Books, Arts & Photography, Architecture, Historic Preservation

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Russell Versaci
Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home (American Institute Architects)
by Taunton (Hardcover) (Release Date: 2003-11-15)

Anyone who yearns for an older home – but is daunted by the prospect of owning one — will love this book. Through hundreds of inspiring photographs and engaging text, the author describes what gives traditional homes their enduring appeal. Versaci identifies Eight Pillars of Traditional Design that create a solid foundation for combining authentic, traditional design with livability to create homes that feel old yet live new. Featuring a vast array of new, old-house styles — from colonials to farmhouses — from all over the country, the houses illustrate the creative work of architects, builders, and craftsmen who are forging the movement toward building new homes that capture an old-home sensibility.

Christian Duvernois
Marie-Antoinette and the Last Garden at Versailles
by Rizzoli (Hardcover) (Release Date: 2008-10-07)

Marie-Antoinette has been idolized as the height of eighteenth-century French style and vilified as the spark that ignited the French Revolution. This book departs from such traditional interpretations of the infamous queen’s reign and chooses to reflect on the humanistic aspects of her private realm. To escape the formalities and royal obligations of Louis XVI’s court, Marie-Antoinette created a private realm of pleasure for herself at the Petit Trianon and Hameau, where she planted the first Anglo-Chinese garden; created a trysting grotto; a working farm; and revolutionized architecture and gardening trends for the century to come. Marie-Antoinette’s entire private domain and its story are told in beautiful photographic detail by François Halard for the first time since its recent restoration and accompanied by well-researched texts by garden expert Christian Duvernois.

Elizabeth A T Smith
Case Study Houses: 1945-1966: The California Impetus (Taschen Basic Architecture)
by Taschen (Paperback)

Ian Cramb
Art of The Stonemason
by Hood, Alan C. & Company, Inc. (Paperback) (Release Date: 2006-02-15)

Drawing on five generations of family tradition as stonemasons in his native Scotland, Ian Cramb created this masterful work to pass on his knowledge and experience to craftsmen who wish to learn the ancient, but still necessary, principles of the stonemason's art. Since original publication by Betterway Books in 1992, this book has established itself as an essential learning tool for masons doing new construction and also those engaged in restoration of historic stone structures.Beginning with a detailed discussion of building with "random rubble", which is the name for the early Celtic art of building with irregular stones bedded on mortar, the author proceeds to more complex projects such as fireplaces, stairs, arches, bridges and more. There is extensive treatment of various restoration techniques involved with historic structures both in the US and Britain, some as old as 1000 years. In additon the author covers various types of stone, stone-cutting, etc. as well as ...

Howard E., Jr. Covington, The Biltmore Company
Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon
by Wiley (Hardcover)

"What William Cecil has accomplished at Biltmore Estate is one of the great preservation success stories of all time. He has set a high standard for what all historic house museums strive for: magnificently preserved buildings and grounds, engaging interpretation, and--perhaps most challenging of all--economic self-sufficiency. It is no surprise that Biltmore Estate is widely recognized as one of America's finest places to visit." --Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation "Biltmore is a glorious national historic landmark that, through creative vision and entrepreneurial management, preserves and provides insight into a way of life in the early 1900s. Bill is the imaginative and multifaceted leader who has built this great monument to enrich his community. George and I admire his dedication and success." --George and Abby Rockefeller O'Neill "Bill Cecil and his team at Biltmore Estate have sure proved that they know how to build ...

Jack C. McCormac
Design of Reinforced Concrete
by Wiley (Hardcover)

An introductory book presenting the theories, ACI Code requirements and design of reinforced concrete beams, slabs, columns, footings, retaining walls, bearing walls, prestressed concrete sections, and framework in a clear and understandable manner.

Steve Gross, Sue Daley
Creole Houses: Traditional Homes of Old Louisiana
by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (Hardcover)

Creole houses, found from New Orleans to northern Louisiana, are one of the nation’s unique architectural treasures. A blend of French and Spanish colonial styles, with West Indian, Canadian, and other influences, these lovely houses were astutely designed to withstand their sultry, subtropical environment. Significantly, most major examples withstood the devastating hurricanes of 2005. No other book of photography evocatively examines the development of this singular American style, embracing architecture and interior decoration, which thrived from the early eighteenth through the mid-nineteenth century. Creole Houses offers an appreciation of Creole culture as seen through its historic homes and celebrates not only a memorable way of life, but the history, and the unique sensibility, that produced it.

Gerard Wolfe
New York: 15 Walking Tours
by McGraw-Hill Professional (Paperback)

Suzanna Clarke
A House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco
by Pocket (Paperback)

The Medina -- the Old City -- of Fez is the best-preserved, medieval walled city in the world. Inside this vibrant Moroccan community, internet cafes and mobile phones coexist with a maze of donkey-trod alleyways, thousand-year-old sewer systems, and Arab-style houses, gorgeous with intricate, if often shabby, mosaic work.While vacationing in Morocco, Suzanna Clarke and her husband, Sandy, are inspired to buy a dilapidated, centuries-old riad in Fez with the aim of restoring it to its original splendor, using only traditional craftsmen and handmade materials. So begins a remarkable adventure that is bewildering, at times hilarious, and ultimately immensely rewarding.A House in Fez chronicles their meticulous restoration, but it is also a journey into Moroccan customs and lore and a window into the lives of its people as friendships blossom. When the riad is finally returned to its former glory, Suzanna finds she has not just restored an old house, but also her soul.

Department of Interior
The Preservation of Historic Architecture: The U.S. Government's Official Guidelines for Preserving Historic Homes
by The Lyons Press (Paperback)

From removing graffiti in Manhattan to rebuilding a hops barn in Oregon, the National Park Service-a part of the Department of the Interior-has faced just about every problem an old structure can encounter. Here for the first time is a collection of their hardwon know-how and official guidelines, written by the top experts in their respective fields of preservation. Forty-two fully illustrated chapters include: -- cleaning and waterproof coating for historic masonry-- repointing mortar joints-- maintaining historic adobe buildings-- the dangers of abrasive cleaning-- repairing historic wooden windows-- rehabilitating historic storefronts-- repairing wooden shingles-- preserving barns-- repairing stucco-- using substitute materials on historic building exteriors-- mothballing historic buildings-- understanding architectural cast ironThere's even a chapter on repairing vintage signs. Each subject is treated with the utmost care and discusses the safest and most historically ...

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