American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture
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American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture
by Authors:
Lester Walker
Released: 02 September, 2002
ISBN: 1579122523
Hardcover
Sales Rank: 182065
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List price:
$19.95
Our price:
$13.57
(You save: $6.38)
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| Book > American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture > Customer Reviews: |
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Average Customer Rating: 
American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture >
Customer Review #1:
 A very good book -- but
I am interested in historic architecture -- mostly eastern coast architecture of the colonial period. And this book does a grand job of displaying it in its varied forms and regional and ethnic differences. As you can see I rated it at 4. Why not 5? Because I caught a couple of mistakes in the identification of some of the buildings -- both as to location and to period of history from which they came.
lt;br /gt; The first mistake I noticed is the octaginal blockhouse on Davis Island in Edgecome, Maine on page 67. Mr. Walker idenitifies it as a building from the 1650s. It was in fact built in 1805 as the central fortification of an earthwork and palsade gun battery to protect Sheepscot Bay. It is one of a whole string of idential coastal fortifications designed and built by the Army Corp of Engineers the specific engineer for this series of fortifications was Moses Porter -- at that time based at West Point. I have lived most of my life within 40 miles of this building.
lt;br /gt; The second building that I believe to be mislocated is found on page 95. It is correctly identified as an early georgian house. Where I disagree with Mr. Walker is it location. It is in fact a house that stands to this day in the city of Portmouth, New Hampshire and was the home of an 18th century merchant of that city. There is also a wooden example of the same house on route 1a just outside of the town of Newberryport, Massachusetts and another one built, 1782, in Saco, Maine.
lt;br /gt; With these exceptions I have enjoyed reading and re-reading this book
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American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture >
Customer Review #2:
 A Splendid Architectural Overview
"American Homes" by Lester Walker is a bargain at the price Amazon is charging. It is a lavishly illustrated (albeit in black and white) comprehensive work detailing every style of American home in drawings, sections, and elevations emphasizing the differences that make a certain home or style unique. In this way it is extremely useful for anyone with even a passing interest in architecture to learn about the varying styles of American homes. lt;pgt;Mr. Walker does not visibly seem to favor any one style over another, and avoids editorializing for the most part. Instead he seems to love all the differing styles for what they are, in different ways, and for different reasons, depending of the particular house in question. In addition to specifics on certain examples and styles, Mr. Walker also gives the reader a historical perspective of housing developments in a developmental time frame, starting with Pueblo and Tipi styles to the Inflatable, Deconstruction, Brutalism, and Neomodern styles that are decidedly more recent. As a fan of creative contemporary architecture, I especially found the coverage of the International Revival movement, the quirky Silo and Yurt homes of the early 1970s, and Fantasy homes from the 1940s in the shapes of an elephant (Margate City, NJ), Mother Goose (Hazard, KY), and a pig (Los Angeles, CA), among others, to be delightful. lt;pgt;This is a wonderful volume and I highly endorse it to anyone from architectural historian to collectors of Americana.
American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture >
Customer Review #3:
A Great History
I really love this book - it has given me some useful information on the kinds of houses and buildings I may see all over the country - an historical education that I have wanted. And this book makes it fun and easy to learn. The illustrations are cool and the format is very helpful.
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American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture >
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