Description
For more than thirty years, the architectural research department at Colonial Williamsburg has engaged in comprehensive study of early buildings, landscapes, and social history within the Chesapeake region. Its painstaking work has transformed our figuring out of building practices within the colonial and early national periods and thereby greatly enriched the enjoy of visiting historic sites. On this beautifully illustrated volume, a team of historians, curators, and conservators draw on their a long way-reaching knowledge of historic structures in Virginia and Maryland to remove darkness from the formation, development, and spread of probably the most hallmark building traditions in American architecture.
The essays describe how building design, hardware, wall coverings, furniture, or even paint colors telegraphed social signals concerning the status of builders and owners and choreographed social interactions among everyone who lived or worked in gentry houses, modest farmsteads, and slave quarters. The analyses of materials, finishes, and carpentry work will fascinate old-house buffs, preservationists, and historians alike. The lavish color photography is a delight to behold, and the detailed catalogues of architectural elements provide a reliable guide to the shape, style, and chronology of the region’s distinctive historic architecture.