American Homes: The Landmark Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture
By Lester Walker (Black & Leventhal, 2015) Buy It NowAward-winning Woodstock architect Lester Walker (whose renovated ranch house is profiled in this issue) has revised and expanded his 1990s classic American Shelter, including more than a thousand detailed and graphically satisfying line drawings, elevations, and ground plans. Highlighting significant details, he offers a guided tour of more than 100 styles of American homes, ranging from Pueblo and Tipi through Dutch Colonial, New England saltboxes, the many variations of Victorian gingerbread, midcentury modern ranch houses, and more. Though Walker is even-handed in his treatment of changing styles, he devotes whole chapters to architects who redefined their era’s aesthetic. He also pays homage to eccentric structures, including roadside-attraction oddities like Lucy the Margate Elephant, in this delightful, informative guide to the places we live.