5 comments about Country Houses of John F. Staub (Sara and John Lindsey Series in the Arts and Humanities).

1. What happens? Architectural schizophrenia. Staub was the best neo-classicist practicing in Houston, and in Texas, in the first half of the 20th century. His houses are lovely studies in delicate classical detailing, repeated to reveal truly grand scale. His art reached its full potential because it was generously patronized by wealthy Houstonians. This book tells that story, with gorgeous photography and politically loaded language.
   
   Now, enter the over-the-top deconstructionist archi-speak of the author, who can't decide if Staub was a real genius or just another imperial imitator. Quite annoying, really. This book should have been written by someone with an appropriate appreciation for scale, proportion, massing and form rather than another graduate from Lars Lerup's flake factory. P-L-A-S-T-I-C. Yeah, whatever.
   
   Bottom line: This book is for browsing more than reading, so you're more likely to notice the startling work of the architect than the distracting analysis of the author. It's a shame so few people appreciate the art of building anymore. Staub did, and he was a consummate artist, more disciplined than McKim, Mead and White and more original than, say, Atlanta's Neel Reid.
   
   Buy this book as a catalog and chronicle of the work of one of our country's most talented residential architects, and go to see the houses now before Houston has a chance to demolish them all.



2. My objections to 'Country Houses of John F. Staub' begin with the title. Why the Staub works included in the book are defined as "country houses" is quite unclear. The majority of these houses are in fairly dense urban/ suburban neighborhoods. While the architectural ancestry of many of the designs is that of English, American and even French country houses, Staub's works are very much in the mainstream of American suburban house design of the mid-twentieth century.
   I lived for many years in a neighborhood rich with Staub houses, and I have always loved them for their understated and impeccable design. The earlier book on Staub by Howard Barnstone has become a collector's item and I am lucky enough to have a copy which I have read and re-read many times.
   The current book, I am sorry to say, is virtually unreadable. Stephen Fox's text is laden with impenetrable sociological jargon with the thesis being, as far as I can tell, that the newly rich of Houston wished to reside in tastefully traditional houses. This 'insight' is belabored to the point of comedy. To read passages of this prose aloud will make you roll over laughing at the convoluted language used to explain the obvious.
   Sadly, the overwhelming sociological point-making of the text completely dominates the book, rather than discussion of Staub's space-planning, detailing and architectural imagery.
   Richard Cheek's photographs, however are positively stunning. For me, the ideal would have been a re-edition of Howard Barnstone's earlier book on Staub with the addition of Cheek's photography.



3. Many of us are subjected to the new mega mansions in our neighborhoods and in other areas of our city. It's not just the close in Arts & Crafts and cottages that were our once our modest childhood homes at stake anymore. Many historical structures by talented architects in Houston such as John Staub, Barnstone, etc are now be razed to build homes that more resemble bank buildings to satisfy the nouveau riche excess taste. Even in Texas, bigger is not always better. This book chronicles many of these homes that I once remembered in awe, but now gone forever. While globabl warming may be hoax, the loss of these beautiful homes is a reality that needs to be addressed. Great book for your library and memories.



4. John Staub's attention to detail as illustrated in this wonderful book was second to none. The book's wonderful illustrations showcase many of the architect's beautifully designed homes in Texas. These homes would be very suitable for construction in most parts of the country and would fit right in. The floor plans show Staub's designs for the upper middle class as well as the truly wealthy class of people and reflect the quality of detail and craftsmanship prevalant in the late 1920's and into the 1930's. I assure you, this book is an asset to anyone's library who is interested in architecture.



5. This book is a true tribute to Staub and the world he created for his clients--mostly Houstonians. It is a beautiful well illustrated book that gives you a historical paradigm for which to better understand and more appreciate the homes showcased within. Great for coffee table reading or for the serious student alike.

5 comments about Fireplace: Decorating and Planning Ideas (Better Homes and Gardens(R)).

1. This book was everything I was hoping for & more! So much practical information and ideas. This book had ideas no matter where your fireplace is located or what your style is.



2. Like another reviewer said, The Fireplace Design Sourcebook by Melissa Cardona is a much better choice. Why he gave this book 5 stars anyway I can't figure out. I have over 20 postits marking pages in the other book and not a single one in this book. Not a single idea for the stone, mantle, or anything worth using. Way too much filler writing that didn't apply to anything, describing styles and types that are never applied in real world designs.
   
   "The Inglenook is a charmingly old-fashioned idea and the word itself is equally quaint. Ingle is a British word for..." Well, you get the idea.
   
   I can see the point that this book has a good decorating focus, but I still don't think it is a great book even for that and if you are just looking for fireplace ideas I think you will find this lacking.



3. The Better Homes & Gardens book "Fireplace Decorating & Planning Ideas" is an excellent book. We are building a new home, and were looking for fireplace designs for ideas. There is also a lot of "how to" information, in which we weren't particularly interesed, but the book gave us some good ideas. An even better book, for our application, which we ordered at the same time, is a Schiffer Book by Melissa Cardona entitled "The Fireplace Design Sourcebook" It has more photographs, and an enormous variety of fireplace designs to peruse.



4. This is the best fireplace book I have seen. First of all the book has hundreds of beautiful and varied fireplace pictures. The pictures are great because they show the fireplaces in the home, decorated, and with the home furnishings around them. They are all warm and inviting although very different. The text of the book flows well also. First it helps even a novice decorator find the styles that work with your personality and home. Then it breaks down fireplace ideas by the different living areas in the house.



5. My wonderful brother built a beautiful fireplace mantel and surround for me. I got my inspiration from this great book. I also use it for ideas for decorating the mantel - I love to change the look often.

No comments about Green Homes: New Ideas for Sustainable Living.

4 comments about Tiling 1-2-3 (Home Depot ... 1-2-3).

1. The book was expensive but I did learn a few things. Be careful about following the instructions on shower pan construction. I'm not an expert, but after reading many books on tiling, I do believe it is important to pre-slope the pan membrane to the drain and to not puncture the membrane on top of the curb with screws (it's better to do the curb with lath and mortar, not by screwing on cement board). John Bridge's site is a good all-around source on this subject inhabited by both DIY'ers and real pros.



2. I bought this book at Home Depot and returned it after a few hours upon finishing it. I could have got the same information from a free pamphlet. They ought to be ashamed. However, there were some nice pictures and I did learn a little bit, but it was just a super easy primer for the real thing. I didn't buy another book before tiling 900sf in my house. I wish I had bought a better book, as I learned all kinds of tricks "the hard way." Hint: Swimming after tiling all day can return your back to normal when it doesn't seem like anything else will help. I am now going to buy John Bridge's book before my next tiling job.



3. This is a good book for people who want to start tiling or for people who have stated but would like to get more ideas, help or tricks.



4. This book is more or less useless on it's own. It tries to make tiling look really simple and straightforward. Tiling is actually not rocket science at all, but you really do need to spend time up front deciding what you are going to do. It isn't a weekend project. Get a real book written by someone who actually lays tile professionally and not just by people who sell the latest half-baked do it yourself supplies. I recommend "Tile Your Word" or "Setting Tile". Both top notch books. In fact, get both - given how expensive tile is it'll be worth the money.
   
   This book does have some nice pictures of some steps though. That's about all I can recommend it for.

1 comments about Toward a New Regionalism: Environmental Architecture in the Pacific Northwest.

1. This just was not what I expected to get from the attached description. The book is not bad just not what I was looking for.

5 comments about Underground Buildings: More Than Meets the Eye.

1. This book is "THE BOOK" if you are looking for non-technical aspects of underground buildings. Great photos, excellent commentary!



2. This is not your typical Underground House book. The author gives examples of building underground businesses, schools, offices, storage, stores, museums, theatres, sports complexes, military facilities and residences. And explains their history and why they do or do not work.
   
   The photos are quite good and there are also some blueprints of a few underground structures. There are also two chapters on the theory and ins and outs of building underground.
   
   I think the author should have made this book more global, because it could have been titled Underground Buildings of the United States.
   
   I'll still give it 5 stars though, because I think she did a good job in accomplishing what she set out to do. I do hope she comes out with a sequel that is more global in its coverage.
   
   This book should be a must read for any architect.



3. At $29 or less, this book is being given away. This is a museum-quality book in terms of the paper, the photographs, the lay-out, and the cover.
   
   I bought this book in part because land is becoming extremely scarce around the great universities and the central business districts, and I was looking for something to help me think through how to persuade a university to let me put a building into a hill or under a playing field.
   
   This book does that. It is a very fast read, the photographs are priceless--worth 10,000 words each as the Chinese would say--and the only thing I did not find in this book were architectural specifics and photos of underlying infrastructure (pump rooms, air cleaning rooms, etc.)
   
   If you are contemplating the need for squeezing a building into an area that is down to the "do not disturb" green space, or if you are contemplating how to exploit existing mines, caverns, or other underground options, this exquisite book is not only useful as a tool for reflection, it will help you "make the sale" to skeptical others you have to get on board.
   
   The author provides a list of 50 places to visit with addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites, a fine resource section for more reading, and an excellent index.
   
   This is an all-around world-class book that is easily worth $49 or more.



4. This book has many short, easy-to-read sections about general topics relevant to building underground, and about many specific examples in the United States. Unfortunately, there is not room to go into much detail about all the examples, but this book is definitely a good starting point. Well illustrated with color photographs.



5. This book is filled with wonderful pictures that augment the authors descriptions of underground buildings. She writes with wit and demonstrates that undergound buildings have many benefits, including financial and asthetic ones. This book is well worth a read as a detailed resource of information on this topic, as well as being an entertaining "coffee table" book. She explores this issue, which is more common than the average person would believe, and takes it to the next level.

3 comments about The Opulent Interiors of the Gilded Age: All 203 Photographs from Artistic Houses, with New Text.

1. I purchased this book as a companion to another book that I enjoyed very much by Arnold Lewis called : "American Country Houses of the Gilded Age: Sheldon's "Artistic Country-Seats". I do not regret this purchase in the least, though I must say that I preferred Arnold Lewis' "AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES,etc" slightly more.
   
   I give this book four stars for the following reasons:
   
   (+) The plus points:
   
   1) The size of this book is large (approximately 12 X 9 inches) and therefore the photos are also quite large and detailed.
   
   2) The Introduction is marvelous, just as the Introduction to Lewis' other books are just as informative (eg: in "American Country Houses, etc").
   As I recommended in my review to Lewis' other book called "American Country Houses of the Gilded Age: Sheldon's "Artistic Country-Seats", I would recommend reading the Introduction to this book before jumping-in and looking at all the photos first. The reason I say this is because the Introduction explains the backgrounds to the wealthy homeowners, and the Architects, and the builders, and more inmportantly, it gives an excellent background to the GILDED AGE, in general.
   
   To better understand why the homeowners chose to decorate their lavish homes as such, a reader would need a background as to the Economic and Social trends important to the Gilded Age. I feel that Lewis' Introduction lays an excellent foundation to this book, & this nice Introduction will help the reader to better understand the photographs (12 X 9 inches).
   
   3) The paper quality is excellent. The authors did not skimp on paper and binding, especially considering that this is a large paperback book.
   
   (-) The minus point:
   
   1) As even the authors stated, the 203 photos from THE ARTISTIC HOUSES, showed mostly the "public spaces" in each homes. Even though this book showed a few Victorian bedrooms, however, this book did not show photos of what would have been extremely valuable Victorian spaces, such as: the bathrooms, or the servants' quarters, or the kitchens.
   
   I understand that Lewis was limited as to the photos he could show, since this book was focusing mainly on the 203 photos from ARTISTIC HOMES, however I so wished that there had been photos (ANY photos would do, if even from other sources) of the non-public spaces.
   This point is the only minus I could find in this book, and therfore I gave this book 4 stars rather than five. However, if a reader has some supplemental books on Victorian interiors showing the non-public spaces, then those supplements can complete the picture, as they say, of what the lavish homes of the 1880's-1890's must have looked like.



2. This book is a wonderful 'window' into a lifestyle long since gone. It's photographs show beautiful rooms that represent the craftsmanship that is almost nonexistent today. It is sad to know that many of the homes represented here have been demolished and replaces by greatly inferior buildings or even worse, parking lots and such!!
   If you love the Victorian era, and want a peek into that era's homes, then you will truly enjoy this book.



3. The interiors of these homes are just spectacular, the B&W period images are crisp and clean; impressive considering their age. It is a tragedy that so many of these rooms represented in these photos are gone along with the houses that possessed them. The craftsmanship of these rooms cannot be dublicated today and the estates are irreplaceable, at least a few where saved to give us an idea of how people really once lived and what an art true craftmanship was, but you can't help but be sickened at how easily they were demolished and the inferior buildings that replaced them...that are now themselves being replaced...sic transic gloria.

5 comments about The Complete Guide to Building Decks (Black & Decker Home Improvement Library).

1. The last time I did much carpentry was 30 years ago, so not being much of a carpenter, I'm having a deck built for me, but I still wanted to get some information on how its done, so I'd have some idea of what to look for in a well designed and built deck, and how to maintain it. This book was fine for that. It covers all the basics, the different parts of the deck, siting the deck, materials to choose from, design ideas, important things to consider, plus of course how to actually go about building a deck. I learned that many decks these days are actually more of a particle board or composite material, which is low maintenance, which lasts longer and is easier to maintain. I had always liked the idea of a cedar or redwood deck but decided that the other material was the way to go. It doesn't have the nice grain of natural wood, but better resists stains, water, and the elements. Overall, a helpful book, especially for a beginner with not much previous knowledge and expertise. I also liked the book: Building a Deck: Expert Advice from Start to Finish. These two books were the best of the many that I looked at.



2. A great book for deck building. My only complaint is there was a bit too much info on the exotic style decks that can be built. More regular first time info would have been helpful. Overall though a great book for the price.



3. This book was ok, but I was still left longing for something more comprehensive, with more examples and more pictures.



4. After reading this book, I was able to build my own 22 by 12 ft. deck. It contains lots of plans for various deck types with lots of pictures showing you how to do everything from cuts to bolting. I couldn't have built my deck without it.



5. This book contains all the essential information to build a great deck. It even specifies parts for the decks that they show from top to bottom to help you get an idea of how much a deck may cost. The pictures are especially nice (glossy and clear in the meaning). I recommend this deck book for people of experience levels ranging from the dead beginner to the high intermediate.

5 comments about Gothic: Architecture - Sculpture - Painting.

1. Honestly, I'm thinking of buying another two copies of this book (I have one now) so that I can cut out and frame some of the pictures - (I want two copies because some of the images are back to back). The images are stunning, and there are clear examples that show the influence of Islamic and Moorish art on Christian cathedrals, especially in Spain. Truly a beautiful and scholarly introduction to this lovely part of the heritage of the whole human race.



2. This is the most spectacular book for you if you like lots of HUGE clear photos of TONS of gothic cathedrals. There are MANY pages of history and other information about the making and restoring of the cathedrals. A MUST HAVE for any gothic-history lover.



3. I first discovered this book in the library and I checked it out several times because I just loved looking at it so much. The pictures are so breathtaking, it increased my resolved to go to Europe and visit all these incredible places first hand. It's a great thourough book for anyone who is new to Gothic art forms as well as a visual reference for people who are already familiar with the style.

   Hard to carry around, but very easy to read!




4. Having borrowed this book over and over from the library, I really had a hard time parting with it when I last returned it. The photographs are splendid, a joy to look at. Since it also qualifies as a reference book, I looked it up ..... to but [buy] a copy but was certain price would be ... more than in was. Now I'm about to by my third copy --it is an amazing bargain.



5. I found the book superb. As a lover of Gothic arquitecture, I buyed it recently and I found lots of great color photographs, really interesting texts as they have been written by german experts, and more surprising, with an excellent price/quality ratio. After buying this book, I have completed the series buying the books dedicated to Romanesque, Baroque and Renaissance. All of them are really fantastic.

2 comments about Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems.

1. This book is written in a interesting and non monotone way. If you have to use it for a class, don't worry it's actually fun to read. This goes really into depth about how materials are made and connected.



2. Thank you so much for the purchase. The book was in perfect condition, and it was shipped to me very quickly. I appreciate it so much due to the fact that my semester had already started. Thanks again, the book is great!