Architecture

The Curator of Historic Royal Places shares his insights into the many residences of the Tudor royal family. Lots of illustrations here, including floor and ground plans, and insights into the court's etiquette, hygiene, religion, government, cooking and interior decoration, as well as their preferred sports.

"History and architecture combine to bring the past to life. Filled with full-color, cut-away illustrations and informative text, each volume looks at a single structure and the everyday life of the people who built them ... and enjoyed them."

The James River Plantation Houses hold a unique place in the state's history.  Part of a series, Old Virginia Houses.

The guide that enables you to identify, and place in their historic and architectural contexts, the houses you see in your neighborhood or in your travels across America. 17th century to the present.

The grand houses created by 18th-century Virginians are a huge tourist draw, but what does their design tell us about the natures of the men who built them?  The auhor "illuminates the fortunes, motivations, and aspirations of the wealthy and powerful owners who built their 'homes'  with the object of securing their status and impressing the public."
Among those included are the houses of Governor Alexander Spotswood, William Fitzhugh, the Lee family of Westmoreland, and Thomas Jefferson. Historians and students of architecture should enjoy this unusual approach to the time period.

Lemuel Chenoweth is a shy western Virginia furniture maker with only a third-grade education and a vision when he heads to Richmond, Virginia, to enter a bridge-designing contest. Lemuel stuns the judges and the highfalutin' competition by assembling an extraordinary bridge model-one that can support his own weight-and he wins. Built entirely without nails, his bridge became one of the most famous in the country and was the site of the first land battle of the Civil War.
From the publisher's description.