A Building History Of Northern New England

The first and only full-scale technical and stylistic analysis of 200 years of architectural evolution in northern New England

A generously illustrated handbook for identifying and understanding structures that symbolize the region's unique cultural and historical landscape

A generously illustrated handbook for identifying and understanding structures that symbolize the region's unique cultural and historical landscape.

First published in 1988 by the New Hampshire Historical Society, and long since sought after, On the Road North of Boston is back in print. This richly illustrated, entertaining book is an invaluable resource for New Hampshire residents and students of the state's history alike. Nine extensively researched and meticulously prepared chapters depict historic taverns and tavern society of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century New England. Donna-Belle and James Garvin vividly reconstruct the physical landscape: the taverns themselves, the network of roads, travel conditions, traffic and commerce. They immerse the reader in the contemporary tavern atmosphere: encounters with fellow travelers, food, drink, entertainment, and hospitality in its earliest incarnations "on the road north of Boston." On the Road North of Boston contains rare and wonderful black-and-white illustrations of authentic tavern signs and furnishings, broadsides advertising tavern entertainments, early photographs and drawings of tavern buildings, road signs, vehicles, and bridges, portraits of tavern keepers, stage drivers, and itinerant performers. This book offers modern New England residents and travelers rich chronicles and visions of an age long past.

This innovative study examines the lives of two New England carpenters, Calvin and George Stearns, who were active in the first half of the nineteenth century. Drawing on their written accounts and examining their legacy of buildings—a record as extensive and richly detailed as any that exists—J. Ritchie Garrison recovers the stylistic influences, family patterns, work habits, social customs, tools, and business practices that shaped the Stearnses’ identities as rural builders during a time of profound change. Although study of the region’s architectural forms began in the late nineteenth century and social historians have extensively discussed the emergence of rural capitalism in New England, there is still much to learn about the process by which these landscapes and buildings came into being. As Garrison shows, the Stearnses personified the dynamic interrelationships of city and country, and of industry and farming, as they filtered change through the actions of everyday living. Profusely illustrated with drawings and photographs, the book follows the Stearnses as they moved from newly settled towns on New England’s northern frontier, to federal-era Boston, the agricultural village of Northfield, Massachusetts, and the resort community of Brattleboro, Vermont. By tracing the lives and careers of these two carpenters, Garrison provokes readers to consider why things look the way they do, how they got that way, and what they mean.J. Ritchie Garrison is director of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture and professor of history at the University of Delaware. His is the author of Landscape and Material Life in Franklin County, Massachusetts, 1770–1860.

Natural buildings not only bring satisfaction to their makers and joy to their occupants, they also leave the gentlest footprint on the environment. In this complete reference to natural building philosophy, design, and technique, Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton walk builders through planning and construction, offering step-by-step instructions on: siting and site analysis choosing materials integrating basic structural considerations into a design strategies for heating/cooling efficiency and moisture management planning for acoustics developing an integrative design navigating budgeting, code compliance, and project management creating the foundation, wall system, roof, and floors selecting and making plasters and paints evaluating options for mechanical and utility systems protecting against fire and insects integrating structures within landscape, climate, and human communities ...and more Applicable to building in climates that are cold and wet, hot and dry, or somewhere in-between, The Natural Building Companion provides the tools necessary to understand basic principles of building science, including structural and thermal engineering, and hydrodynamics. This guide offers thorough, up-to-date, and advanced installation details and performance characteristics of straw-bale, straw-clay, woodchip-clay, and cellulose wall systems, as well as earthen and stone wall systems and a variety of framing, roofing, flooring, mechanical system, and finishing options. This fully-illustrated volume informs professionals making the transition from conventional building, homeowners embarking on their own construction, or green builders who want comprehensive guidance on natural-building options. A State-of-the-Art Resource for Natural Builders The Natural Building Companion is a part of The Yestermorrow Design/Build Library and includes an instructional DVD.

A startlingly original synthesis of keen observation and interpretive skill that will transform one s understanding of New England s man-made landscape"

This introduction to historic preservation goes well beyond the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and shows how wood, stone, masonry, and metal were used in the past and how adaptive re-use can be employed to bring modern amenities to historic structures. The book covers all aspects of the exterior and interior building fabric, including windows, roofing, doors, porches, and electrical and mechanical systems for both residential and small-scale commercial buildings. Richly illustrated with photographs showing typical elements of historic buildings, decay mechanisms, and remediation techniques, the book also contains a variety of useful case studies and features a companion Website that offers dozens of additional images and resources.