Victorian Cottage Residences

by Andrew Jackson Downing

Book Overview

Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-52), the first great American landscape gardener, was one of the earliest and most influential popularizers of something new on the American scene -- the small, inexpensive detached house. Into a countryside dotted with log cabins and occasional Greek Revival mansions, he introduced the tasteful, efficient cottage residence in all its variations, including Gothic, bracketed, Italianate, and "rustic." His enormously successful...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486240789
• ISBN13: 9780486240787
• Release Date: December 2011
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A.J.Downing set a standard for early Victorian architecture.

A.J. Downing set the style for country suburban Victorian Cottages and gardens along the Hudson River in the 1830's and 1840's. All of his "cottages" featured fireplaces and architecturally important chimneys, usually with decorative chimney tops. Borrowing from painting and fine arts, Downing had definite opinions about color and appropriate use of materials. Provocative and interesting reading this book of cottage and garden plans and sketches is well worth reading. He set a standard for early Victorian architecture. - Jim Buckley

raves about A. J. Downing's "Victorian Cottage Residences"

"Victorian Cottage Residences" is a comprehensive book of twenty-something floor plans, mostly of Victorian houses (obviously) both large and small. For those into landscaping as well, this book is doubly wonderful; otherwise the advice on the apple trees is probably better skipped. However, for anyone who's even remotely interested in old homes or houses in general, this is a fantastic book to check out.