Residential Books - Page 2

A Field Guide to American Houses

Virginia McAlester, Lee McAlester, Juan Rodriguez-Arnaiz, Lauren Jarrett (Illustrator)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A great description of historical architecture styles 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

After some introductory chapters on the history and theory of homebuilding, the McAlesters commence with descriptions of the different styles. Each major style is described with a large stylized diagram with its identifying features labeled, a description of the major subtypes, descriptions of the style's unique elements, a paragraph on the frequency and locations of its occurrence, some historical comments, and then dozens of black and white photographs. The styles are ordered roughly chronologically, from native dwellings and colonial houses in 1600 to the neoeclectric houses of the 1970s and 1980s. (Even my 2006 printing ended with the 1980s.)

I read the field guide cover to cover - something I never before done with a field guide. By the end, it seemed repetitive, but overall I was impressed with almost everything about this book from the introductions to the last diagrams. Every time I travel though a historical neighborhood, I am glad that I read this book.

Editorial Review:

The guide that enables you to identify, and place in their historic and architectural contexts, the houses you see in your neighborhood or in your travels across America. 17th century to the present.

Thom Filicia Style: Inspired Ideas for Creating Rooms You'll Love

Thom Filicia

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"I'm a democratic design snob. I see it as my mission to help stamp out boring, unimaginative interiors. But I also love people, having fun, and what I do for a living. I think a fabulously styled place is achievable by everyone. Think of me as your decorating wingman."

Thom Filicia, whose one-of-a-kind makeover genius gained national attention through his starring roles on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Dress My Nest, offers the ultimate handbook for creating gorgeous interiors that showcase your unique personal style. Those who have witnessed Thom's remarkable makeovers on television already know about the much-anticipated reveal moment when the emotionally overwhelmed homeowners are struck speechless by the miracle he has created. The same miracle is now possible for your home, with the secrets and tips contained in Thom Filicia Style.

With his trademark wit and friendly voice, Thom deconstructs how he works his magic and provides pages of invaluable advice, inspiration, before-and-after photos, case studies, floor plans, and product information. His approach will help you elevate your personal aesthetic by strategizing the best ways to make the most out of every space. From his work on a Manhattan loft to a suburban family home, Thom brings a fresh and invigorating vision to the way we live -- a vision that can apply to homes and decorating budgets of any size.

Demystifying the decorating process one step at a time, Thom has filled this guide with everything you need to create the perfect interior. Thom Filicia Style is like having the designer himself on hand to take care of all the details.

Michael S. Smith Houses

Michael Smith, Christine Pittel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Creating your dream house—a prospect as exciting as it is daunting. Michael Smith, a favorite among celebrity clientele, reveals the method of his design magic. Offering thoughtful ideas and practical advice, the designer walks the reader through his process, from the gathering of resource material (from magazines and iconic films to something as simple as a shell or a swatch of vintage fabric), expertly pairing simpler and grander elements (or inexpensive with more extravagant objects), perfecting the editing process, to knowing when a room is finished. Detailing the nearly encyclopedic range of styles he culls from to create his signature style, the designer describes recent examples of his work, beginning with a modest and quirkily designed house in Bel Air, Smith redid for himself. Razed, rebuilt, and decorated over the course of five years, the house allowed Smith to experiment and explore ideas freely and the result is a gracious home, as welcoming as it is stylish. In addition to his California residence, twenty other projects are featured, from a New England clapboard to a Malibu villa overlooking the Pacific to a city townhouse. In each, Smith deconstructs the elements which come together to make the ideal home.

Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors

Armelle Baron

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Axel Vervoordt began purchasing antiques in his teens and has steadily built a vast collection of exquisite objects from around the world. He is renowned for his prestigious exhibitions at major world antique fairs, including the New York Design Fair and TEFAF Maastricht. His interior designs, in both traditional and modern settings around the world, combine antiques from all continents with a Zen sensuality, and they blend the old with the new to create harmonious interiors. His unusual pairings may include Chinese porcelain with English furniture or a Roman relic alongside a 1930s Flemish painting.
The extent of Vervoordt’s talent is revealed in the twenty-three homes in Europe and the United States presented here through Christian Sarramon’s photographs. The variety of styles reflects Vervoordt’s eclecticism, and his authentic and welcoming interiors are inspirational treasure troves. From the rustic charm of a Swiss chalet to the classic finesse of a Bordeaux château to the modern allure of a Miami mansion, Vervoordt’s creations are perfectly in tune with the character and history of each space.

The President's House: A History (v. 1)

William Seale

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This engaging history of the house that has served as home to U.S. presidents for more than two centuries revises and enlarges William Seale's 1986 classic account of the White House's architectural, social, and cultural history. Besides updating the original volumes, the new edition includes chapters on the presidencies of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. An epilogue covers the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush years. The President's House is an unforgettable account of the White House from its origins during the nation's beginning to today, a continuing story of adapting and altering, yet always keeping close to the original image and purpose of the landmark. Seale carefully documents the ways in which different presidents and their families used and lived in the White House, showing not only the lives of the first families but also scores of characters known and unknown who achieve importance in the story and play their parts in the keeping and management of the house -- butlers, housemaids, caterers, gardeners, coachmen, architects, interior decorators, and even fortune-tellers.

Filled with behind-the-scenes glimpses of the private and public lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, this richly detailed social history includes 175 images culled from the White House files and other archival collections.

Atomic Ranch

Michelle Gringeri-Brown

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Recommended 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I love this book!! I live in an "Atomic Ranch" and this book covers the subject very well. Not only are the pictures great, the text is informative. I also subscribe to Atomic Ranch Magazine published by the same authors. If you are a fan of this genre, both are highly recommended!

Editorial Review:

Atomic Ranch is an in-depth exploration of post-World War II residential architecture in America. Authors Michelle Gringeri Brown and Jim Brown, founders and publishers of the popular quarterly Atomic Ranch magazine, extol the virtues of the tract, split-level, rambler home and its many unique qualities. Atomic Ranch presents twenty-five homes showcasing inspiring examples of stylish living through beautiful color photographs, including before and after shots, design tip sidebars, and a thorough resource index.

Atomic Ranch reveals: Hallmarks of the ranch style; Inspiring original ranch homes; Ranch house transformations and makeovers; Preservation of mid-century neighborhoods; Adding personality to a ranch home; Yards and landscaping, and much more!

The New Traditional: Reinvent-Balance-Define Your Home

Darryl Carter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Darryl Carter is a leader in the design world, recognized for his restrained, distinguished, and livable environments. Known for seamlessly mixing the modern with the classical, Carter presents a comprehensive guide to creating a home that balances individual comfort with a timeless aesthetic.

Comfort is the essential element of a successful interior, but also the most elusive. Too often our design decisions are driven by others. In The New Traditional, Darryl Carter encourages you to be true to your own lifestyle. More than a stunning book, this is an accessible resource for making an elegant, inviting home, responsive to the people who live in it every day.

A fresh take on American design, Carter’s work has been lauded as the New Traditional for effortlessly blending classic and modern elements to create personal environments. Patinated furniture, subtle textiles and lighting, and chalky washes of color are among the details that transform a house into a home. Carter explains how you can translate these details into inspired and always calming surroundings. Ignore the obvious. Redefine a dining room so that it doubles as a library by lining the walls with bookshelves and using wing chairs in lieu of dining chairs. Stain wood floors white to create a greater sense of space. Build rooms around art. Carter shows that designing your home is a process to be enjoyed.

Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home (American Institute Architects)

Russell Versaci

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

At the beginning of the new century, there's a groundswell of popular nostalgia for period houses with an authentic pedigree. Regional styles of old homes in all parts of the country have captured the imagination of homebuyers who are disillusioned with the cookie-cutter sameness of new home construction. Many are turning to the history and tradition of their own neighborhoods for inspiration in old houses--themes that will inspire and inform them in building a new home that will preserve a sense of place and the feeling of "home."
Creating a New Old House explores how architects, builders, and craftsmen are reinterpreting the traditional American house. Through photographs and engaging text, brief discussions of history and craftsmanship, and occasional sidelong glances at the workings of real old houses, Versaci employs his "Pillars of Traditional Design" to explain how traditional houses go together and what gives them their unique design appeal. The author explores the creative work of architects, builders, and craftsmen from all corners of America who are creating new "old" houses in a revival of the distinctive traditions of American homebuilding--and refitting them to work for the demands of modern family living.

Bungalow Style: Creating Classic Interiors in Your Arts and Crafts Home

Treena Crochet

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Beautiful pictures, workable ideas 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

So you've bought a bungalow--now, what do you do with it? Maybe it's a fixer-upper; maybe it's too small, or doesn't have enough storage space; maybe you're just not sure what kind of furniture to get. This book is a great start toward deciding where to go next. Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, it shows not only many of the features by which you can tell an Arts & Crafts house when you see it (I was surprised to learn that the big old foursquares such as my grandparents lived in for 40 years are included in this classification), but gives actual ideas carried out by other homeowners, even unto before-and-after floor plans. The author's advice is thoughtful and well suited to the houses she writes about, too. And if you just like to look at pictures of vintage American homes, this would be a good volume to add to your collection.

Editorial Review:

The classic American bungalow is as popular today as when introduced in the Victorian era. Bungalow Style pictures a wide variety of interior details and describes how to add or restore elements that suggest a historic flair while keeping the home comfortable and functional. Common problems such as integrating modern conveniences or gaining needed space are also addressed.

Creating the Not So Big House: Insights and Ideas for the New American Home

Sarah Susanka, Grey Crawford

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A must when designing your home 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

We are remodeling our house and my daughter and husband are about to build a new house. A friend of us got many great ideas from this book when they built their home, so they recommended it to me. I had purchased it as a gift for my daughter who, along with her husband, have been reading it since then word by word, and studying the pictures. They are so excited by the concept of a great home and the excellent ideas found in the book. It gave them the direction that they will definitely take when designing their new home.

Editorial Review:

Sarah Susanka's The Not So Big House spoke to millions of disenchanted homeowners who want to downsize their dream home without diminishing the dream. By evaluating what makes them feel at home and letting their activities define their rooms, homeowners end up with cozy areas they like and use rather than oversize formal rooms they never enter. Creating the Not So Big House explains what homeowners and potential homeowners need to know to get the home that fits their dreams and their lifestyles. Featuring 20 new houses and five remodels of the best Not So Big House designs, Creating the Not So Big House gives readers insight into successful home design.