This guide combines historical information with design ideas and advice on how to decorate, renovate and maintain a vintage home.

For any house-proud owner of a Victorian property this book represents a unique and invaluable resource. Packed with information about Victorian architectural ideas, it includes a wealth of practical advice about the maintenance and conservation of Victorian homes. Part One provides a concise overview of the development of the Victorian house, the wide range of architectural styles that came in and out of fashion over the period, and the lifestyles of the original owners the houses were designed to accommodate. Throughout, the emphasis is on family houses of various sizes rather than the great houses of the aristocracy, which are discussed only in relation to their influence on contemporary builders and architects. Part Two discusses structures and materials, covering brickwork, stone, renders and stuccos, roofs, woodwork, windows and doors, ironwork, and conservatories. In each case there is comprehensive advice on symptoms of trouble, techniques for preservation and restoration, and the correct choice of materials. Part Three covers services—fireplaces and chimneys, lighting, kitchens and bathrooms—all subjects requiring particular sensitivity to achieve a satisfactory compromise between preserving the spirit of the original building and meeting modern standards of comfort and convenience. Part Four examines all aspects of interior decoration, including plasterwork, decorative tiles, paint colors and finishes, wall coverings, curtains and blinds, and floor coverings. The book is completed by lists of further reading, places to visit, and useful addresses, including those of specialist suppliers and contractors, and sources of more detailed information and advice.

Daily Life in a Victorian House A child’s "Upstairs, Downstairs," this thrilling journey back in time into the heart of a Victorian home uses a unique visual approach, with photographs of real objects from the past in close-up color to bring the period fully alive. Discover how a wealthy family and their servants really lived: how they dressed, what they ate, how they entertained. Daily Life in a Victorian House chronicles a day in the life of the Smith family, from the moment when the housemaid struggles wearily out of bed to light the fires, to the moment when the last candle is snuffed out and the house is once more at rest. Daily Life in a Victorian House looks in close detail at a typical upper-middle-class household and its social and historical background, combining original artifacts, clothes, and interiors with informative text to present an intimate portrait of a Victorian home.

A rich selection from diaries, letters, advice books, magazines, and paintings creates a rooms-by-room portrait of Victorian life--from childbirth in the master bedroom to separate gender domains in the drawing room and parlor.

First published in 1995. The essays in this volume demonstrate how Victorian women took up various positions along a continuum that ranged from the desire of Shelley’s creature for the power and acceptance it associated with the house to the rejection of Brontë’s heroine of the immobility and powerlessness she ultimately experienced there. More specifically the essays in this volume explore the nature of the Victorian woman’s domestic relations by centring in one activity that most informed her place in what was often the father’s house: housekeeping. The essays in this edition determine how writers, especially novelists, both male and female, used housekeeping to construct, reconstruct, represent, and inscribe the female self and condition. This title will be of interest to students of history and literature.

Reprinted from a rare 1878 offering from a leading Northeastern architectural firm: front and side elevations, floor plans and descriptions of 50 "practical designs of low and medium priced houses," ranging from 2- to 11-room dwellings, most in the cottage style. With complete specifications for two, a sample contract, advertisements, and price estimates.

For three generations of women, a summer on Martha’s Vineyard brings family drama, new beginnings, and a second chance at love in this heartwarming novel. Lauren has the perfect life . . . if she ignores the fact that it’s a fragile house of cards, and that her daughter Mack has just turned into a teenage stranger. Jenna is desperate to start a family with her husband, but it’s . . . Just. Not. Happening. While her heart is breaking inside, she’s determined to keep her trademark smile on her face. Nancy knows she hasn’t been the best mother, but how can she ever tell Lauren and Jenna the reason why? Then life changes in an instant, and Lauren, Mack, Jenna and Nancy are thrown together for a summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Somehow, these very different women must relearn how to be a family. And while unraveling their secrets might be their biggest challenge, the rewards could be infinite.