and Details: 734 Scale Drawings of Doorways, Windows, Staircases, Moldings, Cornices, and Other Elements (Dover Architecture) (v. 1)

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This book, originally published in 1881, contains floorplans and elevations of several dozen Victorian houses. Some plans are possibly suitable for actual construction. As the accurate title implies there are many drawings of architectural details. All plans are drawn to scale, but have been reduced by 12%. This book is a must-have for fans of Victorian architecture or home builders that are looking for Victorian-style ideas

This book offers plans for several gorgeous Victorian houses, and as such, is an excellent companion book to some of Dover's other architectural offerings. But as the author notes, the ". . . intention primarily was to make it a work of Architectural details . . ." House framing is laid out here, from sill plate to rafters. Back then they used balloon framing, so it's interesting to compare that to modern practices. But the best part of this book is the wealth of detail on a building's, well, details. You get a drawing showing how virtually every feature of a Victorian house if built, inside and out. You'll see how to frame out porches, doors, windows, cornices, and gables. There are examples of turned work - posts, finials, drops, and balusters - lattice work, roof ventilators, and chimney tops.

My favorite part is the treatment of interiors. Staircases are shown in elevation and in details. There are examples of all types of trim work, from wainscoting to fireplace mantels. Best of all, several rooms are shown in perspective or elevation, and then in cutaway detail. There's another book that provides a better set of plans and details (I'll update this when I find the title) for every room in the house, but this provides a great introduction.

If you own a Victorian house, you should have this book before you even think of tearing into any walls. You'll gain an understanding of what's behind the lathe before you cut out something you shouldn't have. If you're building or renovating and like Victorian details, this will give you a lot of ideas that you can incorporate into your house. Today's houses are better built - stronger, well insulated, with all the modern conveniences - but what they lack is detail. This book shows you why our houses now are so hopelessly plain-Jane compared to the houses build a century ago.

Good book for excellent drawings with measurements for victorian and related house interior and exterior architectural details. Good for actual homes and dollhouses. recommend

I have yet to come across a similar work that comes close to living up to the expectations of its title like this one does. It's all about the details. The sample elevation drawings and floorplans are not particularly helpful to me but the details of doorways, windows, staircases, etc. are fantastic for my reproduction work. I only wish this book was available in a larger format, CAD, or Adobe CD.

What is really pretty nifty about this book is that it is actual period architectural drawings of actual houses, not some contemporary's idea of what they looked like. You can get a real sense of what these places were like. And, for the price it can't be beat. If you got details to do this is a a great starting place.