American Farmhouses: Country Style and Design (First Edition)

A country farmhouse surrounded by fields and trees is a quintessentially American secene, but it's one that has universal appeal. These simple homes speak to us of history and values, promising both comfort and protection.
The "country look" remains the single most popular American style. Despite social and economic changes and the whims of fashion, it continues to shape our design and decorating tastes. Now in these lavishly illustrated pages, American Farmhouses offers a rich and inspiring survey of country architecture and design, from painted furniture to porches, stenciling to saltbox houses.
Part of the appeal of country homes lies in their hand-hewn individualism and heritage of Old World charm. Many familiar design elements derived from distinct traditions brought by the early settlers, then adapted to local conditions and materials. Even in the early twentieth century, most country houses were still designed and constructed by local craftsmen, resulting in an immensely rich variety still visible in farms large and small across the country.
Today, the interior of a country home can be a meticulous restoration in a traditional style or a flea-market mix of furnishings and collectibles. The nearly twenty profiles of country homes in American Farmhouses, ranging from a rustic German-style house in Texas to a classic Greek Revival in upstate New York to a contemporary reinterpretation in Connecticut, are full of stimulating and original ideas.
To help readers bring the "country look" home, whether in a city apartment or a rural getaway, American Farmhouses also includes a detailed sourcebook of manufacturers, craftsmen, and architectural antiques dealers nationwide. Here is everything from cast-iron firebacks to milk paint to farmhouse tables, from suppliers who continue to keep the spirit of the farmhouse vital and alive today.

In photographs that are a trifle workmanlike, but large and richly hued, this glossy coffee table tome celebrates the "singularity" of the farmhouse, its "practical and adaptive characteristics, its essential vernacular quality." Rosch, formerly the executive editor of American Homestyle & Gardening, surveys the most prominent farmhouse styles (post-and-beam, the saltbox), touches upon trends in function and dicor (the space-saving corner cupboards, the delicate stenciling that was less expensive than wallpaper), and, in the section called The Farmhouse Reclaimed, offers photo profiles of some 16 gorgeous homes, from a modest Ohio abode with a Greek Revival porch fagade to a sprawling New York saltbox whose original rooms were built in the mid-18th century, but whose latest additions came as recently as the 1980s. Whether inhabited by preservationist owners or designers who mix the contemporary with the colonial, these farmhouses-"these wood and brick essays on America's evolution"-offer readers an appealing glimpse into comfortable historic homes. Listings at the end of the book point readers to businesses dedicated to reproductions and furnishings made the old-fashioned way.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Few history books capture the story of America's past as vividly as the farmhouses that fill our countryside," says the author in this excellent primer to America's "most prevalent form of architecture." Rosch, a former editor of American Homestyle and Gardening magazine, introduces the evolution of farmhouses, from the log cabin and saltbox to ornate Greek revival and Queen Anne, illustrated throughout in a fine mix of color photographs. She also notes the major architectural and interior features of farmhouse design, explaining the often pragmatic history that spurred their invention--how rooms were used, why materials were chosen. Closing chapters spotlight stunning homes across the country that show the evolution of the farmhouse form, including small cottages and sprawling homes that ingeniously connect barns and outbuildings to the main structure. The interiors represent both preservationist and eclectic aesthetics; several homes successfully blend traditional and contemporary sensibilities. Extensive lists of craftsmen and suppliers of period furnishings and materials conclude the book. More than just a glossy coffee-table book of cozy nostalgia. Gillian Engberg
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