Residential Books

What a book! If you are planning on visiting Monticello or learning about Thomas Jefferson, you must have this book! This is like having Thomas Jefferson's accounting book with you. Many, if not all of Jefferson's personal effects are cataloged in this book!

If you are interested in Thomas Jefferson or Monticello, this is a terrific book. Over 150 of Jefferson's personal possessions are photographed and documented with detailed explanations and provenance of the items. Covered are varied objects such as works of art, china, portraits, scientific instruments, natural history specimens, and personal objects. This book really illustrates how varied Jefferson's interests were. A very fascinating book!

This is a very clear, concise, and helpful book: packed with details on what needs to be done when selling a home and what to beware of. The book spans its territory with ease: the authors give common-sense advice about practicalities alongside analyses that are more psychological, such as of the potential buyer's motivations and communication style (a very helpful section). The authors are also concerned with moving the reader through the book as quickly as possible: they guide the reader on what sections need to be read and what can be skipped over depending on the current state of the reader's house sale (I read all sections anyway such as not to miss anything).

The book told me a lot I didn't know about the legal environment behind real estate, and also what can potentially go wrong with a sale. Although the book is directed at selling, not buying, reversing some of its information was also very helpful to me in terms of looking to buy my next home! I highly recommend this book for anyone selling their house: it is a fast, information-rich read for the time-stressed seller that will pay off handsomely!

There were only a few designs for the truly narrow lot (ie. houses around 24' wide). Designing a home for a narrow lot is not necessarily the same as building on a small lot. I expected to see some creative designs - building up, angling out, bump outs, lofts, etc. The title of this book is a misnomer. It should be 200 SMALL Lot Home Plans (and I'm not sure that even works with very many of the designs - unless one wishes to fill the entire lot!).

This updated NEC Pocket Guide is an excellent resource to keep on hand to lookup those pesky details. Charles Miller brings you the most needed information in an easy and concise way. It's got everything that you need, and virtually nothing that you don't.

Jonathan Bell's book, 21st Century House offers up a focus on the home as a symbol of change and innovation, packing in hundreds of color photos of house interiors to prove his point. These photos don't limit themselves to the U.S. either, but cover homes around the world, with architectural writer Jonathan Bell choosing homes which reflect the latest design trends whether urban or rural. Affordable houses are the focus, too: a refreshing perspective in a sea of architecture books featuring mansions.

Profusely illustrated with color photographs and blueprints, "225 Hillside Home Plans" is part of the Hanley Wood 'Smart Design Series'. Showcasing 225 home designs adaptable to the sloped landscape of hillside lots, "225 Hillside Home Plans" offers sound architectural ideas in a variety of sizes and styles, each of which take excellent advantage of the benefits of a sloped lot (including a walkout basement that adds living space and saves money), as well as design tips and techniques that make the most of a hillside home. Based on real-life solutions drawn from actually constructed architectural models, "225 Hillside Home Plans" is an excellent, 'user friendly', and inexpensive resource for anyone contemplating constructing a house on a hillside lot. Also some additional Hanley Wood titles which are very highly recommended for personal, professional, and academic library Architectural Studies reference collections are: "DHS: 350 Vacation and 2nd Homes"; "Big Book of Traditional House Plans; "American Collection: Ranch Style RPK22"; and "Smart Design Series: 350 Narrow Lot Home Plans".

25 Tropical Houses In Indonesia showcases architecture adapted not only to the needs of the user, but also the environmental and climate issues of daily life in the tropics. Full-color photography on virtually every page as well as black-and-white diagrams reveal structural and visual approaches, while the text describes at length the details of each house's unique features for lay readers and professional architects alike. Houses range in size and appearance from lofty to neo-cubist to resembling a cathedral. A majestic coffee-table book that wondrously captures the spirit of Indonesian architecture.

New Home Plans For 2006: Updated Classics For Today's Homeowner from the collection of Hanley Wood Home Planners is an in-depth and comprehensive presentation of 325 new home plans, each of which offers an innovative design as a contemporary structure. Introducing and exploring new design showcases houses, summer homes and cottages, rustic getaways and retreats, farmhouses and ranches, urban designs and traditionals, homes with historic inspiration, English and Provencal manors, Mediterranean and Spanish styles, as well as second master suites, extraordinary baths, spectacular outdoor living spaces and space-saving laundry and storage areas, New Home Plans For 2006 is an expertly presented compendium of inspiring and interesting home-design very strongly recommended to professional and academic library Architectural Studies reference collections.

You don't need a lot of background in architecture to appreciate this wonderful book. Professor Schoenauer, who was emeritus professor of architecture at McGill University until his death in 2001, takes us on a guided tour of a huge number of different housing styles over a great expanse of time and in highly varied cultural contexts. He really makes you feel as if he has personally inspected all of the places he describes (though it hardly seems possible that anyone could have) and he does this without overburdening his reader with too many technical terms or requiring us to have a very profound understanding of why houses stand up. Perhaps what really makes the book alive is the author's own drawings--something like more than 500 line drawings of floor plans, cross-sections, elevation views, city plans, etc, etc, etc.
The book is divided into three major sections: The Pre-Urban House, the Oriental Urban House, and the Occidental Urban House. The first section divides housing into types by socio-economic/cultural organization which the author suggests is more or less evolutionary (though these types may be found simultaneously though distributed in space). The second section examines a very long span of time (but including in some cases the present) with detailed discussions of typical house designs in various periods in Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, China, and Islamic cultures. The final section is an historical treatment of developments in the West: the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 19th century, and the 20th century are all treated in turn.
Now something about the style of the book. At first, I was a bit distracted by Professor Shoenauer's digressions on culture, anthropology, historical sidelights, etc., but after a bit I started looking forward to these as much as learning about the buildings themselves. Admittedly, he doesn't always use the most recent or varied sources for his historical treatments (for instance, his sections on the dissolution of the Roman Empire could, in my opinion, be improved). And yet, by buying this book you are obviously reading someone's life work--and life passion--someone who is really overflowing with ideas, committment, scholarship, and who has an incredibly detailed and varied knowledge of his subject.

This book fits its purpose well. Interesting vignettes into the quirks of old homes ad their owners. Rich photography of homes actually lived in by families. If you don't expect too much you won't be disappointed.