Country Houses of France (Jumbo Series)

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book if you are an interior designer!
Review: As a home builder and remodeler in three states (TX, GA, UT) I am constantly looking for new ways to set my projects apart from the crowd of new and used home on the market. It's easy to make an old home look new again, but to make a new home look beautifully old... that takes talent, inspiration (and great sub-contractors).

"Country Houses of France" has been a wellspring of ideas for me. Each beautifully photographed house is accompanied by well-written details about its history, style, past and present owners, etc.--all in French, German, and English. (This made reading the book all the more fun since I speak just enough French & German to be dangerous.)

However, although the commentary is interesting and informative, this book is really more about the photos of the houses and includes numerous interior and exterior shots as well as detailed close ups of interesting architectural and design elements. There are dozens of pictures of wall finishes, furniture, fabrics, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, mouldings, flooring, landscaping, etc.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in either the historic architecture of the French countryside or the interior design of that architecture. Both are well represented here.

Rating:
Summary: Taschen's "Country Houses of France" is a winner.
Review: As a home builder and remodeler in three states (TX, GA, UT) I am constantly looking for new ways to set my projects apart from the crowd of new and used home on the market. It's easy to make an old home look new again, but to make a new home look beautifully old... that takes talent, inspiration (and great sub-contractors).

"Country Houses of France" has been a wellspring of ideas for me. Each beautifully photographed house is accompanied by well-written details about its history, style, past and present owners, etc.--all in French, German, and English. (This made reading the book all the more fun since I speak just enough French & German to be dangerous.)

However, although the commentary is interesting and informative, this book is really more about the photos of the houses and includes numerous interior and exterior shots as well as detailed close ups of interesting architectural and design elements. There are dozens of pictures of wall finishes, furniture, fabrics, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, mouldings, flooring, landscaping, etc.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in either the historic architecture of the French countryside or the interior design of that architecture. Both are well represented here.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book if you are an interior designer!
Review: I bought this book because someone else's review was so high on it. The review was misleading. This book has very few exterior photos of houses and the exterior photos are tiny. It has no floor plans. I'm an architect and this book is virtually useless for me. The book is mostly on interior decorating and the interior photos are beautiful. For architecture this book gets one star, for interior decorating it gets five stars.