1 comments about Beautiful Bungalows of the Twenties.

1. First, the plusses. The print is good and clear and the pictures are nicely reproduced with good contrast and clarity. The floorplans are also easily legible, including those wee tiny numbers, denoting room dimensions.
   
   The very best feature of this reproduction of a 1923 "Beautiful Bungalows" book (originally published by The Builder's Journal), is page 71. There, in delicious detail, is the explanation of why those two-story bungalows (oft-seen in California) are known as "Airplane Bungalows" (or as the article reads, Aeroplane Bungalows).
   
   I've never seen this information in print before and I found the explanation completely enchanting. They even show a photo and a graphic, explaining this unique term. For those who don't know the reason, I'll give you a sneak peak.
   
   According to this book (reprinted by Dover Publications), The second story of the aeroplane bungalow "occupies only a central space and the wide overhangs of the roof give a winged appearance."
   
   So there you have it.
   
   And bear in mind, the aeroplane of 1923 was a double-winged "bi-plane" and that's the look they're talking about. Quite interesting, eh? That little tidbit, reproduced in photos, graphics and word, made this $10 book well worth the price. And that's a good thing because the rest of the book was a little boring.
   
   As you'll see from my reviews, I read a lot of books from this time period and a lot of books on historic architecture, but this one didn't grab me. It's really a compilation of various bungalows built in different parts of the country. These were architect-designed homes built on suburban (spacious) lots and each house is given two or three pages. So there aren't that many designs. And the designs that are shown are snoozers (with few exceptions). They're uninspired, run-of-the-mill, vanilla-flavored designs. Nothing too exciting here.
   
   Unlike the text in kit home catalogs (my personal favorite) the text in this book is dry. For instance, "As this plan shows, this bungalow contains quite a large size living room. The house illustrated, although simple in design, is attractive by reason of the proprotioning of windows and dormers, together with their resepective placing" (p. 35).
   
   Yawn. I'd much rather read, "You'll have the happiest housewife in America if you invest $55 a month in this quaint kit home..." (which was typical language found in the kit home catalogs).
   
   For those who are obsessed with this topic and love, love, love to read anything and everything about 1920s houses, this is a nice little addition. But it's not a good historic reference and the homes are boring and lack zing and there's very little history and/or info in this book.
   
   Rose Thornton
   author, The Houses That Sears Built

1 comments about Mount Vernon.

1. George Washington's Mount Vernon is not only an American landmark but a landmark of what America is, a warm, welcoming and gracious home. This beautiful book takes you through a four season walk of Mount Vernons spectacular grounds and a detailed and historical tour of the homes interior. With the easy interesting writing and the spectacular color photography all guided by the expert hand of Wendell Garrett, we learn and understand Washington's love and devotion to his beloved home. For anyone searching for detailed information on colonial interiors or historical gardening ideas, this book will be a welcomed addition to your home library.

No comments about Beach Hotels (Designpocket).

1 comments about Oppositions Reader: Selected Essays 1973-1984.

1. a great project, a necessary book to understand the Seventeens, not only in the architecture, not only for architects.

No comments about Simplified Site Engineering (Parker/Ambrose Series of Simplified Design Guides).

2 comments about Kindergarten Architecture.

1. This book is an absolute delight to read and a must have for all those who are interested in the experience of place in schools. Early childhood learning environments are perhaps the most fascinating learning spaces to study because they are tied so closely to competing philosophical and developmental views on how young children learn and grow. The history, analysis, and photos in this book complement each other wonderfully.
   
   - David Hutchison, author of "A Natural History of Place in Education"



2. This book only shows some rare centers in Europe. Nothing special. Maybe is worth for a collector of architectural books...

   If you are intrested in designing a Child Care Center this book wont bring you new ideas. Will be useless.

   I returned mine.

No comments about Two-Story House Plans Bible (House Plan Bible).

1 comments about Quick Guide: Storage Sheds: Step-by-Step Construction Methods (Quick Guide).

1. This is one of the better books I've found for the novice builder. The plans are simple with materials list for different sizes. Nothing fancy with this book just downright practical. You won't get lost in lingo. If you've built items in the past and are intermediate in skill, this may be too simple. This is a great first book on construction.

3 comments about Alpine Interiors/Alpen Interieurs/Interieurs Des Alpes: Alpen Interieurs = Interieurs Des Alpes (Interiors (Taschen)).

1. This is an exquisite book. Such cosiness and wonderful living spaces, truly exhilirating. I don't have much time to write this review but I read through the book this Saturday morning and it's impact is priceless - I briefly and partially read person's view from Canada below and they say it perfectly.



2. This book takes you inside some of the most interesting and memorable homes in the Alpine region. Fully trilingual - everything in the book is presented in German and French, along with English - this book also has stunning color and black and white photographs on almost every page. Makes an excellent coffee table book. If you love interior design, and are curious about the Alpine way of living, this book is for you. What a shame that it is currently out of print.



3. As well as ALL the other books from TASCHEN's "Interiors" series, this book is simply magical. It offers a great trip in the Alpes and simply gives you the opportunity to visit the most beautiful houses -- from simple chalets to deluxe houses -- of the mountains. The printing is fabulous and the pictures are of pure quality. Beautiful!

5 comments about Southwest Style : A Home-Lover's Guide to Architecture and Design.

1. Living in Ontario, Canada and designing an adobe like home is difficult and we need lots of inspirational books. This one is highly valued in our home during this design period and we recommend this book for anyone in our circumstances. We found it inspirational and useful to our architect who has little exposure to the southwestern style. But...we need more books just like this and find it difficult to buy a book on your site without you providing additional information about the book...for exmample...peeks inside at some of the photographs. That would be so useful. But don't hesitate to order this one; it is well worth the investment.



2. Given my passion for the southwest, I expected to love this book, but I didn't. Certainly I found the photos lovely, but somehow the overall package does not convey the excitement, spirituality, and drama of the region. In other words, the book is a little flat. And what I expected to be a good read turned out to be more of an encyclopedia style rundown of facts (in other words, boring). The book comes off as a cold report on what is in fact a fabulously exciting and inspiring region.



3. The pictures are pretty but the book is a boring read.



4. Extremely beautiful and informative. Finally a substantive look at the style of the southwest.



5. I do NOT find this book limiting; when searching for decorating style of the SW; there is so FEW out there, it is refreshing to find one that covers such a broad area of the SW. I LOVE THIS book...Normal decorating books have so LITTLE of this area and for those of us who LOVE IT, the book is wonderful. REFRESHING and NOT CUTESY! At present I live in the Midwest of America and it is so limiting to NEW ideas so often. Our local library had this book, and I was searching to see how many others were out there, not many... so I MAY end having to OWN this book.

   Thank you for carrying this as well as several others pertaining to this area of the USA.