Storybook style : America's whimsical homes of the twenties / Arrol Gellner ; photographs by Douglas Keister.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gellner, Arrol.

Contributor:

Keister, Douglas.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture, Domestic--United States.

Architecture, Domestic.

Decoration and ornament, Architectural.

History.

United States.

Architecture--United States--History--20th century.

Architecture.

Decoration and ornament, Architectural--United States--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

160 pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Viking Studio, [2001]

Summary:

Fairy Tale, Disneyesque, Hansel and Gretel -- these are all synonyms for Storybook Style, a rambunctious evocation of medieval Europe, and surely the most delightful home style of the twentieth century. It appeared in the early 1920s, and was almost forgotten by the late 1930s. Storybook Style houses were created by architects and builders with a distinct flair for theater, a love of fine craftsmanship, and a good sense of humor -- attributes that make these homes endearing to the jaded modern eye.

By in large the Storybook Style was a Hollywood product, for the vast public that thronged theaters for the early Hollywood films went to experience the exotic foreign locales they were unlikely ever to see in person. In this way they acquired a taste for foreign vernacular architecture thanks to the movie sets engendered by Hollywood's best architectural talents. In turn, builders were quick to capitalize on this fascination and built homes evocatively titled Picardy Village and Normandy Towers in California, and in 1931 Sears, Roebuck offered a medievalized English cottage in its catalog.

Here then is a wealth of information on an architectural subject that is both great fun and beautifully illustrated with over two hundred color photographs by Douglas Keister and an expert text by Arrol Gellner.

Arrol Gellner is a practicing architect and author of the nationally syndicated newspaper column Architext, which is based with the San Francisco Chronicle. For nearly a decade, Gellner has used Architext to transport the discussion of architecture from its frequently hifalutin' plane into the realm of everyday experience. Both his writing and his work posit the belief that thoughtful design can do much to sustain the human spirit. Gellner is an Honors graduate of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to his architectural practice, which includes residential, commercial, and institutional work, he is a faculty member of Chabot and Las Positas Colleges, and seminar leader at the Building Education Center in Berkeley. He speaks frequently on architectural subjects, and has served on panels with some of California's most distinguished architects. Gellner lives and works in a renovated firehouse factory near San Francisco, which he shares with his wife Kathy Aidong Ni and a 1955 Studebaker. He also maintains an office outside Shanghai, where he spends his summers indulging his penchant for heat and humidity.

Contents:

The Curtain Rises 20

Hollywoodland 41

The Next Act 54

Now Playing Nationwide 89

Ensembles 106

Cameos 126

Encores 149.

ISBN:

0670893854

OCLC:

48381918