Product Description
n Opening editorial chronicles the history and philosophy of the Arts & Crafts school of design n Eye-catching exteriors and smooth, harmonius interiors celebrate the simplicity and honesty of these homes n A photographic study of several Craftsman homes and tips on creating an authentic Arts & Crafts style interior are also included n Complete construction blueprints available for every home in this collection Let Arts & Crafts Home Plans be your guide to this well… More >>
Arts & Crafts Home Plans: Showcasing 85 Home Plans in the Craftsman, Prairie and Bungalow Styles
Tags: Arts, arts crafts, authentic arts, Bungalow, complete construction, Crafts, crafts school, Craftsman, Home, home plans, honesty, photographic study, Plans, Prairie, Showcasing, style interior, Styles
#1 by Katherine Lahti on May 27, 2010 - 3:25 am
I just have a big warning for anyone thinking of buying this book: it is a catalogue for blueprints that you can buy from the Hanley Wood Company. For some reason Hanley Wood calls their catalogues “books.” Their choice, I guess.
I will get to what this catalogue is in a minute. What is important is what it is not. It is not a book about the Arts and Crafts movement. It is not a book of photographs of Arts & Crafts homes since almost all of the pictures are architects’ renditions of what the finished houses might look like, not actual photos of what they do look like. It is not a book about Arts and Crafts interiors, which is what I thought it was. When I read about getting 85 “home plans,” I was so excited to think that I would be getting 85 ideas for room paint jobs, furniture and fixture ideas, etc. None of that. There’s just a handful of photographs of interiors and no real attention paid to that side of it: the dominant imagery is of what the building might look like on the street (curb appeal).
There are a lot of other books about the Arts & Crafts movement that can give you ideas for decorating or redoing an existing home. This just is not one of them. I’m now taking a look at “Living the Arts & Crafts Style: A Home Decorating Workbook.”
If you are planning on hiring a bunch of carpenters to build you a house in the Arts and Crafts style, I would buy this book for sure, even though a lot of the plans are not very original Arts & Crafts looking. They have a lot of 2000s details like “great rooms” and three car garages, and some of them look like McMansions with some Arts & Crafts features added in. A lot of them though are original looking and rather nice. You just might find your dream house and won’t have to hire an architect. Even if you are planning on hiring an architect, I would buy this little catalogue anyway just to keep him or her honest!
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by Bonnie Steinbock on May 27, 2010 - 3:27 am
I was very disappointed with this book because I thought I’d be getting lots of pictures and ideas for an Arts and Crafts home, especially for the kitchen which I am remodeling. What it is instead is a book of blueprints for building a new Arts & Crafts home. If that’s what you want, it may be good. I have no way of knowing. But if you’re looking for ideas for remodeling a kitchen or any other room, or pretty pictures, forget it. A waste of money.
Rating: 1 / 5
#3 by Nathan T. Cederoth on May 27, 2010 - 3:33 am
I really wish that however disappointed Kathleen might have been with what she GOT vs. what she thought she was getting, she would have rated it based on what it was, not what she wanted it to be. It sounds like she thinks it’s an OK book of plans, but she only gave it one star. I can only assume that’s because it’s not a decorating book. That’s a little like going to see Citizen Kane and calling it a crappy movie because there weren’t any good battle scenes or car chases.
So… even though I haven’t read it, I’m giving this 5 stars just to counterbalance Kathleen because it would be a shame if someone looking for a book of plans didn’t check this out because of an artifically low rating.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by J. O'Malley on May 27, 2010 - 4:31 am
What a beautiful book. Every page has a very interesting house plan. I have picked our next house. If our current house goes back up to what we paid for it then we will build again. A nice house for a nice retirement.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by S. Norris on May 27, 2010 - 5:05 am
The book is plainly marked “House Plans.” That’s exactly what you get: plans to build a house. Not to decorate nor historically analyze it, but to build. To rate it low because she wanted it to be something it’s *clearly* marked that it’s NOT is unfair.
Good stuff working looking at.
Rating: 5 / 5