Adventures With Old Houses

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Summary: A nice coffee table book but...
Review: ...I would not recommend it to anyone looking for info on historical houses or their restoration...basically he just tells about how he found a particular house and then bought it...he also gives some of the social history associated with each house...no details regarding the actual restorations...very little information regarding the architecture...frustrating little floorplans with no details...he doesn't seem to possess any insight regarding the architectrual significance of these places...if it was pretty he bought it and here are some pictures.

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Summary: The experts all agree.....
Review: Adventures With Old Houses is a glorius book--but then Richard Jenrette is a man who glories in acquiring and restoring old houses. A highly personal account of these accomplishments adds to the charm of a book, to be passed on from one generation to another. BILL BLASS This book is ostensibly the story of Richard Jenrette's houses, but it is really the chronicle of his passions, for the houses he has lived in are the characters around which the drama of his life turns. In saving and restoring some of the world's great houses, from Charleston to New York, from the Hudson River to St. Croix, he has accomplished an extraordinary act of architectural philanthropy but he has also embarked on a highly personal odyssey to find contentment through architecture, design and history. In these pages is the splendid record of his journey. PAUL GOLDBERGER

Connoisseurship and scholarship make this book as wonderful to read as it is to look at. ADA LOUISE HUXTABLE

When it comes to acquiring and restoring great houses, Dick Jenrette is in a class all by himself. As this wonderfully written and designed book makes clear, his passion for his houses has provided us with a new standard for preserving the best of our classical architecture. RICHARD MOE, President National Trust for Historic Preservation

This deeply informed and lavishly illustrated volume is architectural and decorative arts history at its best. Rich with historical detail Jenrette weaves into this gripping and clearly written narrative his lifelong love affair with historic American buildings and neoclassical furniture. WENDALL GARRETT Sr. V.P. Sotheby's

Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book!
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this purchase. The photos in the book were not focused. The colors were not sharp. I would rather have bought a copy of Architectural Digest. I would not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book!
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this purchase. The photos in the book were not focused. The colors were not sharp. I would rather have bought a copy of Architectural Digest. I would not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book Of One Man's Exceptional Residences
Review: If you believe in reincarnation and love old houses, you would surely want to "come back" as Richard Hampton Jenrette! (Who knows, maybe HE is the reinarnation of Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, a peer, certainly, in the collection of wonderful houses.)

This man has the most exquisite taste, a passion for historic houses and the decorative arts, and the means to indulge a lifestyle that can simply be described as sublime.

This book is NOT a "how to" manual. It is an elegant recollection of a number of houses he has owned and obviously loved over the course of many years.

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book Of One Man's Exceptional Residences
Review: If you believe in reincarnation and love old houses, you would surely want to "come back" as Richard Hampton Jenrette! (Who knows, maybe HE is the reinarnation of Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, a peer, certainly, in the collection of wonderful houses.)

This man has the most exquisite taste, a passion for historic houses and the decorative arts, and the means to indulge a lifestyle that can simply be described as sublime.

This book is NOT a "how to" manual. It is an elegant recollection of a number of houses he has owned and obviously loved over the course of many years.

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book Of One Man's Exceptional Residences
Review: If you believe in reincarnation and love old houses, you would surely want to "come back" as Richard Hampton Jenrette! (Who knows, maybe HE is the reinarnation of Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, a peer, certainly, in the collection of wonderful houses.)

This man has the most exquisite taste, a passion for historic houses and the decorative arts, and the means to indulge a lifestyle that can simply be described as sublime.

This book is NOT a "how to" manual. It is an elegant recollection of a number of houses he has owned and obviously loved over the course of many years.

Rating:
Summary: Passion for Old Houses
Review: Mr. Jenrette's passion for old houses is evident in this glorious book. He is to be commended for saving these historical treasures and restoring them to their former glory. His authenticity to period American furniture and decorative arts as well as his decorating integrity exemplify his dedication. (Of course, it helps to have money) Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: I wish we could find more books about same topic
Review: The book itself is OK. Most important, it is one of the only books dedicated to "how you and me can restore historic houses". I still have this extraordinary book: "How we made 1 million dollars recycling old houses". I read parts of this fascinating life-story once a week. First time published in 1979 by "Contemporary Books" this book might be difficult for you to find. Drop me a mail, I could lend it to you. Adventures with old houses are also a great book. You should buy it and write you own story with old houses. We write every day a new page of Château de Bois-Briand, a castle founded in 1405 and still full of lively people. "Adventures with old houses" was helpful to us even if one of the readers will want to make a better book on same topic.

Rating:
Summary: More reviews available
Review: You can read glowing priase for this book and profiles of Mr. Jenrette's in House Beautiful (May 2000); Architectural Digest (March 2000); Southern Accents (July/August 2000); Old House Interiors (March 2000); Antiques Magazine, Preservation Magazine and Veranda (April 2000).