The Queen Anne House: America's Victorian Vernacular,   ISBN:9780810930858

Customer Rating: 

I have been a lover of Victorian houses all my life and own many books on Victorian houses. How ever I didn't have a book strictly on the Queen Ann style, which is my most favorite of all the beautiful styles created by man kind so I ordered it with the anticipation that I'd really enjoy this book. I was not wrong. The books is full of information, the pictures of both the outsides of the houses and their various styles are excellent and the pictures of the interior rooms are perfect. I also liked seeing some of the floor plans of these houses so that you got a much better picture of the layout and how a family would of lived in them.
I'm one of these people who loves to see how the insides of any Victorian house is decorated and this book does not disappoint me. Mrs. C.

Customer Rating: 

This book is very pleasing to the eye! I was very drawn to the beauty of the woodwork and beautiful decorations in these homes. I believe anyone who finds interest in victorian homes would benefit from the pictures and information that is given in this book.

Customer Rating: 

If you don't know much about architecture, don't worry. This book does not read like an architecture textbook. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how readable this book is. Although it is 240 pages long, I breezed through it in one day.

The beautiful photographs are just the icing on the cake. The author composed a wonderful comparison of various Victorian homes throughout the United States. She divided the houses into various categories according to their location: Summer Houses, Suburban Houses, Urban Houses, Rural Houses, and Houses in town. She also provided a background on the families who built these historic homes and the architects that designed them.

This book illustrates the unique aspects of the American Queen Anne style versus the English Queen Anne home. The Queen Anne style had one rule, there were no rules. Queen Anne homes displayed various textures, shapes, and colors in the exterior, which critics viewed as disorganized. The style however, was uniquely American. Although it was influenced by the English Queen Anne Revival and English architects, such as Richard Norman Shaw, the different building materials available in the United States, the climate, and the growing desire for sanitation and comfort distinguish the American Victorian home from its English counterpart.

Here is a list of the homes discussed:

Watts Sherman House
Roosevelt House
Edward Brooke House
Castle Hill
Charles Baldwin House
Montrose Park: 351 Hartford Road & 426 Center Street
Prospect Street
Hemingway House
Parker House
William E. Conover House
Haas-Lilienthal House
Krabbenhoft Farmhouse
Ovide Broussard House
John Fahnstock House
Elisa Michael's House
Shelton-Mc Murphey-Johnson House
Milton J. Carson House
Piatt House

Customer Rating: 

Technically speaking this book is well made, and seems to include a sufficient number of photographs to be useful for anyone interested in evaluating the overall appearance of this particular piece of architecture for general identification purposes. If you are NOT an architect it is probably not a reference that you will adsorb much from, as it borders more on a Text Book level, that I think might appeal more to a student then anyone in the public sector. Therefore it's somewhat pricey if you are considering it as a classy coffee table book... I believe that if this is what you are looking for than this book is a bit "over the top".

Customer Rating: 

Generally, books of this type fall into two categories - either they are dense textbook-like examinations of a particular style of architecture that lack visual appeal, or they are beautifully illustrated with minimal text that amounts to fluff. This book is a triumph in that it combines the best of both. It is at once visually appealing and informative. Both the professional and the layperson will find it useful and enjoyable. What an exciting concept!