A Victorian Housebuilder's Guide: Woodward's National Architect of 1869

by George E. Woodward, Edward G. Thompson

Here are detailed drawings, floor plans, elevations, specifications, and vintage cost estimates for twenty distinctive Victorian structures, ranging from a humble cottage to an ornate brick villa. They have been reproduced from a rare 1869 publication of Woodward's National Architect, a publication directed to builders, carpenters, and masons of the Victorian era.
Each of these highly individual and appealing structures has been meticulously rendered in a landscaped perspective view along with front and side elevations, first- and second-floor plans, and close-up sections. With more than 580 black-and-white illustrations, the text provides directions for finishing trim, baseboards, and wainscoting; completing brick and plaster work; constructing chimneys, cesspools, and cisterns; and much more. With its wealth of authentic detail, A Victorian Housebuilder's Guide is a valuable resource for restorers, preservationists, builders, and anyone interested in the era's architecture.

Genres: Architecture

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1988

About the author

George Evertson Woodward (1829–1905) was an American architect, publisher, and engineer active primarily in New York during the 1860s and 1870s. He co-edited The Horticulturist, the influential monthly periodical popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing, and edited and published several architectural pattern books, spreading the designs of prominent architects of his time. Initially employed as an engineer for the Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul Railroad, Woodward established himself in Brooklyn, New York, where he married Eliza Mortimer and began contributing to The Horticulturist. He became associate editor between 1862 and 1863 and collaborated with Peter B. Mead on architectural projects under Mead & Woodward, designing country residences, outbuildings, and rural cemeteries, primarily in the Gothic and French Second Empire styles. In partnership with his brother Francis, he launched a business publishing agricultural literature and architectural guides, including George E. Harney’s Stables, Outbuildings and Fences and Samuel F. Eveleth’s School-House Architecture. By the late 1860s, Woodward moved to Rutherford, New Jersey, remodeling an 1809 house and participating in the development of Rutherford Heights. His work, documented in Suburban and Country Houses (1873), reflects his influence on suburban architecture, though much of it no longer survives.

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with great drawings of victorian architechture