Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Ms. Robinson made a vital contribution with the first monograph of the residential work of Peabody and Stearns. Per the title, this monograph omits most of the firm's non-residential buildings. The history of the commissions and the rediscovery of many little-known works makes this book a valuable resource. Except for mention by Vincent Scully and a few others who have written about the Shingle Style and Queen Anne architecture, the firm of Peabody and Stearns has been neglected. Many period photographs are included, and serve to document the work shown. However, many of the reproductions of some of the historic construction/design drawings held by the Boston Public Library are shockingly poor. The worst images are of the drawings for the Fitz house and Green Acres. Photographs of these elevations and plans are grossly distorted, undersized, and look incredibly amateurish. One drawing was photographed on a table with other objects visible. Someone did not know how to photograph drawings properly and make the images ready for publication. I am surprised the publisher sent the book to press with these issues. Norton usually has high production standards for its architectural books. Some of Peabody and Stearn's more interesting drawings are not included. The omission of drawings for Kragsyde, other than the oft-published perspectives, is unfortunate. The George Nixon Black house, Kragsyde, was one of the most significant Shingle Style buildings ever built. The Boston Public Library has original drawings of Kragsyde - I believe they were used to build a reproduction of the house in Maine about a decade ago. Given the cost of architectural books and their specialized audience, I expect better. Having these criticisms, I still give this book 4 stars instead of less, due to the scope of the research and the photographs. I am disappointed, though, in the overall quality. There is certainly room for another book on this firm.
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A view of the resort and leisure architecture of one of the most popular and prolific firms of the Gilded Age.
Robert Swain Peabody and John Goddard Stearns Jr. led one of the most popular and prolific architectural design firms in the Northeast, securing more than one thousand commissions and building a vast and vibrant repertoire, from warehouses and town houses to retail stores, banks, schools, railroad stations, libraries, playhouses, and country houses. This survey is the first of its kind to focus on the firm's country house commissions, offering a fascinating glimpse into the social and economic vitality that epitomized the era-one that gave rise to a robust clientele for resort architecture and second homes. Indeed, the economic developments of the time spurred a vast market for houses of recreation and leisure-time buildings, including casinos, boathouses, stables, gentlemen's farms, and cottages, all of which Peabody & Stearns had a leading role in creating. With this book, Annie Robinson establishes Peabody & Stearns as a significant contributor to the development of an American architecture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This comprehensive catalog showcases more than eighty of the firm's designs, from Pierre Lorillard's The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, to William Forbes's cottage on Cape Cod, James Ford Rhodes's Ravenscleft in Maine, and Charles William Eliot's Sunshine in Northeast Harbor, Maine. While the bulk of the firm's commissions were located in New England, notable works in the Middle Atlantic states and in the South and the West are also covered. Containing over two hundred illustrations, archival photographs, plans, and drawings, Peabody & Stearns tells the little-known story of the two men who formed a lasting architectural partnership, and displays the impressive collection of the homes across the country on which they left their imprint. 250 b/w & 25 color illustrations
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