American Victorian Cottage Homes (Paperback)

~ Palliser & Co. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Reprinted from a rare 1878 offering from a leading Northeastern architectural firm: front and side elevations, floor plans and descriptions of 50 "practical designs of low and medium priced houses," ranging from 2- to 11-room dwellings, most in the cottage style. With complete specifications for two of the designs, a sample contract, advertisements from suppliers and price estimates. Authentic American Victoriana.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (November 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486265064
• ISBN-13: 978-0486265063
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #386,409 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book of Victorian House and Duplex Plans, April 7, 2000

By	Bill Aro "bilarodet" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

This book is full of great illustrations and plans for victorian houses of the late 1800's, many perspective views and some detail drawings. Great to look at and perfect if you plan to build a traditional victorian home or duplex and need some ideas.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-Detailed Victorian "Cottage" Guide, July 23, 2008

By	Timothy J. Mccarthy "Mongo" (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dover has published a number of books on Victorian and other period homes, and this is an honest entry in the series, though not the best. This is basically a catalog of available house designs, ranging from modest cottages, to row-houses, to mansions. What I really like about this book, and what most books don't offer, is a perspective view, at least two elevations, and plans for the first two floors of each house. If you have a hard time visualizing a house from just a set of plans, or if you look at a perspective and always wonder what the back of the house looks like, you will love this book. Occasionally extra details or sections are thrown in, and there's a price quoted for each house. The descriptions are very sparse however: "the plates are intended to tell their own story." If you fell in love with one of these houses, a good architect could produce a set of plans for you, though the room arrangements would have to be modernized to fit our expectations for kitchen size, open floor plans, number of bathrooms, etc.

There's a sample Specification at the end that you may find fascinating. Painstakingly laid out, it gives the minimum standard for every material used, from lumber to paint. There is also a contract for the builder and client to sign, which looks to be pretty savvy for the period.

This is the best book of its kind that I know of when it comes to allowing you to visualize exactly what a house will look like, inside and out. Only a somewhat constrained range of styles, and lack of details, keep this from getting 5-stars.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More Mansion Than Cottage, January 25, 2007

By	William L. Mitchell "Sawdust" (Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The title of this publication is a little misleading. While it displays elevation and perspective views of many buildings along with their floor plans, the vast majority of those buildings are of the larger, mansion variety, and not the smaller cottages it refers to in its title. It is very lean in detail drawings along with descriptions, and is non-existent when it comes to sectional views. It will not help you when it comes to information on how to build one of these plans, but it will tell you what it will look like when you are done.