There have been many books written about historic architecture in America. Histories of architecture usually focus on public buildings rather than on residential architecture and although there are some good books on American homes, they are usually limited to an exploration of a regional architectural style during one specific historical period. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes through American History set is unique in that it covers 500 years of American history viewed through a multi‐disciplinary lens that examines homes through a historical, cultural, political, economic, and technological context. The four volumes are divided into ten stylistic periods of 20 to 40 years, except for the first volume, which covers the early Colonial period from 1492 to 1780. Each historical section begins with a timeline and ends with a glossary. The sections are further divided into chapters including: an overview of the historical and cultural context, styles of domestic architecture, building materials and manufacturing, home layout and design, furniture and decoration, and finally landscaping and outbuildings. Each section is edited by a different scholar knowledgeable about that period.
Volume One begins with the establishment of the Colonies through the American Revolution to the eighteenth century Federal era. The evolution of domestic architectural styles is traced from the New England saltbox to the Palladian Southern home and later the neoclassical style exemplified by Thomas Jefferson. The building materials chapter discusses the materials that were used, how homes were heated, the type of lighting and even how water and trash disposal were handled. Later, during the eighteenth century there were innovations in construction including advances in plumbing. Detailed home design and layouts of rooms are shown with illustrations of floor plans and architectural drawings from Library of Congress archives. The next chapter features the typical furniture and interior decoration of the era as well as any regional variations in furniture design. The objects that people used in everyday life are discussed such as silver, pewter, ceramics and glassware for dining as well as the textiles that were used to cover furniture and for clothing. During the Federal era homes of the affluent often had extra rooms such as front parlours, bathrooms, and verandas. The final chapter focuses on landscaping and outbuildings. A garden was a necessary part of almost any home since all food was cultivated locally. As the population increased, towns started to grow and a new building style called the town house became popular for city living yet the majority of people still lived a rural life.
Volume Two spans nineteenth‐century America from the Revival era through the Civil War and Reconstruction to the Gilded Age. The chapters in each of the three sections follow a similar sequence of first describing the broad historical and cultural changes of the period to establish the context, then how regional styles of architecture around the country developed following the westward migration of Americans toward California. New technologies such as electricity and central heating affected home layout and design. The increase in population led to new types of multi‐family housing in the city such as tenements for poorer people. The middle class attempts to escape the unappealing aspects of the big city led to the development of the suburbs. The type of housing for each socio‐economic class is also looked at such as the slave quarters in the Southern states, the large Victorian middle‐class home to the grand estates of the Gilded Age. This was the age of industrialisation, which provided mass‐produced building materials and inexpensive furniture for the average person to furnish their home.
Volumes Three and Four focus on the twentieth century. The first 50 years of the last century were an eclectic era for architecture styles. The traditional Revival look (English Tudor, Colonial or Spanish) was popular at the same time emergent modern styles started to flourish. The Arts and Crafts movement led to the Shingle style, which was popular on the East and West coast. In the Midwest, Frank Lloyd Wright's organic Prairie style profoundly influenced American architecture. Famous architects such as Le Corbusier in Europe and Richard Netura in America spread the gospel of the Modernist movement. Yet, by the middle of the twentieth century the typical house of a middle‐class American was more likely to be a small Levitt home somewhere in the suburbs. Modern appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines affected the layout and design of homes and garages were needed for the family car. Of course, with the rise of the automobile, homes were built further away from the city and the commute to work became an accepted fact of life.
The final section in Volume Four covers 1986 to the present and is organised differently from the previous sections. The four chapters in the section look at emerging mixed‐use trends in housing and development in contemporary America. Economic and demographic changes in America during the past 20 years have changed the type of housing people want. An increase in single and divorced people led to a preference for in‐town condo and town house living compared to the past when the detached home of the traditional nuclear family dominated the suburban landscape. Americans are realising that natural resources are finite and the goal now is smart growth and sustainable development. There is a new interest in increasing density, redeveloping older downtown areas and preserving historic architecture. New urban developments are being designed based on nostalgia for the small‐town life which was considered to be more social and convenient.
Each historical section contains a comprehensive resource guide of print and web resources, videos and films, organisations, museums and special collections for further study. Numerous illustrations, both black and white and colour, floor plans, and sidebars are included. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes through American History is intended for a general audience and would be appropriate for a public or a university library. Readers interested in American history, architecture, urban planning, preservation or cultural studies would find the set very informative. The set is somewhat expensive but well worth the price and is highly recommended.
