We've carefully curated collections of books and resources that delve into home features and styles. Whether you're drawn to traditional architecture, design principles, architectural history, or the finer details of home aesthetics, we hope these resources prove both insightful and inspiring.
Where to Find the Best There Is: Perfect Hilltowns; Splendid Palazzos; Rustic Farmhouses; Glorious Gardens; Authentic Cuisine; Great Wines; Intriguing Shops No country inspires as much fascination as Italy, and no region in Italy inspires as much adoration as Tuscany—for its interior design, art and architecture, fashion, artisans and crafts, food and wine. In Dreaming of Tuscany you'll experience the essence of a place that dreams are made of, ensuring you'll get the most out of your experience.
Most people recognize at a glance the extraordinarily graceful proportions of classical-style buildings such as London's Syon House and Athenaeum Club and the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall. Few, however, appreciate the underlying geometrical principles that lend these buildings their elegant unity of expression. Form and Design in Classic Architecture explains in simple, direct terms — and with numerous photographic plates and line illustrations — the ways in which the relationship of exterior and interior elements creates that unity and sense of completeness.
In New Orleans, the French Quarter packs itself into a little grid of a colonial town behind the levee of the Mississippi River. Established in 1718, the town received its gridded plan from a French military engineer in 1721. Most of the buildings standing today date from the nineteenth century, with eighteenth- and twentieth-century structures interspersed.
A noted garden photographer presents 365 stunning illustrations of more than 150 outstanding gardens--large and small, public and private--throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, accompanied by informative descriptions of each garden's location, design, and special features.
Handsome collection reprinted from rare 1874 catalog. Floor plans, elevations, front views, more. 27 designs on 63 plates. Introductory text and specifications.
Captures the rich texture and color of Savannah as presented in history and photographs―the colonial capital, a deep-South antebellum town, a cotton port, a survivor of wars, and, perhaps most notably, a modern preservation success story. Includes one hundred fifty photographs, maps, and images.
Classical architecture has its origins in simple houses and plain little temples built by the early peoples of the Mediterranean region. From these unselfconscious beginnings, classical style found perfect expression in the Doric and Ionic temples of the Greek city-states. The excellence of classical design is such that it has endured for more than two thousand years as the ideal of Western architecture.
The "Gilded Age," the three decades following the Civil War, were years of astounding economic growth. Vast empires in oil, shipping, mining, banking, lumber, transportation, and related industries were formed. It was an era in which fortunes were made and lost quickly, almost easily; a period that encouraged ― nearly demanded ― the public display of this newly acquired wealth, power, and prestige. It was during these heady, turbulent years that a new type of domestic architecture first appeared on the American landscape. Called the "country seat" or "cottage," these houses were grandiose in scale ― imposing facades complemented by manicured gardens, with exceptionally large and impressive reception rooms, halls, parlors, dining rooms, and other public areas.
From Boston's Paul Revere House to George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, a visual chronicle of the evolution of Colonial design illustrates the diversity of American architecture before the Revolutionary War in more than eighty full-color photographs.
The Tudor house is one of America's keystones-- a type of home that has attracted homeowners for more than a century. Its basic elements-- the steep gabled roofs, mullioned windows made of leaded glass, and half-timbering-- are instantly recognizable and iconic.
Within the pages of this dazzling book, readers will find 20 of the most significant new homes designed by Bassenian/Lagoni Architects of Newport Beach, California. Inspired by the architecture of Southern Europe, yet totally new, these graceful, time-tempered homes display up-to-date floor planning, the finest amenities and picturesque landscaping.
Lavishly illustrated with more than 300 color photographs, Villas of Tuscany brings together 40 superb examples ranging in date from the Middle Ages to the late 19th century.
""The Houses of St. Augustine: Notes on the Architecture from 1565-1821"" is a comprehensive guide to the historical architecture of St. Augustine, Florida. Written by Albert Manucy, a renowned historian and expert on the subject, the book provides a detailed account of the diverse styles and influences that shaped the city's buildings over the course of nearly 300 years.
The only New Deal program to continue into the 1990s, the Historic American Buildings Survey has through the years drawn attention to the historical and artistic significance of buildings that contemporary taste might otherwise have ignored. Louisiana Buildings, 1720-1940 makes easily available the fruit of HABS's important and enduring efforts to record Louisiana's architectural heritage.
Creole houses, found from New Orleans to northern Louisiana, are one of the nations unique architectural treasures. A blend of French and Spanish colonial styles, with West Indian, Canadian, and other influences, these lovely houses were astutely designed to withstand their sultry, subtropical environment. Significantly, most major examples withstood the devastating hurricanes of 2005.
Here is the best of both worlds: New houses with old world sensibilities. In Creating a New Old House,architect Russell Versaci shows you that it is possible to design and create a new house that looks and feels like it has always been there.
Few architectural elements are more closely associated with comfort, protection, and security than the courtyard-an outdoor living space that is partially or fully enclosed by walls or buildings. The courtyard became a major architectural design element almost as soon humans began constructing permanent buildings.
