The Ranch House

The trend is unmistakable. The Ranch-style house-a phenomenal success in the '40s, '50s, and '60s-is making a comeback. Like the enthusiastic embrace of Modern-style houses in the past decade, the Ranch house today is being snatched up and restored all across suburban America, while longtime owners are rediscovering what seduced them in the first place. Now Alan Hess, one of the country's leading authorities on the 20th-century American home, offers the definitive look at the Ranch house as he guides readers on a tour of more than 30 iconic examples, all photographed especially for this book.

With L- or U-shaped floor plans and sliding glass doors that provide direct access to the patio from the living area, the Ranch house is ideal for an indoor/ outdoor lifestyle and great for families, qualities that made it so appealing in its early days. Now, as this book illustrates, with baby boomers reclaiming the design aesthetic of their youth and a younger generation welcoming the warm and casual spirit of the Ranch, it's no surprise that this most populist of house styles is popular once again. AUTHOR BIO: Alan Hess is architecture critic for the San Jose Mercury News. His books include Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture, Rancho Deluxe, The Architecture of John Lautner, and Palm Springs Weekend. He lives in Troy, Michigan. Noah Sheldon is an architectural photographer based in New York City whose work has been featured in numerous national periodicals, includingThe New York Times Magazine and New York. This is his first book.

Alan Hess is architecture critic for the San Jose Mercury News. His books include Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture, Rancho Deluxe, The Architecture of John Lautner, and Palm Springs Weekend. He lives in Troy, Michigan. Noah Sheldon is an architectural photographer based in New York City whose work has been featured in numerous national periodicals, including House and Garden and New York. This is his first book.

Greek and Roman Architecture in Classic Illustrations

Perhaps the finest record of classical architectural detail ever made. Executed in the demanding technique of India ink and water color rendering, the illustrations include the Parthenon, Roman temples, Pantheon, Coliseum, many others. Unparalleled three-dimensionality and effects of scale. Enhanced with Introductory Notes by John Blatteau and Christiane Sears. Notes. Preface. 127 plates.

This is a great collection of classical Greek and Roman architectural reconstructions from the book - "Fragments d'Architecture Antique" - published by Hector d'Espouy (1854-1929) in 1905. The book presents some of the drawings rendered by participants in the French "Prix de Rome" art and architecture scholarship program which ran from 1663 to 1968.

The printing is not excellent, but very good considering the price. The selections show a true care and attention to detail in bringing these design elements back to life. The ancient world was amazing, in a way that we often ignore today in our modern age of machinery and computer-aided design. Certainly, we're more advanced in many areas. But take a good, long look at what these earlier socieities created out of stone, with simple tools, and you'll be quite impressed.

There is a more expensive book on this subject, published by the J. Paul Getty Museum, entitled "Ruins of Ancient Rome: The Drawings of French Architects Who Won the Prix De Rome 1786-1924" that manages to outdo this one in my opinion. But considering the price difference, this is understandable. In any case, I still enjoy this book, as it presents Greek elements not present in the other. You'll see studies of the Parthenon, the Precinct of Demeter at Eleusis, the Temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus, and so on. You'll also take a brief look outside Greece and Rome to the Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halicarnassus.

Overall, this is an excellent view into the architectural world of the ancients.

Modernism Reborn: Mid-Century American Houses

Thankfully, there is a great resurgence of interest in modern architecture, leading to restorations and hence life being lived anew in modern houses. This book gathers mid-century designs that are austere and simple, use natural materials, and address space as a positive and layers of furniture and trimmings as a negative. Modern houses are comfortable in their juncture of light and open floor plans; they yield timeless designs that remain "modern" 50 to 60 years after the fact when other designs are headed toward being "antique." This well-designed volume is as comfortable and straightforward as the modern houses it celebrates. Quality photographs of each house in its setting, as an interior, and as a tribute to a philosophy join with an informed and useful text that supports but never upstages the designs. As a result, readers get a very nice pairing of the Modern Movement and the houses it built. A good feature: if a house is managed by an historic trust and is open to visitors, its availability and its web site are included. Recommended. David Bryant, New Canaan Lib., CT

Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.