In 1988, photographer Sandy Sorlien set out on a series of journeys to document the rich architectural heritage that America is losing to the cheap and banal design aesthetic of tract housing, strip malls, and big-box stores. Her seven-year odyssey took her over 90,000 miles of back roads to every state in the Union in search of homes that reflect and define the region in which they stand. After making over a thousand house portraits, Sorlien has chosen one representative image from each state and collected them in this volume.

A magnificent celebration of America's state capitol buildings. These glorious buildings are, in the author's words, "the homes of history," where laws are passed, where democracy is enacted, where history is written. Though each state capitol bears some similarity to the other forty-nine, each in its architecture and design reflects uniquely the pride of its state, both culturally and historically. For this unprecedented project, photographer Tom Patterson traveled to each of America's fifty state capitals to capture the architectural beauty and dignity of its capitol building in glorious large-format color images. Writer Susan W. Thrane reveals fascinating details about each capitol building's beginnings: the events surrounding construction background on its architects and builders dimensions and costs primary features and main rooms unique furnishings and works of art. The book also discusses important moments in the history of each building and the state itself, including: the origin of the state's name its capital city when the state was admitted to the Union, and the number of members in its legislative bodies.