The Elements of Style: An Encyclopedia of Domestic Architectural Detail

by Calloway, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9781554070794
• ISBN10: 1554070791
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-08
• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd

Summary

"An impressive reference work." - Library Journal (on the 1997 edition)A richly detailed and easy-to-use reference to 500 years of architectural details and styles.Owners and potential buyers of period houses, restorers, architects, interior designers and historical preservationists will find this reference invaluable.The Elements of Style is the most comprehensive visual survey, period-by-period, feature-by-feature, of the styles that have had the greatest impact on interiors of American and British domestic architecture. Compiled by a team of experts, this is the first book on architectural styles that is comprehensive, incredibly thorough, and accessible in its presentation of individual details.This magnificent volume covers more than 500 years of architectural styles from Tudor to Post-Modern and includes American and British vernacular styles. First published in 1991 (with 150,000 copies sold), this new edition is expanded to include the most contemporary styles.Detailed illustrations include 3,000 analytical drawings and historic engravings, 400 photographs in color and 1,000 in black and white.The heart of The Elements of Style is a chronological survey of the primary styles and periods of architectural design. Each chapter begins with an illustrated essay, then covers in detail features such as: Doors Windows Walls, floors and ceilings Staircases Ironwork and hardware Woodwork and built-in furniture Kitchen stoves and fireplaces Essential period architectural details, and more.The book also includes: A useful system of quick reference, employing color-coded tabs showing how particular features evolved over time, and A fully updated resource list with contact information for locating suppliers of those design elements illustrated throughout the book.The Elements of Style is the essential reference for preservationists, architects, interior designers, owners of period homes, and historians.

Author Biography

Stephen Calloway is the author of Twentieth Century Decoration and Baroque Baroque and contributes regularly to a number of periodicals including: The World of Interiors, House and Garden and Elle Decoration. He is also a lecturer and consultant on architecture and interior design.

Table of Contents

Foreword	8	(2)
Stephen Calloway
How to Use This Book	10	(1)
A Note on Terminology	10	(2)
Tudor and Jacobean (1485-1625)
Simon Thurley
Introduction	12	(4)
Doors	16	(4)
Windows	20	(4)
Walls	24	(3)
Ceilings	27	(3)
Floors	30	(1)
Fireplaces	31	(4)
Staircases	35	(3)
Built-in furniture	38	(1)
Services	39	(1)
Baroque (1625-1714)
Richard Hewlings
Introduction	40	(4)
Doors	44	(6)
Windows	50	(4)
Walls	54	(3)
Ceilings	57	(2)
Floors	59	(1)
Fireplaces	60	(5)
Staircases	65	(3)
Built-in furniture	68	(1)
Services	69	(1)
Lighting	70	(1)
Metalwork	71	(1)
Early Georgian (1714-1765)
Stephen Calloway
Introduction	72	(2)
Doors	74	(7)
Windows	81	(4)
Walls	85	(3)
Ceilings	88	(3)
Floors	91	(2)
Fireplaces	93	(5)
Staircases	98	(2)
Built-in furniture	100	(2)
Services	102	(1)
Lighting	103	(1)
Metalwork	104	(2)
Colonial (1607-1780)
William Macintire
Introduction	106	(2)
Doors	108	(4)
Windows	112	(3)
Walls	115	(3)
Ceilings	118	(2)
Floors	120	(1)
Fireplaces	121	(5)
Staircases	126	(3)
Built-in furniture	129	(2)
Services	131	(1)
Lighting	132	(1)
Metalwork	133	(1)
Woodwork	134	(2)
Late Georgian (1765-1811)
Stephen Jones
Introduction	136	(2)
Doors	138	(5)
Windows	143	(3)
Walls	146	(3)
Ceilings	149	(3)
Floors	152	(2)
Fireplaces	154	(5)
Staircases	159	(3)
Built-in furniture	162	(3)
Services	165	(1)
Lighting	166	(1)
Metalwork	167	(3)
Regency and Early 19th Century (1811-1837)
Stephen Calloway
Introduction	170	(4)
Doors	174	(4)
Windows	178	(3)
Walls	181	(2)
Ceilings	183	(2)
Floors	185	(2)
Fireplaces	187	(5)
Staircases	192	(3)
Built-in furniture	195	(1)
Services	196	(1)
Lighting	197	(1)
Metalwork	198	(4)
Woodwork	202	(2)
Federal and Empire (1780-1850)
Jonathan Poston
Introduction	204	(3)
Doors	207	(4)
Windows	211	(3)
Walls	214	(2)
Ceilings	216	(2)
Floors	218	(1)
Fireplaces	219	(4)
Staircases	223	(2)
Built-in furniture	225	(2)
Services	227	(1)
Lighting	228	(1)
Metalwork	229	(2)
Woodwork	231	(1)
British Victorian (1837-1901)
Robin Wyatt
Introduction	232	(4)
Doors	236	(6)
Windows	242	(4)
Walls	246	(3)
Ceilings	249	(2)
Floors	251	(2)
Fireplaces	253	(5)
Kitchen stoves	258	(1)
Staircases	259	(3)
Built-in furniture	262	(2)
Services	264	(3)
Lighting	267	(1)
Metalwork	268	(3)
Woodwork	271	(1)
American Victorian (1840-1910)
Thomas Jayne
Introduction	272	(4)
Doors	276	(4)
Windows	280	(3)
Walls	283	(2)
Ceilings	285	(2)
Floors	287	(2)
Fireplaces	289	(4)
Kitchen stoves	293	(1)
Staircases	294	(3)
Built-in furniture	297	(2)
Services	299	(2)
Lighting	301	(1)
Metalwork	302	(2)
Woodwork	304	(2)
Arts and Crafts (1860-1925)
Stephen Jones
Introduction	306	(2)
Doors	308	(4)
Windows	312	(3)
Walls	315	(3)
Ceilings	318	(2)
Floors	320	(1)
Fireplaces	321	(5)
Staircases	326	(3)
Built-in furniture	329	(2)
Services	331	(1)
Lighting	332	(1)
Metalwork	333	(1)
Woodwork	334	(2)
Art Nouveau (1888-1905)
Margaret Knight
Introduction	336	(2)
Doors	338	(2)
Windows	340	(2)
Walls	342	(2)
Ceilings	344	(1)
Floors	345	(1)
Fireplaces	346	(3)
Staircases	349	(1)
Built-in furniture	350	(1)
Services	351	(1)
Lighting	352	(1)
Metalwork	353	(1)
Edwardian (1901-1914)
Robin Wyatt
Introduction	354	(2)
Doors	356	(4)
Windows	360	(3)
Walls	363	(3)
Ceilings	366	(2)
Floors	368	(2)
Fireplaces	370	(4)
Kitchen stoves	374	(1)
Staircases	375	(2)
Built-in furniture	377	(1)
Services	378	(2)
Lighting	380	(1)
Metalwork	381	(2)
Woodwork	383	(1)
American Beaux Arts (1870-1920)
David Reese
Introduction	384	(3)
Doors	387	(4)
Windows	391	(3)
Walls	394	(3)
Ceilings	397	(2)
Floors	399	(2)
Fireplaces	401	(4)
Kitchen stoves	405	(1)
Staircases	406	(3)
Built-in furniture	409	(2)
Services	411	(2)
Lighting	413	(1)
Metalwork	414	(1)
Woodwork	415	(1)
Twenties and Thirties
Margaret Knight
Introduction	416	(2)
Doors	418	(4)
Windows	422	(4)
Walls	426	(2)
Ceilings	428	(2)
Floors	430	(2)
Fireplaces	432	(4)
Kitchen stoves	436	(1)
Staircases	437	(2)
Built-in furniture	439	(3)
Services	442	(3)
Lighting	445	(1)
Metalwork	446	(1)
Woodwork	447	(1)
The Modern Movement (1920-1950)
Alan Powers
Introduction	448	(4)
Doors	452	(2)
Windows	454	(2)
Walls	456	(1)
Ceilings	457	(1)
Floors	458	(1)
Fireplaces	459	(2)
Kitchen stoves	461	(1)
Staircases	462	(2)
Built-in furniture	464	(2)
Services	466	(1)
Lighting	467	(1)
Metalwork	468	(1)
Woodwork	469	(1)
Beyond Modern (1950-1975)
Alan Powers
Introduction	470	(8)
Doors	478	(2)
Windows	480	(4)
Walls	484	(2)
Ceilings	486	(1)
Floors	487	(1)
Fireplaces	488	(2)
Kitchens	490	(2)
Staircases	492	(2)
Built-in furniture	494	(3)
Services	497	(1)
Lighting	498	(2)
Woodwork and metalwork	500	(2)
Contemporary Era (1975-present day)
Alan Powers
Introduction	502	(6)
Doors	508	(2)
Windows	510	(2)
Surface Treatments	512	(2)
Fireplaces	514	(2)
Kitchens	516	(2)
Staircases	518	(2)
Storage Systems	520	(2)
Services	522	(2)
Lighting	524	(1)
Woodwork and metalwork	525	(1)
British Vernacular	526	(10)
Anthony Quiney
American Vernacular	536	(10)
Elizabeth Cromley
Restoration and Maintenance	546	(5)
Peter Sutton
Biographies	551	(13)
Valerie Clack
Glossary	564	(17)
Directory of Suppliers
British	569	(6)
North American	575	(6)
Bibliography	581	(3)
Acknowledgments	584	(4)
Index	588

Excerpts

Foreword "For a man's house is his castle:, wrote Sir Edward Coke at the beginning of the 17th century. The phrase has become a cornerstone of the way we think and live. Yet, by a stroke of historic irony, the great lawyer's memorable line was penned at the very time when Inigo Jones was building the first modern house in England, the Queen's House at Greenwich -- that precocious expression of polite taste and perfect monument to a new domestic ideal. From this date on people cared for their houses not merely as strongholds of safety and domestic wealth: they loved them for their architecture. Today we are heirs to a legacy of fine building and to a continuing fascination with the details and stylistic elements which give our houses their character. In Britain, and in the United States too, that interest in old houses has become something of a national obsession. The desire to know and understand the history of our homes has never been stronger. We are, perhaps more than ever before, aware of the crucial importance of our great architectural traditions and the central position they occupy in what we have come to call our heritage. At the heart of this concept of heritage lies our idealized image of the period house, which, great or small, ostentatious or plain, has come to epitomize so many of our notions of civilization. The study of the architectural evolution of the country house in England and the United States, and of urban and village building, has a long and distinguished history. But in recent years, academic interest in the planning, stylistic development and detailing of historic houses has increasingly become linked with the more passionate and practical enthusiasms of the conservation movement. As a result, the houses we live in have become a major concern -- the subject of both a large body of scholarly and investigative endeavor and often intense public discussion and debate. One of the foremost defenders of traditional values in design and workmanship, the Prince of Wales, has repeatedly stressed the influential role which fine architecture can play in our everyday existence. As the protagonist of a humane architecture based on human scale and sound techniques and materials, he has championed the idea that good building is not only an index of civilization, but also an important contributory factor in the quality of life which we enjoy. Today, those who value the best of the old in our heritage are convinced of its relevance to the new. But there is, it has to be said, a great deal that must be learned or re-learned. In recent decades more modern tendencies have prevailed, and we have come perilously close to losing much of the rich vocabulary and even the grammar which gave our architectural language in previous ages its subtlety and fluent charm. What we need now is a return to visual literacy, an understanding of all the elements and details of the house as they have changed through five centuries. To promote such an understanding, which alone can be the only proper basis for conservation, restoration and sensitive design, is one of the main aims of this book. We have sought to create within the compass of a single volume a practical sourcebook for all those who care about our heritage of domestic architecture in Britain and the United States. The vast body of illustrative material that has been drawn together here includes specially commissioned photographs of houses, reproductions of engraved plates from the key architectural publications of each period, and drawings based on a wide variety of archival material, including old photographs and measured drawings (often of buildings now demolished), rare prints and builders' pattern books. The images used to illustrate each chapter have been selected by the individual authors, each of whom has made a particular study of his or her period. For each chapter the chief aim has been to show the development of standard fo