Throughout
the early Victorian period American domestic architecture was dominated
by the ideas and designs of Andrew Jackson Downing. This book, his
most important work, served as the style-book for thousands of homes
throughout the eastern United States. It contains thirty-four designs
for model homes (country house in this context simply means a separate
house, as opposed to a town house), with elevations, floor plans,
and discussion of design, construction, and function. Most valuable
today is the author's discussion of other aspects of the early Victorian
house: aesthetic concerns of architecture, adjustment to locality,
materials, construction, costs, floor plan, roofing, shingling,
painting, chimneys and fireplaces, interior woodwork, and more.
Since most of the houses concerned have been destroyed or altered,
this book is indispensable to anyone interested in early American
culture, interior decoration, restoration, or Victorian architecture.
It is far and away the richest source for the period.
484
pages. 5-1/2 x 8-1/2. Illustrated w/321 figures, 33 architectural
designs. Soft cover. $16.95 (reprint of 1850 edition) ISBN 0486220036
