Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Advice from Michael Kathrens

From 'American Splendor, The Residential Architecture of Horace Trumbauer' by Michael Kathrens...

"In the United States the era of the great house lasted a mere half-century, from 1880 to 1930.  In these 50 years, a tradition barely developed, and there has been pitifully little research done by scholars to document it.  Until very recently, only a small group of devoted adherents believed the subject worthy of serious research at all.  Many in the academic community dismissed these structures as grandiose architectural aberrations created by parvenu families such as the Vanderbilts and the Astors.  When English historian Clive Aslet began doing research for his 1990 book, The American Country House, he was told by friends and associates on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean that the subject was certainly not broad enough for an entire publication.  Fortunately, Aslet ignored their inaccurate if well-intentioned advice, thereby documenting a multitude of structures that might otherwise have been consigned to undeserved obscurity."
Indeed.

2 comments:

The Down East Dilettante said...

I'm glad to see that the book has arrived safely. :-)

Zach L. said...

Thanks again!