Description and travel

A Field Guide to American Houses

5 stars (Great Photographs-Line Drawings Weak) - At 525 pages, Virginia and Lee McAlester's " A Field Guide to American Houses " is an exhaustive study of the different styles of American domestic architecture. They identify and categorize 39 different architectural styles. This is much more than most field guides. I have been collecting architectural field guides for a number of years. The only thing I do not like in this well prepared book is the over-reliance on black and white photos of homes. The quality of the photos vary significantly. The photos are not of the same high caliber as the photos taken for Historic American Building Survey.(HABS) I believe the best field guides are made up line drawings. Line drawings get to the point and the different archiectural features can be labled. The best line drawings really help in clarifying stylistic points. Photos can be distracting because trees, power lines and vehicles end up in many of the photos. There are line drawings in this book at the beginning of each section. Unfortunately, the line drawings are the weakest part of the book. This is a great book and you cannot go wrong with purchasing it. However, as a devotee of these types of books, I would recommend purchasing Lester Walker's "American Shelter". His illustrations are really beautiful and very informative. 5 stars (Great Book for Preservationists!) - This book has helped me through school! Its a great book to have in your collection if you study preservation or interested in architecture! 5 stars (Invaluable Reference) - You will truly value this book if you are interested in the styles of residential architecture in America. After an engaging survey in the introduction, the styles and movements are presented in chronological order. Also included at this point are outline drawings of the various types of houses, illustrating style, basic shapes, elevations, plans, types of materials and building techniques used as well as a pictori...
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