Shaker Built The Form and Function of Shaker Architecture

This is a visual record of the Shaker's unique architectural style, and a historical tour of Shaker villages and buildings from Maine to as far west as Ohio. It sets out to provide evidence of who the Shakers were, how they lived and how they designed their communities, buildings and interiors. Whenever possible, they sought to remove extraneous furniture and fittings from their lives and concetrated on positioning and planning their structures with a simple and functional beauty. This simplicity, the use of highly accomplished carpentry and masonry, and a rigorous attention to detail, are the hall-marks of the Shaker-built environment.

June Sprigg has written extensively about the Shakers since 1972, when she began to live and work with the Shakers in Canterbury, New Hampshire. Her major works include By Shaker Hands, Shaker: Life, Work, and Art, and Shaker Design. She has curated exhibitions on Shaker design in the United States and in Japan.

Among Paul Rocheleau's books are American Colonial: Puritan Simplicity to Georgian Grace; Farm: The Vernacular Tradition of Working Buildings; Harlem: Lost and Found; and Henry Hobson Richardson: A Genius for Architecture.