No comments about Local Code:: The Constitution of a City at 42 degrees North Latitude.

No comments about 10 Airports: Fentress Bradburn Architects.

No comments about Houses: Space, Volume, and Texture.

No comments about Achille Castiglioni: Complete Works (Electa Architecture).

No comments about The Historic Chicago Greystone: A User's Guide for Renovating and Maintaining Your Home.

No comments about Family Houses/Maisons Unifamiliales/Einfamilienhauser (Evergreen).

2 comments about Small Houses for the Next Century.

1. This is no high-gloss, high-fluff content, coffee table book. It is, however, a great resource for anyone who is interested in architecture that keeps aesthetics, budget considerations, efficiency, and the personalities of the inhabitants in mind. I bought Duo Dickinson's book because my fiancee and I want to build our own home eventuallly. Reading this book has been inspiring and informative--it contains detailed descriptions, floor plans, hundreds of black and white photos and architectural drawings, as well as, a middle section of beautiful full page color plates. The main focus is the concept of "fit"--building the house to fit the occupants' needs. Many of the homes shown were built by the architects for themselves and/or family members. I really liked this book because it gave me a concrete set of ideas that my fiancee and I can use to build our own perfect home.



2. 'Small House for the Next Century' is well designed and well written. Its photographs are excellent, and drawings well done, but I can't give this more than a 'so-so' rating.

   It's probably just my own knuckleheaded thinking, but 'Small House for the Next Century' should have been called 'Small Vacation Homes for the Next Century'. Clearly the concepts applied here can be applied to other small houses, but the majority of the houses in this book are for wealthy people who can afford second or part-time homes. The designs (and costs) all play to this notion.

   I would encourage anyone to look at this book, but if you're interested in small, low-impact, livable and economical homes, this is not the right book.

2 comments about California Country: Interior Design, Architecture, and Style.

1. I was highly disappointed in the content of this book. I was expecting so much more. About the only interesting portion of the book was the section on the Mondavi home. Other than that, it stinks. This is not even worthy of coffee table book status. My suggestion: Save your money and don't purchase it; instead treat yourself to a coffee at the bookstore.



2. This is an updated paperback version of one of the first decorating books I ever purchased. Cool California rooms with styles that range from contemporary to more classic looks. Even though this book is several years old I still go back to it and use it as a resource. Overall I would call the main look shown... Casual Elegance.

2 comments about Old Barns in the New World: Reconstructing History.

1. In Old Barns In The New World: Reconstructing History, co-authors Richard Babcock and Lauren Stevens combine an historical survey of architecture and colonial craft, with thirty years of personal experience at hands-on restoration of dozens of barns. Richard Babcock is able to infer from ancient construction techniques both the date and nationality of a barn's builders which ranges from Dutch, German and English to Scotch-Irish, French, and the slave population of New England and eastern New York. Old Barns In The New World is a "must" for students of colonial era American architecture, and will prove to be deeply enjoyable, informative reading for American history buffs and old barn enthusiasts.



2. Richard Babcock studies, dismantles, moves, and rebuilds old barns, and is a recognized authority on colonial agricultural buildings.
   Seeing barns as expressions of national identity as well as responses to the particular agricultural demands of the time, Babcock's expert analysis of joinery techniques and painstaking research have led him beyond description to controversial speculations about the nationality of the earliest white settlers, and the prevalence of slave labor in the northern colonies.
   His work, enhanced with excellent drawings and photos, will be of interest to anyone interested in colonial life, and essential for students of agricultural architecture.

   (The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

No comments about The House Restorer's Guide.