Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and of the Early Republic

by Fiske Kimball and Kimball Fiske 1888-1955

Book Overview

Pioneering book, profusely illustrated with 219 photographs, floor plans, drawing, and elevations, presents a detailed, comprehensive history of the evolution of American domestic architecture from 1620 to 1825. Detailed discussions of early shelters at Jamestown and Plymouth, prerevolutionary homes in the 18th century, and the rise of an independent American architectural style.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486217434
• ISBN13: 9780486217437
• Release Date: January 1966
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A well-focused book

Books on historic architecture tend to devote too little space to the homes of ordinary people. This book covers dwellings from the huts of the first colonists to governors' mansions, from rural plantation houses to Colonnade Row in Boston. The profusion of illustrations include early and modern drawings, photographs, engravings, and lithographs. They depict floor plans, elevations, interiors, exteriors, and details. What I found particularly useful is the way the author develops the historical changes in materials, style, and philosophy. His research is thorough but not at all dry. For example, he quotes William Hubbard who, before 1682, wrote of the New Haven Colony: "They laid out too much...in building fine and stately houses, wherein they at first outdid the rest of the country." This book will correct misunderstandings and oversimplifications about Colonial domestic architecture.