Historic house museums can be found in nearly every city in the United States and Canada. These are the homes of the earliest settlers, statesmen, frontiersmen, great writers, artists, architects, and industrial magnates. These are the places, carefully saved and preserved, that represent a cultural heritage. Despite their popularity, it is not uncommon to find museums that are in poor repair, their collections neglected and their staffs grossly overworked. Many are run by well-meaning and hard-working volunteers who have little or no professional training. Often they survive on shoestring budgets and are able to present only limited programs. Serving both as a hands-on guide and reference, this book examines these problems, offering practical advice and solutions which can be easily implemented. Its useful "lessons" include governance, where to find help, care of collections, conservation, security, and interpretation--all designed to increase the professionalism of the historic house museum.

* A practical guide to understanding historic architecture and its preservation * Shows how to analyze and evaluate historic buildings in order to better renovate existing ones and create outstanding new ones * Heavily illustrated with plans, diagrams, and photos

This richly illustrated guide is acknowledged as the best source for expert, field-tested information on the care and maintenance of historic adobe buildings--from small vernacular structures to the great Spanish Colonial missions. As a true "how-to" manual, it presents a user-friendly and straightforward approach to the assessment, maintenance, preservation and restoration of earthen buildings based on time-tested techniques. Subjects include: architectural styles and materials; tools and equipment; materials and supplies; emergency shoring; moisture testing in adobe walls; material selection, mixing and testing; making adobe bricks; repairing and rebuilding adobe walls; repairing cracks in adobe walls; mud and lime plastering; earthen and lime finishes; removing contra paredes; repairing corbels; inspecting vigas and corbels; splicing vigas; compliance with State and Federal cultural resource protection legislation; glossary of terms; and bibliography. Cornerstones Community Partnerships in Santa Fe, New Mexico is devoted to the preservation of the architectural heritage and community traditions in New Mexico and the American Southwest. Through its nationally honored technical assistance, applied learning and traditional building skills programs, Cornerstones has assisted more than 300 rural Hispanic and Native American communities with the preservation of historic and culturally significant earthen buildings. Cornerstones has developed and utilized the techniques in this book throughout the American Southwest since 1986.

A new edition of the 1989 classic that received the American Society for Landscape Architects' Honor Award and the Historic Preservation Book Prize. This thoroughly revised and updated second edition reports on changes in conservation over the last eight years. It includes new case studies, more than 50 new illustrations, a section on heritage tourism, and much more. 235 illustrations.

Preservation how-to for every medium. Cultural heritage professionals—museum curators, museum professionals, archivists, and librarians— use their specialized knowledge to prioritize the needs of their collections. Preservation managers and collections care specialists draw from experts in climate control, fire safety, pest management, and more in assessing a collection and its needs. And all the special materials within the collections have their experts too. This revised second edition contains a wide range of topic-specific expertise that comprises both an enduring text for preservation and collections care students, as well as an essential one-stop reference for cultural heritage professionals—particularly those in small- to medium sized organizations where resources are limited and professional help, is not always accessible. Chapter coverage includes: PART I: FUNDAMENTALS Chapter 1: Mapping the Preservation Landscape for the Twenty-first Century Chapter 2: Preservation Principles Chapter 3: Managing Preservation: Policy, Assessment, Planning Chapter 4: Security and Disaster Planning PART II: COLLECTIONS Chapter 5: Artifacts and Information Chapter 6: The Environment Chapter 7: Creating Preservation-friendly Objects PART III: MEDIA AND MATERIAL Chapter 8: Putting it all together – environment and storage quick reference guides Chapter 9: Paper Objects and Books Chapter 10: Photographic Materials Chapter 11: Digital Prints (A. Carver-Kubik) Chapter 12: Sound Materials Chapter 13: Moving Image Materials Chapter 14: Digital Storage Media and Files Chapter 15: Textiles Chapter 16: Paintings In addition to updated and expanded existing content, a new chapter on digital prints has been added to the Media and Material. Also new is Expanded information on disaster planning; A quick guide to good, better, and best preservation practices to help institutions strive to improve their own activities; A comparative terminology guide to assist in greater understanding between LAMs; and two quick references for temperature and relative humidity preferences for a wide range of collection materials. This comprehensive handbook is an invaluable reference.

Introduction to architectural styles that have shaped Louisiana's landscapes.