After a decade of consulting my softbound copy of the earlier edition, I eagerly awaited this one. It is, at once, both familiar and new. My first impression was, "Wow, it's big; and heavy!" It's probably now out of the "field guide" category in the sense of portability. Perhaps the current one is similar to the hardbound 1st edition I never knew but the smaller, lighter softbound book was easier to toss under my arm and take off.
I'm a clinical pharmacist by training - not an architect or architectural historian - so content accessibility is very important to me. Like the earlier edition, the book shines in this department but even brighter. I find the layout more logical, with the pictorial key and glossary up front, not buried in the early pages. At first I couldn't figure the organization of the pictorial key but now I see it's clearly aimed at the sidewalk house viewer, e.g., me. Start at what you can see over the hedge and work down: Roof form, Dormers, Roof-Wall Junction, Chimneys, Porches, Windows, etc. Unfortunately, the typeface for the category headers is less eye-catching in the new edition, making it harder to skim to your section.
The meat and value of the book is in the text. I haven't read it all, being most interested in the styles found here in southern California, but the content is again extremely accessible to the average reader. There continues the excellent use of line drawings, many that have been improved from the 1st edition. The photographs are much clearer on fine white paper than they were on the buff colored pages of the softbound previous edition. In my selective review I notice there are some new house photos and some different photos of 1st edition houses. There are also some photos deleted in this edition - so don't throw away your 1st edition!
If I had to pick a single best new feature of the book, it would be the 45-page chapter, "Neighborhoods: The Grouping of American Houses," with historic photos, aerial line drawings and elevations of neighborhood types, and discussion of the history, growth and problems of neighborhood development. With some historic neighborhoods being nibbled to death by individual variances and code exceptions until they've lost their defining character, this chapter makes clear that individual houses - no matter how remarkable - are usually part of a collection worth recognition in its own right.
Final assessment? This tome is no longer suitable for my backpack and the typeface choices make it less friendly for skimming but the expanded material is so good and so well integrated into the original [including the line drawings that look like they could have been there since 1984] that this "field guide" is still a must-have book for anyone interested in historic [or some-day historic] houses.
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It’s like a book that architecture students might be using during ...
I think that when you’re truly committed in the design process of your house, knowing the basics of architecture will come in handy in order to come up with an aesthetically sound and coherent design, working with your architect of course.This book is a 101 introduction to the basics, from roof types, dormers, porches, architectural styles, etc... It’s like a book that architecture students might be using during their beginning courses. I loved it! and moreover it helps you extend your general knowledge.
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Top reviews from other countries
Christina Findlay
Great book that focuses on exteriors
Reviewed in Canada on January 21, 2023
Christina Findlay
Reviewed in Canada on January 21, 2023
American House Styles: A Concise Guide by John Milnes Baker
American Homes: The Landmark Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture by Lester Walker
A Field Guide to American Homes: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America’s Domestic Architecture by Virginia Savage McAlester
It can be so hard to tell exactly what each book has to offer in itself as well as and has to offer over it’s competitors. But you are in luck, because I have all three and I will compare them to help you decide which book or books would most satisfy what you are looking for in a domestic architecture book. I really enjoy having all three in my collection, for their different strengths and focuses; and I think if you really love domestic architecture, you will also love having all three in your collection. Each book provides a unique perspective and has a slightly different purpose, so you won’t be frustrated with content overlap if you get more than one of these books or already have some other books in your collection.
American House Styles by Baker: An excellent book to give you a nice quick overview of the history and styles of houses. The book is divided into time periods and their respective styles. Each section starts out with several pages of general introduction on the time period and general details of the house styles to come in the section. Nothing too detailed, but the important essential information is there. Then each section features several different house styles of the period and each style (Queen Anne, Greek Revival, etc.) all have one page of text that details the pertinent essential information and beside that text page is a colour drawing of the exterior facade as well as a floor plan. Now what I LOVE about this book is this: it can be hard to define which styles have grand entryways and which don’t or which styles feature large living rooms and etc. when you are looking at all these different house layouts. The author has a genius method for cutting all that confusion away. He shows you how each style would look with the same modern floor plan (a bottom floor that includes a dinning room, kitchen, living room, bathroom, entry, and laundry room). Because the kitchen is always in the same place and etc., you can flip easily between the styles and clearly and quickly understand: okay this style has a lot of hallways or angles or closets, decorative wall insets, a grand living room, the house is generally bigger than other styles. It also makes it really easy to see which styles involve major internal/structural shifts in design/innovation and which styles are closer offshoots of already formed ideas and their stylistic differences are mainly ornamental. Fabulous! This book is a great place to dip your toe into domestic architecture enjoyment as a hobby.
American Homes by Walker truly is an encyclopedia, but still somewhat concise. This book truly truly covers every single home style in the history of America, right from the American Indians, to the settlers though to today, even including a page on motor homes and different types of mobile homes! Most styles have two pages committed to them, but some of the more iconic styles or the styles that include more variations have four to six pages dedicated to them. Each home style features several paragraphs on the style itself and the time period. There are lots of drawings on each page with little notations in the drawings (like "oversized dormers on hipped roof"). The drawings of the houses with floor plans are set an angle vs. face on, so you can see two sides of the exterior facade. I love this choice because it’s not often utilized but you can really get a good sense of the height, width, and length of each style as well as simply more visuals of the facade. Essential floor levels are also shown underneath in descending order under the "floating" picture of the 3D facade. Soft lines connect the main corners of the homes so you won’t get lost between levels about how it all lays out and where certain levels end before or after other levels. A lot of the homes featured also include their location as well as the architect. Real homes! I can go on the internet, if I like a home, and see real pictures of it/learn it’s history. Fabulous! There is a concise glossary at the end that includes some comparative diagrams like the differences between roof styles like hipped and gable roofs. The author does an amazing job of really adding in a lot of history as well as information on building and styling techniques, but doesn’t overwhelm. Each page has an excellent balance of white space, which helps with balancing information overload. Finally, a great bibliography of the books he has referenced so that you can use this book as a solid jumping off point to find other great architecture books. This book is for you if you have more than a passing interest in domestic architecture or have been a casual hobbyist for a while and if you really want to dive in deep. Also a great book if you enjoy the history aspect of domestic architecture and little factoids everywhere.
A Field Guide to American Homes by McAlester is a book that is very clearly encapsulated by it’s title: a book that helps you identify different home styles by their exterior (not a lot about interiors, like floor plan drawings, in this book) by comparing and contrasting all the larger exterior structural shapes as well as the smaller ornamental choices. One could literally use this book as a field guide while walking around neighbourhoods and enjoying beautiful homes. Would you like to know all the common dormer and window surrounds/styles for Queen Annes? You’ll get that in this book with its many identification drawings. Would you like to know every single type of roof between all the styles? You’ll get that and more in the pictorial key. Are you renovating an old house and you would like to see how certain styles are accomplished through the physical building of the home to help you get an idea of what might be involved in your renovation. You’ll get that as well. This book is divided into era and accompanying homes styles sections. Each section, say the Victorian era, has two intro pages about the time period and its general styles. Then each of those section is divided into subsections: Second Empire or Queen Anne, and etc. These subsections start with maybe four to six pages on the important information about that style as well as a few diagrams and drawings. Then you will get maybe 6 to 14 black and white pages, each containing several pictures, showing the variations of that style with location and building information. This is the book you’ll want if you would like to have a lot of side-by-side full page comparison diagrams showing all the different column styles, roof pitches, exterior cornice choices, and etc. This book also features the most exterior style pictures of the three books, so you’ll really get a good sense of the kind of real-life variation you my see in a style. Great for identifying homes on a walk as real life homes vs. idealized drawings will often dip into more than one style or blend two similar styles together in a way that you are not quite sure which style the house is truly rooted in. This is also a great book to get if you already have another domestic architecture book that you are satisfied with that focuses heavily on interiors/floor plans.
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smartypants
The detail, the detail!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2022
Mr. Michael C. Fitzgerald
One of my new favourite books
Reviewed in Australia on June 7, 2020