Books & References

We've carefully curated collections of books and resources that delve into the fascinating world of residential homes. Whether you're drawn to traditional architecture, design principles, architectural history, or the vast variety found in regional home styles, we hope these resources prove both insightful and inspiring.

The Art of the Architect

For the first time in printed form, Michael G. Imber reveals the artwork that has inspired his architecture. This book is a beautiful collection of over 230 historic and contemporary paintings, sketches, and conceptual architectural artwork

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Addison Mizner: Architect of Fantasy and Romance

The go-to architect for the Jazz Age elite of South Florida and beyond, Addison Mizner created a new architectural style and a new lifestyle for the wealthy and socially prominent of Palm Beach--America's preeminent winter resort town of the time. Building mansions, clubs, hotels and apartment houses with a bent toward fantasy and romance, Mizner established a design vocabulary and tradition that to this day influences architects, designers, and builders.

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Addison Mizner: The Architect Whose Genius Defined Palm Beach

Addison Mizner transformed Palm Beach and South Florida with his visionary architecture. He designed, among many others, the landmark Everglades Club in Palm Beach and the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton. In this detailed biography, Stephen Perkins and James Caughman examine Mizner's life and origins, and explore how the events of his life influenced his marvelous architectural legacy.

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American Homes: The Landmark Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture

American Homes is the classic work of American house architecture. From the Dutch colonial, to the New England Salt Box, to the 1950s prefab, this unrivaled reference and useful guide to 103 building styles pays homage to our country's housing heritage.

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Dreaming of Tuscany

Where to Find the Best There Is: Perfect Hilltowns; Splendid Palazzos; Rustic Farmhouses; Glorious Gardens; Authentic Cuisine; Great Wines; Intriguing Shops No country inspires as much fascination as Italy, and no region in Italy inspires as much adoration as Tuscany—for its interior design, art and architecture, fashion, artisans and crafts, food and wine. In Dreaming of Tuscany you'll experience the essence of a place that dreams are made of, ensuring you'll get the most out of your experience.

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Form and Design in Classic Architecture

Most people recognize at a glance the extraordinarily graceful proportions of classical-style buildings such as London's Syon House and Athenaeum Club and the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall. Few, however, appreciate the underlying geometrical principles that lend these buildings their elegant unity of expression. Form and Design in Classic Architecture explains in simple, direct terms — and with numerous photographic plates and line illustrations — the ways in which the relationship of exterior and interior elements creates that unity and sense of completeness.

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French Quarter Manual: An Architectural Guide to New Orleans’s Vieux Carré

In New Orleans, the French Quarter packs itself into a little grid of a colonial town behind the levee of the Mississippi River. Established in 1718, the town received its gridded plan from a French military engineer in 1721. Most of the buildings standing today date from the nineteenth century, with eighteenth- and twentieth-century structures interspersed.

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Gardens Around the World: 365 Days

A noted garden photographer presents 365 stunning illustrations of more than 150 outstanding gardens--large and small, public and private--throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, accompanied by informative descriptions of each garden's location, design, and special features.

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Cottage Architecture of Victorian America

Handsome collection reprinted from rare 1874 catalog. Floor plans, elevations, front views, more. 27 designs on 63 plates. Introductory text and specifications.

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Classic Savannah: History, Houses, and Gardens

Captures the rich texture and color of Savannah as presented in history and photographs―the colonial capital, a deep-South antebellum town, a cotton port, a survivor of wars, and, perhaps most notably, a modern preservation success story. Includes one hundred fifty photographs, maps, and images.

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Classical Architecture

Classical architecture has its origins in simple houses and plain little temples built by the early peoples of the Mediterranean region. From these unselfconscious beginnings, classical style found perfect expression in the Doric and Ionic temples of the Greek city-states. The excellence of classical design is such that it has endured for more than two thousand years as the ideal of Western architecture.

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American Country Houses Of The Gilded Age

The "Gilded Age," the three decades following the Civil War, were years of astounding economic growth. Vast empires in oil, shipping, mining, banking, lumber, transportation, and related industries were formed. It was an era in which fortunes were made and lost quickly, almost easily; a period that encouraged ― nearly demanded ― the public display of this newly acquired wealth, power, and prestige. It was during these heady, turbulent years that a new type of domestic architecture first appeared on the American landscape. Called the "country seat" or "cottage," these houses were grandiose in scale ― imposing facades complemented by manicured gardens, with exceptionally large and impressive reception rooms, halls, parlors, dining rooms, and other public areas.

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American Colonial Homes: A Pictorial History

From Boston's Paul Revere House to George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, a visual chronicle of the evolution of Colonial design illustrates the diversity of American architecture before the Revolutionary War in more than eighty full-color photographs.

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Architecture: A Visual History

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Tudor Style Tudor Revival Houses in America from 1890 to the Present

The Tudor house is one of America's keystones-- a type of home that has attracted homeowners for more than a century. Its basic elements-- the steep gabled roofs, mullioned windows made of leaded glass, and half-timbering-- are instantly recognizable and iconic.

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Tuscan & Andalusian Reflections-20 Beautiful Homes Inspired by Old World Architecture

Within the pages of this dazzling book, readers will find 20 of the most significant new homes designed by Bassenian/Lagoni Architects of Newport Beach, California. Inspired by the architecture of Southern Europe, yet totally new, these graceful, time-tempered homes display up-to-date floor planning, the finest amenities and picturesque landscaping.

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Villas And Gardens of Tuscany

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Villas of Tuscany

Lavishly illustrated with more than 300 color photographs, Villas of Tuscany brings together 40 superb examples ranging in date from the Middle Ages to the late 19th century.

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The Houses of St. Augustine: Notes on the Architecture from 1565-1821

""The Houses of St. Augustine: Notes on the Architecture from 1565-1821"" is a comprehensive guide to the historical architecture of St. Augustine, Florida. Written by Albert Manucy, a renowned historian and expert on the subject, the book provides a detailed account of the diverse styles and influences that shaped the city's buildings over the course of nearly 300 years.

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Homage to Italy

Border's Press; Border's Press ed edition (January 1, 2001)

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Louisiana Buildings, 1720–1940: The Historic American Buildings Survey

The only New Deal program to continue into the 1990s, the Historic American Buildings Survey has through the years drawn attention to the historical and artistic significance of buildings that contemporary taste might otherwise have ignored. Louisiana Buildings, 1720-1940 makes easily available the fruit of HABS's important and enduring efforts to record Louisiana's architectural heritage.

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Creole Houses: Traditional Homes of Old Louisiana

Creole houses, found from New Orleans to northern Louisiana, are one of the nation’s unique architectural treasures. A blend of French and Spanish colonial styles, with West Indian, Canadian, and other influences, these lovely houses were astutely designed to withstand their sultry, subtropical environment. Significantly, most major examples withstood the devastating hurricanes of 2005.

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Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home

Here is the best of both worlds: New houses with old world sensibilities. In Creating a New Old House,architect Russell Versaci shows you that it is possible to design and create a new house that looks and feels like it has always been there.

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Courtyards: Intimate Outdoor Spaces

Few architectural elements are more closely associated with comfort, protection, and security than the courtyard-an outdoor living space that is partially or fully enclosed by walls or buildings. The courtyard became a major architectural design element almost as soon humans began constructing permanent buildings.

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Pigeonniers du silence

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