Customer Reviews

Wallace Neff and the Grand Houses of the Golden State

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is well researched and his life presented well but the monograph is so skimpy on photos that you're left feeling like you just ate your appetizer and now you are being denied your filet mignon. His work is so stunningly detailed in person that only giving the reader a few black and white photos devoid of detail is jsut mean spirited. Very disappointing.

Living in the city where most of architect Wallace Neff's 'California homes for California people' exist, it is a pleasure to see a monograph on this gifted artist in print. Neff's homes remain grand and quintessentially California, referencing Spanish Revival in the most elegant sense. Driving the streets of Pasadena, San Marino, and Altadena, Neff's estates are an indelible mark on the landscape - tall, statuesque homes with carved columns and grand entry ways quietly guarded by his signature heavy wood and iron decorated doors. His homes, created in the 1930s for movie stars, moguls, and the wealthy, are mementoes of another era and their eloquence is untainted by the passage of time.

Yet equally as interesting as the numerous homes illustrated in this excellent book is the warm, scholarly, immensely readable text by Diane Kanner. Not only does she inform us about Neff's biography in novelistic fashion, but she also places Wallace Neff in the historical setting of California of his heyday. The writing is rich in the colorful history of the new frontier, the Eden where dreams like movies were made.

This is a fine book in every way, and the layout and design make for a coffee table book of California history that comfortably moves to the lap as a fascinating non-fiction novel! Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 05

if you are looking for examples of the archictecture of wallace neff this is not the book to purchase. There are very few pictures of his architecture in this book, in fact the nicest picture in the book is the one on the front cover. The book is mostly about the man and what influenced his designs.

The book is well researched, but there are very few photos. For that reason I find it unsatisfying. In a book about an artist, a lack of visuals is a serious flaw.

Wallace Neff is one of the quentisential California residential architects, he was a master of the Spanish Colonial, which is pure California. Neff is to Spanish Colonial what Paul Williams was to California Regency. This book is just perfect, the images are first rate and the text is highly informative and though scholarly it's also accessable. If you have any interest in this subject or just appreciate wonderful books then I believe you will be pleased, if you like me love architecture and appreciate great architects then you will be thrilled. This is the definitive book on Wallace Neff, thank you Ms. Kanner, job well done.

but I like photos. This book is dense. When we're talking architecture I want beautiful colorful photos! There are very few and often they are in black and white. If you're not looking for photos, it's fine.

I thought the information in this book was wonderful! The biographical details on Neff and those he designed for are captivating.
If the book has a weakness, it would be that the photos are very few considering his body of work. Only one distant aerial shot of the Enchanted Hill estate of Frances Marion and Fred Thomson when so many commissions were generated from those who visited the home???
I'm dreaming of a Wallace Neff book with hundreds of interior & exterior shots of his works, floorplans, and current status of the house.
Having said all that, I'm still reading this every evening before bed, so it is fair to say I love it!

I really liked this book. I thought it was excellent. I enjoyed reading about the man Wallace Neff and reading about his architectural career and seeing photos of his works. Yes, there could have been more photos-but what was there was nice. And I must commend the publisher as these days I find so many typographical errors when reading books--and I did not find ONE typo!!! A very well done book.