The Baltimore Rowhouse - Hardcover

Hayward, Mary Ellen; Belfoure, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1568981775 ISBN 13: 9781568981772

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999

Synopsis

Perhaps no other American city is so defined by an indigenous architectural style as Baltimore is by the rowhouse, whose brick facades march up and down the gentle hills of the city. Why did the rowhouse thrive in Baltimore? How did it escape destruction here, unlike in many other historic American cities? What were the forces that led to the citywide renovation of Baltimore's rowhouses? The Baltimore Rowhouse tells the fascinating 200-year story of this building type. It chronicles the evolution of the rowhouse from its origins as speculative housing for immigrants, through its reclamation and renovation by young urban pioneers thanks to local government sponsorship, to its current occupation by a new cadre of wealthy professionals.

About this title

About the Author:

Mary Ellen Hayward directs the Maryland Trust's Alley House project, which oversees several historic site surveys in the city. Charles Belfoure specializes in preservation projects and teaches in Goucher College's preservation program.

Review:

"But just when it may seem that no one respects rowhouses anymore, along comes a book that reminds us what they've meant to the city - and why they're worth celebrating...For a bleaker look at the fate of the rowhouse, readers will have to look elsewhere. As Baltimore grapples with the issues of 'undercrowding' and abandonment, other voices are sure to weigh in. By taking such a serious and authoritative looks at the Baltimore rowhouse - and finding so much positive to report - Hayward and Belfoure have made a valuable contribution to the debate." -- The Baltimore Sun

"Excellent and extensive study of the American row-house." -- Choice, February 2000

"With her light touch, Busch--at once learned and unpretentious--takes you through a tour of homes and homemaking that is rich in history and sumptuously detailed. 'Dining Room' tells, among things, of how table knives lost their pointed ends when Louis XIV decided that the table was no place for dueling. Henceforth all knife-ends were to be rounded and a great leap was made, if not for mankind, then for manners...No corner of the home or habit of the mind goes neglected here; reading this, you will look on your house--from its public face, the front door, to the inner sanctum of the well-appointed bathroom-with new eyes." -- Pool & Spa Living

The authors interweave the narrative and information so seamlessly that the book reads like a skillfully constructed novel... -- Art Documentation, January 2000

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1568981775
• ISBN 13: 9781568981772
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 211