This elegant volume is a personal tribute to the eclectic and idiosyncratic architecture of the last century, a time when a home was not only a man’s castle but also something a man of average means could afford to build. And what glories of domestic architecture this country produced in those years when materials were abundant, labor cheap (and reliable) , and building styles changed as often as women’s hem lines.
This is a memorable, landmark book. First, Devlin is an artist who has spent the better part of forty years selecting the most significant examples of Victorian architecture on the Eastern Seaboard, and then creating large-scale, detailed, and dramatic portraits of them. Second, he is a writer whose prose style sparkles with information, opinion, and outspoken digression. finally, he is an impassioned advocate of that fustian and prolific era we now call “Victorian”, a time when America built, borrowed, and invented the most amazing array of architectural styles in history.
Here are more than seventy structures, from octagonal barns to Cape May cottages, from elegant New York townhouses to grand Greek Revivals, all faithfully reproduced in full color, all accompanied by Devlin’s engaging interpretation of the country’s changing styles and moods. Here is a book that makes us stop in our tracks, reconsider the glories of a period whose like will come no more and say out loud “Wasn’t that a time!”
Harry Devlin’s idea for this colorful young adult book grew from his attempts to distract and entertain his seven children on car trips in their station wagon from the Devlin home in New Jersey to a vacation spot in the Adirondacks. He pointed out “Mansard roofs,” or “Doric columns,” “Palladian windows,” “turrets,” and “finials.” A guessing game ensued and the children soon took pride in identifying “Federal,” “Victorian,” “Neo-Jacobean,” or “Dutch Colonial,” as well as myriad other styles.
The houses in this book are but a sampling of the diversified styles of architecture that characterize the American landscape, and their counterparts can be found almost anywhere in the United States.
Another young adult book, with wonderful illustrations of unique houses from 19th century American architecture, accompanied by text describing the origins of the style and regions where examples can be found.
Fifteen tales from many lands explaining nature’s phenomena: thunder, lightning, and rain.
~What’s Under My Bed? (no image available)
