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Rating: 
Summary: An Exhaustive Source
Review: This is the most exhaustive source I have come accross in regards to the study of pattern books and catologue books. Reiff traces the devlopment of pattern books first coming from Europe (Palladio, Serlio) and then evolving into Armerican Pattern Books (Asher Benjamin, A. J. Downing) and finally the history of plan catalogues by architects, lumber yards and majot retailors, such as Sears Reobuck. The book shows how houses built from these sources sometimes deviated from their plans. Also, many times the plan books merely influenced builders who drew their own plans more or less pirated from these sources. Reiff traces many built examples of houses that have their roots in these sources - sometimes litterally and other times suggestively.Houses from books also contains an interesting chapter on the development and influence of architectural journals. There is also a chapter of the influence of pattern books and catologue houses in an actual town using the authors home town of Fredonia, New York. In many ways this is a wonderful book, and if there is one source book I would recommend for the study of these topics, this would be it. My only critisism is that the reading can at time be laborious. The author has a tendancy to describe subtle nuances of houses in great detail. Sometimes an illustration accompanies the text, other times there is none. Because of this I often found myself a bit frustrated trying to figure out just what the author is trying to get accross. That set asside, it is still an excellent, scholarly work. The bonus feature of this book is its eight Appendices that contain listings of pattern and catologue books by companies, individuals, construction details, etc. This is an invaluable source for the student of vernacular architecture.
Rating:
Summary: An Exhaustive Source
Review: This is the most exhaustive source I have come accross in regards to the study of pattern books and catologue books. Reiff traces the devlopment of pattern books first coming from Europe (Palladio, Serlio) and then evolving into Armerican Pattern Books (Asher Benjamin, A. J. Downing) and finally the history of plan catalogues by architects, lumber yards and majot retailors, such as Sears Reobuck. The book shows how houses built from these sources sometimes deviated from their plans. Also, many times the plan books merely influenced builders who drew their own plans more or less pirated from these sources. Reiff traces many built examples of houses that have their roots in these sources - sometimes litterally and other times suggestively. Houses from books also contains an interesting chapter on the development and influence of architectural journals. There is also a chapter of the influence of pattern books and catologue houses in an actual town using the authors home town of Fredonia, New York. In many ways this is a wonderful book, and if there is one source book I would recommend for the study of these topics, this would be it. My only critisism is that the reading can at time be laborious. The author has a tendancy to describe subtle nuances of houses in great detail. Sometimes an illustration accompanies the text, other times there is none. Because of this I often found myself a bit frustrated trying to figure out just what the author is trying to get accross. That set asside, it is still an excellent, scholarly work. The bonus feature of this book is its eight Appendices that contain listings of pattern and catologue books by companies, individuals, construction details, etc. This is an invaluable source for the student of vernacular architecture.
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