The Victorian House Book

Rating:
Summary: Lively writing describes Victorian life
Review: Although this is a mainly a design book for the Victorian home owner, and a good one, with several excellent pictures on every page, it is also a history book. The author explains how each new wallpaper style, or window treatment, or ceiling ornament, and so on, is a consequence of this Paris Exhibition, or that widely circulated pattern book, or the writings of this influential person.

And considerable research and effort went into the book. In addition to the pictures, which cover subjects in Britain, America, and occasionally Australia, there are cutaway drawings showing construction of masonry and wood houses, and, at the close of every chapter, a page or two of drawings to illustrate typical ballusters, wall lamps, wardrobes, etc.

It was written for an American audience, going by the spellings and the list of suppliers in the appendix, by an Englishman, who occasionally gets things wrong. Like saying that at the turn of the century porches fell out of favor here and were replaced by conservatories. But his advice on restoration is always good.

Although it's an engaging history of the era, it's not a how-to book. The final chapter on repairs is familair material, although it might contain something you've not seen before: sample floor plans for a typical basement or attic conversions.