5 comments about American Bungalow Style.

1. If your curious like me to what exactly is a Bungalow, what their history is, and would like to see lots of full colour examples, then I think you will find this book quite satisfying. Being that there where so many Bungalows built over such a wide geographic area, I doubt if anyone has covered every example of them in one book. So you may end up wanting to buy a few other books (which there are lots of good ones) to satisfy your curiosity. Non the less, this book does give you a good example of American and some Canadian Bungalow history, also it explores each room of the Bungalow and the rooms furnishings, all with quite a few excellent photo's.



2. Wonderful photographs; light, informative reading. What's missing is a better representation of the different regional examples of the bungalow. And they're everywhere.

   Residing in the Chicago area, for example, we have a tremendous variety and number of bungalows. Even in Atlanta, a region more famous for its colonial architecture, I noticed that the Virginia Highlands area also had some marvelous examples of the bungalow style.

   A more appropriate title would be "The California Bungalow" given that nearly all of the examples are located there (and within that state, in Pasadena).

   In other words, worth getting but not the definitive book.




3. This book defines the Bungalow style, explains how it started and flourished, and tells about the men who built and sold them. Then it takes you into still-existing Bungalows across the USA, where the current owners have preserved the period style. Hundreds of beautiful, full-color photographs showcase these homes and give the reader a good feel for the American Bungalow style. At the end of the book there is a list of suppliers, sources of information, and further reading that I found useful also.



4. This has to be one of the best books on art and architecture ever produced. Through hundreds of gorgeous photographs and detailed description, the history and development of the American Arts and Crafts movement comes alive. The author remains sensitive to the fact that most bungalow owners of the early 20th century were not following any set "style," but maintained and decorated their homes according to their personal tastes and means. The result is a presentation which would inspire any current bungalow owners to cherish and preserve their homes as they would works of fine art. In addition, this book contains a handy catalogue appendix listing businesses that deal in reproduction Craftsman style furniture, wallpaper, tiles, fixtures, etc.



5. This book provides preservationists and homeowners alike with valuable information on the architecture and associated style of bungalow homes from the turn of the century through WWII. This is not strictly a history text nor is it strictly a coffee table book. A reader can take pleasure simply from the sheer beauty of the photography -- yet each photograph illustrates important design elements that may be found in bungalow architecture, allowing for careful study. The text, concisely written, provides excellent information on bungalow architecture and furnishings, both from an artistic and social perspective. The book begins with a simple overview of bungalow architecture. It then features photography and detailed text on a number of outstanding bungalow homes in the United States, focusing primarily on those found in California, Chicago, and rarer cases the East Coast. It concludes with a very brief section on currently available Craftsman styled furnishings. As a reference book and style guide, this is an excellent resource that I highly recommended. If you are seeking detailed historic information on Gustave Stickley, the Arts and Crafts Movement, etc., the text is not exhaustive. It is very specific in its scope and presents its subjects quite well -- the American bungalow. If anything, this book is best used to inspire current bungalow owners of the possibilities contained in these remarkable homes

5 comments about Chatsworth: The House.

1. I think this a very nice book with a lot of gorgeous photos that can't be seen in any other book, but I could not give it 5 stars due to the poor, uneven lighting in some of the interior photos. Some rooms are lit by such harsh, extremely bright sunlight that it washes out some of the details in the foreground and then you can't see details in the background well due to the harsh contrast.



2. This is a very high quality book containing beautiful photos and personable, informative, text. The enjoyment of the book is enhanced by the fun, witty writing style of the Duchess of Devonshire. While the book contains a great deal if historic information, there is an equal amount of fun and entertainment, as a balance. Having restored and lived in the property for more than 50 years, the author gives a first hand narrative of this amazing British Home.



3. An outstanding book on one of England's stateliest of Stately Homes written in a very entertaining down to earth way by the Duchess of Devonshire. The photographs are wonderful with a balance between showcasing the grandeur of the building and humanizing the place by also focusing on the people who live and work there.



4. the best house review - full of history fact and much humour
   photography is amazing



5. If you saw the Chatsworth exhibit which visited the Tyler, Texas museum, you will find this book greatly enhances your perspective. Although my daughter bought me the DVD from the exhibit, this book gave me much more indepth. I highly recommend it and, as always, Amazon has the very best price!!

2 comments about The Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg.

1. Very helpful book which reproduces a number of the gardens in CW and govrs a schematic as well as the names, both common and scientific/biological?. The pictures are gorgeous. If you want to achieve the look of a colonial style garden, this is for you.



2. The Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg is a most inspiring and beautiful book covering the four seasons in Colonial Williamsburg. This book covers not only the history of twenty gardens in the historic district, but who these eighteenth century garders were. The archaeological research provides a detailed look at each of the gardens, giving layout plans and detailed list of all the plants used. With the addition of beautiful color photography, this book will provide all gardeners with a source to re-create a eighteenth century garden.

2 comments about Landscape Architect's Portable Handbook.

1. I bought this book with the hopes of having a reference that would limit my hours of google research and talking to other designers to try to find answers to common design issues. But for some reason, it seems to have all the information I'm not looking for, and none of the information I'm actually looking for! Buy Time Saver Standards instead. It's heavier and more expensive, but much more complete.



2. Shipping wise, it took a little while to get this book- but after opening the cover I have found it to be a great resource. It gives you all the basics and quick references for basic information you may need to know at the drop of a hat.

1 comments about Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America (Center Books on Contemporary Landscape Design).

1. This book is well worth your time. If you have any interest in preservation and /or landscape you should read this book. It is very thought provoking and intelligently written. It poses more questions than it answers...which I believe is the intention of the editors. Because this book raises many questions and issues, I would recommend it for a book discussion club or a seminar class.

2 comments about The Preservation of Historic Architecture: The U.S. Government's Official Guidelines for Preserving Historic Homes.

1. Not being familiar with many of the arcane housing construction terms that so many books use, it was refreshing to have a this book go into such detail explaining each area of historic construction touched upon to truly educate interested readers. The only downside being that the book is not a casuaul read - rather it is more of a technical manual.



2. Well writen and full of info for anyone who works in the field or just loves old buildings.

3 comments about Gardens Are For People, Third edition.

1. Thomas Church was a "founding father" in modern landscape design thought. He wrote this book to showcase his ideas about it.
   
   If you have read even a few landscaping books, you will find that most of the ideas expressed will be familiar to you and won't be of much help to design your specific garden. I felt the yard and garden examples in the book were dated (as in 1960s, 1970s, 1980s looking).
   
   Finally, I was disappointed in both the printing and the photo examples. All the pictures were black & white, and they all were rather crudely printed. This made it difficult to see details within the photos.
   
   On the up side, the text is good reading for those seeking to become a landscape designer, be he amatuer or professional. And if you DO want to do "retro" designs, the examples ARE well done.



2. I loved to read this book. After reading it you can clearly see how much Thomas Church influenced the modern designers. I really enojoyed reading the needs of the clients for their garden and then how Church solved and designed great gardens based on the clients'needs. A Classic.



3. This is a revised version of the hardback printed in the 50's. It was revised by his long time assistant Grace Hall whom he trusted and adored. It has a more indepth look at his own home which still looks the same to this day. The original hardback version can be found if we like you.

5 comments about The Farmhouse: New Inspiration for the Classic American Home.

1. I am a Manhattan city dweller struck by childhood nostalgia about what it is like to live on the country side. For types like me, interested in farm-house inspired modern architecture, this book offers a great visual feast. If you are looking for real farm houses, however, look elsewhere.



2. Written by an architect for the layperson, Jean Rehkamp Larson makes you feel the elbow room of the farmhouse and surrounding countryside without being too technical. Showing several house styles from historical to contemporary, Larson teaches us what characteristics make the American farmhouse a house style that is as ingrained in our minds as baseball and apple pie.



3. This book is a valuable resource as my husband and I plan our "farmhouse" that we intend to build next year beginning in February. It gives examples of restorations, new construction built to look like the old classical farmhouses across the midwest, and amazing interiors. I love the shaded boxes of information, emphasizing the importance of features such as shape, the color white, porches, etc. It is a lesson book for those wanting a basic education on how to talk farmhouses. We bought three books, and this one is far superior to the others.



4. One of over $1,000 worth of books I ordered prior to starting our remodel, The Farmhouse is above and beyond the best book I bought for our tastes, and is the primary resource I have given to our architect. No country shabby chic here -- the style is spare, warm, and elegant. Great photos and text. This book will save us thousands by beautifully getting across our ideas for our new Boulder, Colorado home. Those who like this book would also like Jeremiah Eck's The Distinctive Home.



5. An informative book with good examples and photos.

3 comments about Ancient Greece: The Famous Monuments Past and Present.

1. An awesome book. Let's just say that our tour guide in Greece use this book as a reference. As an educator I found this book to be extrememly useful. How many of us actually knew that all these marble ruins were fully painted in their prime? The overlays and information are wonderful. Highly recommended.



2. I first saw this book while on vacation in Greece...Naturally, I looked up the places my husband and I had visited and the book portrays them beautifully! There's great historical detail in the text as well as outstandingly accurate illustrations of prominent Greek sites and monuments. The 'see-through' pages give an incredible glimpse of what ancient Greece looked like over 2000 years ago. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has been to Greece, wants to go to Greece or is studying Greece. It is written for all ages! For any educator teaching Greek history this would be a highly useful 'textbook'.Enjoy!



3. This beautiful book has full page color photos of the ruins of ancient Greek temples and theaters, with transparent overlays filling in how these magnificent buildings would have looked when first built. It includes photos of statues and architectural details, with a general overview of ancient Greek history and explanations of the buildings' purposes and histories. Most of the buildings shown are on mainland Greece, but the Palace at Knossos and the sanctuary of Apollo on Delos are also included. These buildings are spectacular!

3 comments about Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living.

1. If you are considering alternatives to aging in isolation or retiring to a gated golf course community, read this book. Senior cohousing is becoming the fastest growing segment of the intentional community movement. This book offers both how-to advice and the social rationale for aging in community.



2. Charles Durrett's Senior Cohousing book will help lead us into the next 17 years as an estimated 75 million Baby Boomers head into retirement. It only makes sense that the generation that brought social and environmental awareness to the fore would be searching for a sustainable, suportive, self-managed community housing solution for their later years, and Durrett has outlined in detail how - and why - to go about it.
   
   The stories and wisdom are from Denmark, where multigenerational cohousing began over 30 years ago. Since that time, cohousing has translated very successfully to over a dozen countries around the world, including over 90 completed neighborhoods in North America alone. With 20 out of the last 25 cohousing starts in Denmark being senior projects, we can only assume that Senior Cohousing on the rest of the planet will be as big - if not bigger - a hit.
   
   Durrett has given us clear and useful intruction in Senior Cohousing for how to go about creating a Senior Cohousing neighborhood, from gathering other interested parties to finding land, hiring the design and development professionals and building a cohesive community. The step-by-step chapters are interlaced with impotant and interesting sidebars, illustrations and photographs.
   
   The spirit of the book is both informative and fun. The candid photos, quotes and anecdotes drive home the glee with which these Elders are taking charge of their lives. Neighbors work and play together, share frequent meals, dance, bicycle, walk, and create poetry and art. After reading Senior Cohousing, for probably the first time in my life, I thought getting older might actually be a hoot.



3. At last, here is a guidebook to a new way of aging for older Americans - a housing solution that at once addresses the need for privacy and for community; provides a net of security and mutual care without the institutional restrictions of assisted living; is environmentally friendly - and most importantly, is planned, designed, and built by the residents themselves.
   
   Cohousing got its start in Europe and has been successfully translated to America. In a cohousing community, each household has its own, stand-alone private dwelling, which is smaller than the traditional single-family home. These private homes are clustered around a common house which provides the amenities that are often wastefully duplicated in traditional American housing. The layout of the homes and the entire community provides plenty of privacy while affording opportunities for as much social interaction as the residents desire.
   
   The key to cohousing is that it is planned and built by the people who intend to live there, so the sense of community begins to develop during the planning process as interested participants winnow themselves down to a core group that is committed to building together, on a site they have chosen together, with a development program that they have evolved together through a consensus process.
   
   Senior cohousing is the logical extension of the cohousing idea. Many senior cohousing communities already exist in Denmark, where the author, Charles Durrett, traveled extensively and interviewed community residents. In the United States Durrett and his wife, Katie McCamant, are the principals of The Cohousing Company, an architectural firm that specializes in facilitating the development of cohousing. Their previous book, Cohousing: A Contemporary Way of Housing Ourselves, pioneered the cohousing movement in America.
   
   Senior CoHousing is an inspiring and practical guidebook to help older Americans get started organizing and planning a cohousing community. It draws upon the author's extensive experience in developing cohousing in the United States, and the shared experience of elders in Denmark who have been living in senior cohousing communities for years. Filled with inspiring photographs and helpful graphics, the book presents the nuts-and-bolts considerations that go into planning a senior cohousing community. For many Americans over 50, this book may be the first step toward creating a way of living out the final stages of life in a rewarding, stimulating, supportive environment, where one's choices find expression in a neighborhood of like-minded people.