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house styles.. i want to learn

skyecore | Posted in General Discussion on

anybody got a goot website(id rather do website as im pretty flat for cash right now) or book reccomendation for me? I want to learn about architectural details that define a house as an ‘arts and crafts bungalow’ or a ‘queen anne’ for example..

I can easily spot the obviouse ones from the outside but i want to know about intirior details too..

EXAMPLE: I want to know when im remodeling a house what proper moulding profiles to use.. or radius’ to use on arch-ways etc..

Also things like floor plan layouts; kitchen details.. window details etc..

______________________________________________

–> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

Replies

  1. GreekRevivalGuy | | #1

    Below, I've listed a few books that are available.  I've only seen the McAlestar book, which isn't too bad as an overview, but it's short on details, sometimes outright wrong in an attempt to be concise ... and I don't recall much info about interiors.

    On the Web, you could look up individual houses that are cataloged on the HABS site.  http://www.cr.nps.gov/habshaer/coll/   Measured drawings of interior details and molding profiles are often included, but you'll mostly find the oldest houses within a particular geographic area.  It's worth a look, definitely.  Free!

    I would suggest you visit as many museum houses as you can, getting a sense of the scale and details.  Go back again to museum houses that are stylistically similar to whatever your current project is.  Contact owners of restored or "intact" houses ... they're often anxious to show off their homes.  Take pictures and start your own catalog of architectural elements.  Visit real estate "open houses" to get a look at a variety of interiors.

    I've filled a dozen three-ring binders with photos and drawings of just Federal and Greek Revival exteriors and interiors.  And I've burned a box of CDs with images from the HABS site.  And I'm STILL learning.

    Have fun, and kudos to you for wanting to have the knowledge, and to do things right.

    -Allen

     

    Here are a few book titles gleaned from an Amazon.com search:

    What Style Is It?: A Guide to American Architecture, Revised Edition
    by John C. Poppeliers

  2. A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia McAlester
  3. The Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture by Rachel Carley
  4. American House Styles: A Concise Guide by John Milnes Baker
  5. Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture by Cyril Harris
  6. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture by Francis D. K. Ching
  7. American Architecture since 1780: A Guide to the Styles by Marcus Whiffen


    8. Edited 2/18/2005 12:49 am ET by Allen

  1. SantaCruzBluz | | #2

    Allen, I changed my handle to moondance, because this forum was allowing me to post as Allen as well. I saw some of your posts, so I changed my name. Anyway, no problem there, but I wanted to comment about Virginia McAlester's book, Field Guide to American Houses. I don't know how accurate it is, but as you said, seems to be a good overview. It is full of pictures of American houses, with the name of the town next to the photo. I always take it with me when I travel, and I've seen a few of the houses in the book. I'd say that for the layman who, when standing in front of an old house and wondering what style it is, this is an excellent resource. There's a lot more in there than just the photos, but I'd buy it just for that. Allen in Santa Cruz
    Thank you God for Life, Love, and Music

    1. GreekRevivalGuy | | #3

      Allen, sorry if I stole your handle!  You were probably here before me.  Yeah, the McAlester book is on my shelf at home ... it's not bad.  When I first got it 20 years ago, it cleared up my confusion between "Split Level" and "Raised Ranch."  Not that I really cared much about either style, but as an ignorant youth I thought that raised ranches were "split levels" because the main entrance was "split" halfway between the first and second floors.  Ahhh, live and learn!

      Allen in Western New York State

      1. SantaCruzBluz | | #4

        No problem, Allen. My company name, when I start my business, will be Moondance Construction Company, so this works fine for me. Yeah, I've had my copy for a long time, and when I lived in Macon, often carried it on walks. Using that book, I could identify a Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, etc. but doubt it would be much of a reference book.Allen in Santa Cruz
        Thank you God for Life, Love, and Music

    2. User avater
      skyecore | | #6

      and thanks for your review as well______________________________________________

      --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

  2. User avater
    skyecore | | #5

    great! thanks for the links! I'm interested as a carpenter but also design history is pretty fun to learn about.. my GF and I are in school right now and she is writing a paper(which means were talking ALOT about it at home) on the Bauhous school of design, and tracing some american residential architecture back to Bauhous.. Anyway, weve been setting off eachothers curiosity lately by talking about it and the fact that I can apply the info at work has me obsessing about it.. (i havto use plenty of self discipline so as not to crash into stuff while im driving since im staring at houses instead of the road)Anyway.. Thanks for taking the time!______________________________________________

    --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

    1. GreekRevivalGuy | | #7

      skyecore:  Ah, yes, Bauhaus.  Walter Gropius, et al.  I'd say nearly all "modern" architecture has been directly influenced by the Bauhaus school.  My own formal training (BFA, Graphic Design) was nearly 100 percent "Swiss design," which was really Bauhaus.  I still appreciate the concepts, but put me in an early 19th-century, finely detailed, delicately ornate and hand-crafted Federal-style home of wood, stone, brick and plaster.  Or a gloriously robust Greek Revival house!

      Peace.

      Allen of Western New York

      1. User avater
        skyecore | | #8

        funny because it seems so obvious when in conversation but pinning down what egzactly was influenced, and what rellavince it had, given the political and economical context, has proven to be quite difficult for us (.. er..technically her, not us.. her paper).. Many things dont seem, to our laymen comprehention, to be actually stemming from the bauhaus school and teachers, but from earlier movements.. It seems, again.. to our laymen viewpoint, that the word Bauhaus is used so much because it references a certain time and place.. I wonder if it were a movement instead, if the school's name would still carry as much relevence______________________________________________

        --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

        1. GreekRevivalGuy | | #9

          skyecore:  Interesting points.  I've always thought of Bauhaus as larger than just the school ... more of a movement.  "Form follows function," right?  A move away from ornament for ornament's sake.  The adoption of modern manufacturing processes to efficiently solve purely utilitarian goals, but with the result being an elegant simplicity of clean lines, a celebration of the austere beauty of modern materials.

          The advent of the glass-and-steel skyscraper, or the clean horizontal emphasis of Frank Lloyd Wright designs ... I think there's Bauhaus philosophical influence in either case, but maybe I'm stretching?  It's been 25 years since my college days, and most of those years have been focused on the period 1790-1850, architecturally speaking.

          Well, good luck with that endeavor.  I love learning, but I sure don't miss school at all.  My wife's daughter is nearly 24 and still in school ... got a meaningless bachelors degree, and now going for a meaningless masters ...  and a pile of student loans, of course.  Ughh.

          Allen

        2. User avater
          skyecore | | #10

          ha! meaningless bachelors working an a meaningless masters.. thats pretty funny. (is she studying phylosophy?)Thanks for the good will, im 24 as well but going back to school after dropping out of highschool years ago and although i love learning stuff, i sure as heck wont look back after im done.You have summerized my understanding of bauhaus as well, its just "proving it" that is difficult for her.______________________________________________

          --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

        3. highfigh | | #11

          Meaningless BS/BS and meaningless MA/MS? Political science for the BS and sociology for the masters? Trying to be totally unemployable, eh?Skycore- hit the used book stores, libraries and ebay. Someone will have the books and if you go to bookstores, you can go through the ones in stock to see if they have what you're looking for. Otherwise, google is a great way to find this kind of onfo.
          "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

        4. User avater
          skyecore | | #12

          you just reminded me of a great place to get books for real cheap.. I thought somone out there in cyberspace might benefit..ABE books (http://www.abebooks.com) ive bought 80 dollar text books for 8 dollars there.. once bought a 40 dollar book for less that 2 bucks (beat up from use but i diddnt care)______________________________________________

          --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

        5. GreekRevivalGuy | | #13

          Well, BFA Fine Art Photography (no digital imaging whatsoever), and MA (MS?)Womens Studies the last I heard (ummm, is that like "Home Ec"?)

        6. DavidxDoud | | #15

          and MA (MS?)Womens Studies the last I heard (ummm, is that like "Home Ec"?)

          LOL - you may kinda get by with that here,  but you know better than to say that out loud at home,  don't cha...

           "there's enough for everyone"

        7. msm | | #16

          "quote from allen: "Womens Studies the last I heard (ummm, is that like "Home Ec"?"
          oooh hoooo hooo- David's right, if you haven't figured that out yet. even better than staying quiet, bone up on the politics of women's studies and surprise her next time she's home. BTDT (i was the daughter, dad liked to get my goat, and it did get tiring.)

        8. User avater
          skyecore | | #17

          maaan thats funny!! i almost fell off of my chair laughing(i reserve the right to be politically in-correct, my folks were "back to the landers" and most of my perents friends were gay folk singers.. that gives me the right... No the RESPONSABILITY to be politcally in-correct)______________________________________________

          --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

        9. tuffy | | #14

          Skycore, is she working on the Bauhaus specifically, or the modernist movement in general? I tend to think of the Bauhaus as more of an intersection or hub more than an origin.What books and articles have you particularly looked into?

        10. User avater
          skyecore | | #18

          "I tend to think of the Bauhaus as more of an intersection or hub more than an origin."-- posted by tuffyI think you hit it it on the nose there, Im not sure what sources she's looking at, ive just helped her find spacific things like dates on the www and talked alot about it with her, but she is the one doing all the research______________________________________________

          --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

        11. concretedetail | | #19

          It was a bit of a movement, wasn't it, in that Gropius and Mies and their ilk packed up their unadorned functional kitbags and got the heck out of #### Germany - and gifted the USA with their vision of purity.

          And I thought I heard Frank roll over in his prairie grave when his name was spotted in the same sentence as those foreign fellers.

           

        12. tuffy | | #20

          Wright was included in Philip Johnson's and Alfred Barr's seminal 1932 show at the MOMA, "Modern Architecture: International Exhibition" (Well, they had to include at least one American, didn't they?), but his opinion at the time, presciently so, was that the show was more propaganda than a fair assessment of contemporary architecture.Wright and Johnson traded barbs over the years. Johnson like to call Wright the "greatest architect of the 19th century." In 1955, when Wright was invited to give a lecture, he spotted Johnson among a crowd of faculty and students and shouted acidly for all to hear, "Why, little Phil, I thought you were dead!"

        13. User avater
          skyecore | | #21

          wow thats interesting.. I tried googling it to learn more about it but to no avail.. (funny how intersting things seem when i havto do math homwork..) ok back to studying.. i need to just unplug the darn modem______________________________________________

          --> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad

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