Victorian Cottage Architecture: An American Catalog of Designs, 1891

by George F. Barber

At the end of the nineteenth century, carpenter, architect, and publisher George Franklin Barber began publishing his residential designs in inexpensive, illustrated catalogs. Containing order forms and price lists for the drawings, the catalogs were not the first to sell private homes to the public on a widespread basis but were the first to give customers an opportunity to participate in custom-designing their own houses.
Reaching thousands of potential clients throughout the United States and abroad, Barber's catalogs featured homes cited today as "unique," "fascinating," and "distinctive." This excellent reproduction of his 1891 catalog, The Cottage Souvenir No. 2, includes all 120 designs for 68 homes, complete with elevations and floor plans. Included is an eclectic mix of plans for homes in the Colonial, Romanesque, and Queen Anne styles, as well as designs for verandas, summer pavilions, churches, and barns.
Invaluable to architectural historians, preservationists, and home restorers, this reprint of a rare catalog by one of America’s most successful domestic architects will also be of interest to anyone fascinated by Victorian-era architecture.

Genres: Architecture

168 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2004

Reviews

[Kiley Secrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a reprint of pattern book architect George F. Barber's Cottage Souvenir No. 2 published in 1891. There is a forward by Professor Michael Tomlin and then everything that follows is Barber's glorious work.

This is a must for anyone that enjoys drooling over period Queen Anne and Eastlake building designs. The images are crisp and unaltered. I highly recommend this book for architectural landscape artists that are looking for inspiration. They are sure to find it here.