A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture

After a decade of consulting my softbound copy of the earlier edition, I eagerly awaited this one. It is, at once, both familiar and new. My first impression was, "Wow, it's big; and heavy!" It's probably now out of the "field guide" category in the sense of portability. Perhaps the current one is similar to the hardbound 1st edition I never knew but the smaller, lighter softbound book was easier to toss under my arm and take off.I'm a clinical pharmacist by training - not an architect or architectural historian - so content accessibility is very important to me. Like the earlier edition, the book shines in this department but even brighter. I find the layout more logical, with the pictorial key and glossary up front, not buried in the early pages. At first I couldn't figure the organization of the pictorial key but now I see it's clearly aimed at the sidewalk house viewer, e.g., me. Start at what you can see over the hedge and work down: Roof form, Dormers, Roof-Wall Junction, Chimneys, Porches, Windows, etc. Unfortunately, the typeface for the category headers is less eye-catching in the new edition, making it harder to skim to your section.The meat and value of the book is in the text. I haven't read it all, being most interested in the styles found here in southern California, but the content is again extremely accessible to the average reader. There continues the excellent use of line drawings, many that have been improved from the 1st edition. The photographs are much clearer on fine white paper than they were on the buff colored pages of the softbound previous edition. In my selective review I notice there are some new house photos and some different photos of 1st edition houses. There are also some photos deleted in this edition - so don't throw away your 1st edition!If I had to pick a single best new feature of the book, it would be the 45-page chapter, "Neighborhoods: The Grouping of American Houses," with historic photos, aerial line drawings and elevations of neighborhood types, and discussion of the history, growth and problems of neighborhood development. With some historic neighborhoods being nibbled to death by individual variances and code exceptions until they've lost their defining character, this chapter makes clear that individual houses - no matter how remarkable - are usually part of a collection worth recognition in its own right.Final assessment? This tome is no longer suitable for my backpack and the typeface choices make it less friendly for skimming but the expanded material is so good and so well integrated into the original [including the line drawings that look like they could have been there since 1984] that this "field guide" is still a must-have book for anyone interested in historic [or some-day historic] houses.

I'm working on an historic preservation project as part of a neighborhood group. Virginia Savage McAlester's A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture has proved invaluable. With a detailed pictorial key and glossary, numerous photos and drawings, and clear and comprehensive descriptions, this has become our essential reference guide in identifying and describing the various architectural styles found in our neighborhood. A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised) is a must have for any individuals and groups interested in exploring the fascinating history of American architecture.

I know of no single one-volume work on American architectural styles that has (a) established such a good track record in its previous editions, (b) added to much new information for this (2013) edition, and (c) is available significantly below retail at Amazon. This book is aimed at the layman -- obviously, an 880-page tome with over 600 pages devoted to text is not for people who want a quick looker-upper, but it is fascinating nonetheless and not over the heads of those motivated by curiosity. If you hear Jed Clampett's TV mansion referred to as "Beaux-Arts" (boze-ahrt) style -- well, it is, and this book will tell you about the history of such edifices, just as it does with "Second Empire," "Minimal Traditional," "Italianate," pretty much the whole range of American houses, old and new, vernacular and individually designed. Cheers to Virginia Savage McAlester and her hardworking staff for bringing the original 1984 volume -- itself no slouch -- gloriously up-to-date. I own not only the 1984 predecessor and this new volume, of course, but have been proud to make this one a gift to friends far and near. It's that good.Cheap at Twice the Price? Could be. Prices have been fluctuating lately, but are always well below the benchmark retail of fifty U.S. dollars.Hint: This would make a terrific present not only to an architecture student, but to someone who has just received her or his Real Estate sales broker's license.

This book is a "must" for anyone who likes to look at houses. Its novel, central purpose is to aid in identifying the architectural styles of American homes. It does this in a manner analogous to "field guides" for birds, bugs or plants, but instead of wings and beaks or leaves and bark, it describes roof lines, window treatments and the many other visible characteristics that define each style. Introductory chapters offer an engaging historical background for floor plans, construction techniques and exterior features; these chapters are clear, concise and accessible even to a novice. The chapter on neighborhoods, new for the 2nd edition, presents a fascinating account of how geography and advances in transportation have influenced people's decisions to live in communities and the homes they were likely to build in a given locale. The author is well aware that illustrations are crucial in a volume of this nature; she provides hundreds of straightforward line drawings that clarify structural and decorative concepts, plus hundreds more instructive photographs of actual dwellings. In the chapters on individual styles these figures complement one another to convey both the essential elements of each style and the range of variations that may be encountered "in the field". Add an exhaustive reference section at the end and you have a versatile work that will enrich the afternoons of casual weekend wanderers while also serving the needs of serious students of architectural history.