American Country Building Design: Rediscovered Plans for 19th-Century Farmhouses, Cottages, Landscapes, Barns, Carriage Houses & Outbuildings (Paperback)

~ Donald J. Berg AIA (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Provides an excellent introduction as well as suggestions for using these plans to add architectural detail to your own home...an excellent bibliography."--Victorian Homes

"The best home, barn and landscape designs...in a charming book....[It] contains numerous original illustrations showing a wealth of construction details, site plans and plantings."--Fine Homebuilding

This classic bestseller contains the finest collection of architectural designs from a bygone era--and it's a boon for anyone hoping to construct that dream house or add charming touches to a modern one. Hundreds of illustrations from actual 19th century building plans feature architects' blueprints and drawings, full-color photos, and more. The buildings range from humble farmers' cabins to summer getaway cottages for the rich, and there's plenty of detail work, including built-in shelves, dormers, and turned balusters. With this information, an architect could easily create anything shown on the pages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402723571
• ISBN-13: 978-1402723575
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #651,193 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare find of historic country building plans, April 14, 2001

By	Martha Mitchell (Florence, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AMERICAN COUNTRY BUILDING DESIGN: Rediscovered Plans For 19th-Century American Farmhouses, Cottages, Landscapes, Barns, Carriage Houses & Outbuildings (Paperback)

I am an architect designing a house for a client -it is a Charleston Style house with the master bedroom in a "carriage house" attached at the rear. This book helped me to create/design a more authentic carriage house. I am a horse lover from way back so I ate up the book front to back! I was pleased to find many examples of architectural details and embellishments. The plans of historic houses and barns are a rare treasure. Would be fun to build one of the farm houses!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgia and Fun Bits of History, July 3, 2006

By	NewEnglandScene (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This book is all about 19th century buildings, just like the title says. These are the houses that pushed forth from the established coastal settlements through upstate NY, OH and the Midwest during that century of expansion. I confess that this isn't my preferred style of house, but the book itself is a delight. The illustrations are exquisite; Currier & Ives stuff that make you just want to jump into the scene. And the texts that accompany the plans are full of fun facts. This is not a scholarly text, just a breezy ride back through time with a guide that makes it all come alive. You'd have to be a real curmudgeon not to enjoy this book ...unless of course you were determinedly looking for something else. A note however on the coverage. Although the subject of the book is the 19th century, the early part of the century (Federal and Greek Revival in particular) up to about 1840 is not really treated in this book. This book is about what was built during the industrial revolution, when things -including house plans- were mass produced. Buy it for a couple of hours of light reading and some new perspectives on how we lived and built in the latter 2/3 of the 19th century.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A background of the evolution of early american housing, March 20, 2001

By	David W. Wright (Powhatan, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AMERICAN COUNTRY BUILDING DESIGN: Rediscovered Plans For 19th-Century American Farmhouses, Cottages, Landscapes, Barns, Carriage Houses & Outbuildings (Paperback)

Donald J. Berg does an outstanding job of showing the evolution of the designs and the backgrounds of the designers of single family housing primarily in the 19th century. The plans and illustrations are excellent for those that want to use them as a guide for present day construction.