Victorian Dream Homes

Includes sections for each style: Gothic Revival, reminiscent of Britain's Middle Ages; Italianate and Second Empire, reminiscent of rural Italy and France; Victorian; and Victorian-influenced farmhouse.

Floor plans, elevations, and details of 54 residences (villas, cottages, and farm houses) and public buildings (churches, schools, banks, etc.).

For Gwendolyn Wright, the houses of America are the diaries of the American people. They create a fascinating chronicle of the way we have lived, and a reflection of every political, economic, or social issue we have been concerned with. Why did plantation owners build uniform cabins for their slaves? Why were all the walls in nineteenth-century tenements painted white? Why did the parlor suddenly disappear from middle-class houses at the turn of the century? How did the federal highway system change the way millions of Americans raised their families? Building the Dream introduces the parade of people, policies, and ideologies that have shaped the course of our daily lives by shaping the rooms we have grown up in. In the row houses of colonial Philadelphia, the luxury apartments of New York City, the prefab houses of Levittown, and the public-housing towers of Chicago, Wright discovers revealing clues to our past and a new way of looking at such contemporary issues as integration, sustainable energy, the needs of the elderly, and how we define "family."

Provides drawings, floor plans, and descriptions of one hundred fifty Cape Cod, contemporary, colonial, French, and Victorian-style homes

Breathtaking new interiors from this iconic designer, called “the reigning queen of restrained elegance” In her much-anticipated second book, Victoria Hagan features an exquisite selection of new interiors that embody the “soft modern” look that distinguishes her work. A major force in the design community, Hagan is the master of juxtaposing old and new, showing luxury through simplicity, and creating homes that reflect their owners’ lives. In these appealing, timeless projects—including a New York penthouse, a Nantucket beach house, and a Western ranch—formal architecture is loosened up with a generosity of spirit and an appreciation for the whimsies of style. Throughout, Hagan discourses on the spirit of the unexpected detail—a vintage mirror or a unique chair—that adds soul and modernity. After twenty-five years of running a successful business, she shares her philosophy on attaining good taste and expressing an attitude through her work. Victoria Hagan: Dream Spaces is a beautiful and inspiring collection of this design superstar’s work and a must for every interior design library.

Step back in time with Mimi's Victorian Dream: Coloring Pages of Grand Homes, a stunning coloring book that transports you into the world of Victorian elegance and grandeur. Begin your journey with Behind the Gables: 100 Victorian Home Facts, an enlightening section packed with fascinating details about the ornate features and historical significance of Victorian homes. Discover the secrets behind the intricate facades and lavish interiors that define this beloved architectural era. As you flip through the pages, you'll find 51 beautifully detailed illustrations waiting for your creative touch. Each page invites you to breathe life into a variety of Victorian settings-from majestic exteriors to sumptuous parlors, elegant dining rooms, serene bedrooms, and quaint bathrooms. With each stroke of color, immerse yourself in a world where opulence and charm meet. Perfect for history enthusiasts, architecture admirers, and coloring aficionados of all ages, Mimi's Victorian Dream is not just a coloring book-it's an escape to a bygone era of decorative beauty and architectural wonder. Grab your colored pencils and let each page whisk you away to a dream of your own Victorian home. Available now-delight in the therapeutic art of coloring while indulging in a rich tapestry of history and design.

An in-depth look at a popular and beautiful style of decorating guides homeowners through what many consider the most difficult phase of historic decorating, with a focus on both historical and contemporary elements and tips on what makes a room Victorian.

Exquisitely detailed, exceptionally handsome designs for an enormous variety of attractive city dwellings, spacious suburban and country homes, charming "cottages" and other structures — all accompanied by perspective views and floor plans.

The incomparable Rebecca Solnit, author of more than a dozen acclaimed, prizewinning books of nonfiction, brings the same dazzling writing to the essays in Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness. As the title suggests, the territory of Solnit’s concerns is vast, and in her signature alchemical style she combines commentary on history, justice, war and peace, and explorations of place, art, and community, all while writing with the lyricism of a poet to achieve incandescence and wisdom. Gathered here are celebrated iconic essays along with little-known pieces that create a powerful survey of the world we live in, from the jungles of the Zapatistas in Mexico to the splendors of the Arctic. This rich collection tours places as diverse as Haiti and Iceland; movements like Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring; an original take on the question of who did Henry David Thoreau’s laundry; and a searching look at what the hatred of country music really means. Solnit moves nimbly from Orwell to Elvis, to contemporary urban gardening to 1970s California macramé and punk rock, and on to searing questions about the environment, freedom, family, class, work, and friendship. It’s no wonder she’s been compared in Bookforum to Susan Sontag and Annie Dillard and in the San Francisco Chronicle to Joan Didion. The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness proves Rebecca Solnit worthy of the accolades and honors she’s received. Rarely can a reader find such penetrating critiques of our time and its failures leavened with such generous heapings of hope. Solnit looks back to history and the progress of political movements to find an antidote to despair in what many feel as lost causes. In its encyclopedic reach and its generous compassion, Solnit’s collection charts a way through the thickets of our complex social and political worlds. Her essays are a beacon for readers looking for alternative ideas in these imperiled times.

Part puzzle, part revenge tale, part ghost story, this ingenious novel spins half a century of Vietnamese history and folklore into “a thrilling read, acrobatic and filled with verve” (The New York Times Editors’ Choice). FINALIST FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION’S FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Good Housekeeping, Kirkus Reviews “Fiction as daring and accomplished as Violet Kupersmith’s first novel reignites my love of the form and its kaleidoscopic possibilities.”—David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas Two young women go missing decades apart. Both are fearless, both are lost. And both will have their revenge. 1986: The teenage daughter of a wealthy Vietnamese family loses her way in an abandoned rubber plantation while fleeing her angry father and is forever changed. 2011: A young, unhappy Vietnamese American woman disappears from her new home in Saigon without a trace. The fates of these two women are inescapably linked, bound together by past generations, by ghosts and ancestors, by the history of possessed bodies and possessed lands. Alongside them, we meet a young boy who is sent to a boarding school for the métis children of French expatriates, just before Vietnam declares its independence from colonial rule; two Frenchmen who are trying to start a business with the Vietnam War on the horizon; and the employees of the Saigon Spirit Eradication Co., who find themselves investigating strange occurrences in a farmhouse on the edge of a forest. Each new character and timeline brings us one step closer to understanding what binds them all. Build Your House Around My Body takes us from colonial mansions to ramshackle zoos, from sweaty nightclubs to the jostling seats of motorbikes, from ex-pat flats to sizzling back-alley street carts. Spanning more than fifty years of Vietnamese history and barreling toward an unforgettable conclusion, this is a time-traveling, heart-pounding, border-crossing fever dream of a novel that will haunt you long after the last page.