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

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.

'Victorian Houses' presents the architectural detailing of the time in the context of the era - providing a comprehensive understanding of its architecture and design. Pattern books played a vital role in the dissemination of taste between architect, builder and client in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. By focusing on the contribution of the pattern book to the architecture of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the various trends of the time are documented. The types of publications and other sources of taste available at different points over this period reflected social and economic factors, such as the changing demand or changes in organisation of manufacturing and retail. * Gain a comprehensive understanding of Victorian architecture from an experienced author * 160 pages of illustrations and an accessible writing style make this an excellent reference source * Discover invaluable information on the role of architectural pattern books in victorian design

Exquisitely detailed, exceptionally handsome designs for an enormous variety of attractive city dwellings, spacious suburban and country homes, charming "cottages" and other structures — all accompanied by perspective views and floor plans.

A middle class home, circa 1850, of the sort that many people live in today, is the focus of Judith Flanders' book. The Victorian age is both recent and unimaginably distant. In the most prosperous and technologically advanced nation in the world, people carried slops up and down stairs; buried meat in fresh earth to prevent mould forming; wrung sheets out in boiling water with their bare hands. This drudgery was routinely performed by the parents of people still living, but the knowledge of it has passed as if it had never been. Running water, stoves, flush lavatories - even lavatory paper - arrived slowly throughout the century; and most were luxuries available only to the prosperous.