Rating: 
Summary: what makes a home beautiful?
Review: This book was well reviewed in the Washington Post, so I bought it.Gorgeous photos and floorplans without measurements are shown for 13 houses, ranging from small to medium size, but all expensive. The best thing about the book is that it discusses what makes a residence interesting to live in and beautiful to look at. It gave me some things to think about when I design my next house. The worst part, normal for architect designs, is that closets and bathrooms are small or few or both. No rooms have TV sets or any clutter. You couldn't live in the house as shown. But it is a feast of good and beautiful ideas!
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Book About a Rare Talent
Review: This is a gorgeous book. The images are of extraordinary quality, and, like another reviewer commented, make one feel as though you're in the room. The text is, well, charming. And that's a good thing. This isn't a dry, academic tome, and the reader is engaged by the almost poetic descriptions. One really begins to think about what's being conveyed. My hat is off to authors Dennis Wedlick and Philip Langdon. But foremost is the rare talent of Wedlick. There are many bad architects out there, and the global built fabric has been significantly diminished these past five decades by Bad Modernism (as opposed to the rare Good Modernism). More rare these past five decades are architects conversant with a language of tradition. Even rarer still are architects who work this ancient language with skill, humor, and economy of line. Wedlick, like Sir John Soane, knows how to break the "rules" without ever descending into silliness. The crisp plans reveal an impressive attention to compact arrangements, and offer a rebuke to the needless Bigger Is Better phenomenon that has swept America. Wedlick is unusually adept at making sense from complicated geometry (notably with his star-shaped house). His ability to work with both a language of tradition AND modernism is remarkable, and it's to his credit that he has deftly maintained a foot in these opposing camps. The built world would be infinitely improved if more architects kept their feet engaged as such! My only complaints are:
1) The plans are grouped at the end, forcing one to flip back and forth while reading about a house.
2) Some highlighted houses don't have plans!
3) No site plans are included.
4) There's almost no information about Wedlick. One yearns to know more about the man, his practice, and clients. These concerns do not offset my giving the book five stars.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book About a Rare Talent
Review: This is a gorgeous book. The images are of extraordinary quality, and, like another reviewer commented, make one feel as though you're in the room. The text is, well, charming. And that's a good thing. This isn't a dry, academic tome, and the reader is engaged by the almost poetic descriptions. One really begins to think about what's being conveyed. My hat is off to authors Dennis Wedlick and Philip Langdon. But foremost is the rare talent of Wedlick. There are many bad architects out there, and the global built fabric has been significantly diminished these past five decades by Bad Modernism (as opposed to the rare Good Modernism). More rare these past five decades are architects conversant with a language of tradition. Even rarer still are architects who work this ancient language with skill, humor, and economy of line. Wedlick, like Sir John Soane, knows how to break the "rules" without ever descending into silliness. The crisp plans reveal an impressive attention to compact arrangements, and offer a rebuke to the needless Bigger Is Better phenomenon that has swept America. Wedlick is unusually adept at making sense from complicated geometry (notably with his star-shaped house). His ability to work with both a language of tradition AND modernism is remarkable, and it's to his credit that he has deftly maintained a foot in these opposing camps. The built world would be infinitely improved if more architects kept their feet engaged as such! My only complaints are:
1) The plans are grouped at the end, forcing one to flip back and forth while reading about a house.
2) Some highlighted houses don't have plans!
3) No site plans are included.
4) There's almost no information about Wedlick. One yearns to know more about the man, his practice, and clients. These concerns do not offset my giving the book five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Most charm for the money
Review: This is an enjoyable book. It consists of photo spreads of several homes by the architect author, with explanatory text. It's much more focused than similar books, but, like them, uses polished professional photography and ghost writing. The theme is houses with Picturesque charm, or at least as much as can be had with new construction. I feel true charm is always accidental and only accrues over time, but, for those who feel instant charm is better than none at all, there are no better examples. At least for modern homes. Otherwise, Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the Twenties takes the cake.
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