Gregory Long's Bibliography
Dutch Houses in the Hudson Valley before 1776
By Helen Wilkinson ReynoldsHelen W. Reynolds’ book, Dutch Houses in the Hudson Valley Before 1776, was, for a very long time, the most authoritative and informative book on Dutch Houses in the Hudson Valley area. This amazingly thorough book was published originally in 1929 and was prepared along with the prestigious Holland society of New York; this edition was reprinted in 1965. The book includes a wealth of architectural information about these early homes – accompanied by photographs – as well as genealogical information. With regards to historical literature of New York State, Reynolds’ popular book has been called a classic. The book also contains an introduction by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Measured Drawings of Some Colonial and Georgian Houses
By Donald MillarMeasured Drawings of Some Colonial and Georgian Houses presents eighty plates in two volumes of American homes from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This book contains drawings of the houses as originally built with all of their dimensions displayed in floor plans and elevations accompanied by notes. Well known houses are displayed such as, the House of Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts and the Thomas Bailey Aldrich House in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The Modern Builder's Guide
By Minard LafeverMinard Lafever’s The Modern Builder’s Guide, first published in 1833, is one of the most influential books in the history of American Architecture. It was largely responsible for the rapidity with which the Greek Revival spread throughout America. The guide includes full plans for churches and residents, as well as details of Grecian ornamentation. His plates were copied by American carpenters, builders, and designers. The book includes ninety plates.
Marble House in Second Street: Biography of a Town House and Its Occupants, 1825-2000
By John G. Waite Associates, Architects, PLLCPossibly the most beautiful town house in the United States, the Hart-Cluett Mansion of Troy, New York is examined in this book. The book contains 351 pages of illustration swith black and white photographs and some architectural drawings. In addition to examining the house, it examines the lives of the Hart and Cluett families that lived there. It also details the repair and restoration of this mansion that is now open as a museum, run and owned by the Rensselaer County Historical Society.
Greek Revival Architecture in America
By Talbot HamlinTalbot Hamlin was an architect, historian, writer, professor at Columbia University, and librarian of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library – also at Columbia University. This is one of his greatest texts and informs one all they would need to know about the Greek Revival, which Hamlin suggests should actually be called “New Classicism” due to the misconceptions involved in the Greek Revival. The style is traced from its origins to its highlights and then eventual decline and end. The text is accompanied by 322 illustrations. This book, despite a few omissions, is the best text to understand the history of this style of architecture in America.
Dutch Colonial Homes in America
By Geoffrey Gross, Susan Piatt, and Roderic G. BlackburnNew York State and New Jersey were originally settled as Dutch Colonies, thus they are home to some of the oldest Dutch homes in America. This book takes a look at twenty-eight of those historic homes built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and is the most authoritative text on Dutch American homes to date. It is illustrated with two hundred photographs that are beautifully created and are reminiscent of paintings by Dutch masters and seek to portray what life in these homes might have been like many years ago. Geoffrey Gross is the author and photographer of this book who lives in New York; his photography has been published in books and magazines dealing with the arts and home. Susan Piatt is an interior designer and photo styler that has also been published in books and magazines dealing with the arts and crafts. Roderick H. Blackburn is an ethnologist who has written extensively about colonial Dutch history and life.
Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley
By Harold Donaldson Eberlein and Cortland Van Dyke HubbardHistoric Houses of the Hudson Valley is an update to Harold Donaldson Eberlein’s earlier book The Manors and Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley. Eberlein strongly felt that history is inextricably linked to places and thus it is extremely important to connect history to distinct locations. This book, written with Cortland Van Dyke Hubbard, attempts to connect history with locales while at the same time describing the historic homes architecturally in order to convey their significance. The book contains descriptions and enjoyable anecdotes along with two hundred images. It is also one of the most authoritative texts on the homes of the Hudson River Valley.
The Manors and Historic Homes of the Hudson Valley
By Harold Donaldson EberleinThis book seeks to tell the rich history of the Hudson Valley through its architecture. The book limits itself to the historic houses in New York State on the Hudson between New York City and Albany – excluding Long Island and Staten Island. The book additionally contains eighty one photographs taken mostly by the book’s author Harold Donaldson Eberlein. Eberlein was a prominent author who wrote about various topics focusing on art, design, and architecture.
The Architecture of Country Houses
By Andrew Jackson DowningAndrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852), prominent landscape architect and horticulturalist of the nineteenth century, was also a prolific writer and promoter of the American Gothic Revival style and Picturesque style. Despite this fact, Downing was adept at creating plans for houses in all styles, promoting Italianate villas with the same skill as Swiss chalets. In his excellently and lavishly illustrated primer on house building in rural areas, The Architecture of Country Houses, Downing provides his philosophy on house building. The book also is a detailed guide on building residences of all sizes and include details on how to style them on the exterior and in the interior – even including the design of furniture.
Rural Residences
By Alexander Jackson DavisAlexander Jackson Davis (1803-1892) was an architect particularly skilled in creating buildings of various styles. Nevertheless, Davis was skilled most in the Picturesque and Gothic Revival style. One of his most famous buildings is the Gothic Revival home Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York on the Hudson River, and is featured prominently in this book. In this building manual, Davis shows the various types of styles that he felt were appropriate to rural locations.
The American Builder's Companion: Or, a System of Architecture Particularly Adapted to the Present Style of Building
By Asher BenjaminAsher Benjamin (1773-1845) was one of the most influential architects of the Federal and Greek Revival moment in America. Benjamin’s books inspired buildings throughout the Northeast and his designs even appeared in the Midwest and South. This reprint of his book includes seventy plates illustrating the stylistic recommendations Benjamin felt was suited and fashionable for the times. This is a reprint of Benjamin’s sixth edition of the original manual.
Great Georgian Houses of America
By Architects Emergency CommitteeThe Architect’s Emergency Committee collected 497 illustrations of Georgian houses in this two volume series. Illustrations include floor plans, facades, interiors, and decorative details. The books are representative of all of the regions in the United States that witnessed the building of Georgian houses between 1714 and 1830. The two volumes cover the unique changes that were occurring in specific regions and allow readers to get a sense of how people of this period responded to achievement and prosperity.
Pre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York
By Rosalie Fellows BaileyPre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York was prepared for the Holland Society of New York as a companion volume to Dutch Houses in the Hudson Valley Before 1776 by H.W. Reynolds. The book is one of the greatest genealogical sources of the area and preserves history and images not recorded elsewhere. Rosalie Fellows Bailey meticulously describes the histories of families and their estates. Bailey is both a professional genealogist and architectural historian, and her specialties combine admirably in this highly authoritative text.
Historic Houses of the Hudson River Valley
By Gregory LongFrom the homes of the early settlers to the estates of the landed gentry of the eighteenth century and the baronial mansions of the captains of industry of the nineteenth century, the Hudson River Valley boasts some of the finest houses in America. In newly taken photographs, this sumptuous volume presents 33 exemplary or historically-important houses in the region.