| | |  | Design Books | Home » » Get Your House Right: Architectural Elements to Use & Avoid | | | | | | | Description: | | Even as oversized McMansions continue to elbow their way into tiny lots nationwide, a much different trend has taken shape. This return to traditional architectural principles venerates qualities that once were taken for granted in home design: structural common sense, aesthetics of form, appropriateness to a neighborhood, and even sustainability. Marianne Cusato, creator of the award-winning Katrina Cottages, has authored and illustrated this definitive guide to what makes houses look and feel rightto the eye and to the soul. She teaches us the language and grammar of classical architecture, revealing how balance, harmony, and detail all contribute to creating a home that will be loved rather than tolerated. And she takes us through the do’s and don’ts of every element of home design, from dormers to doorways to columns. Integral to the book are its hundreds of elegant line drawingsclearly rendering the varieties of lintels and cornices, arches and eaves, and displaying avoid” and use” versions of the same elements side by side. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Marianne Cusato | | Hardcover:
| 272 pages | | Publisher:
| Sterling | | Publication Date:
| January 01, 2008 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1402736282 | | Product Length:
| 11.16 inches | | Product Width:
| 8.8 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.07 inches | | Product Weight:
| 2.8 pounds | | Package Length:
| 11.5 inches | | Package Width:
| 8.9 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.5 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 44 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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116 of 123 found the following review helpful:
 What They Didn't Teach in Architecture SchoolDec 05, 2007
By Marco Antonio Abarca
In the late 1930's, many of Germany's finest architects arrived in the United States fleeing from Hitler's persecution. Soon Architecture Programs throughout the country adopted their modernist agenda. For the last seventy years, modernism has been the dominant language of architecture school. With a few notable exceptions, the visual language of traditional and classical architecture has all but dissapeared from the halls of academia.
Modernism was embraced by America's cultural and business elites. However, most Americans have never bought into the modernist agenda. When it comes to homes, most new home buyers want houses built in traditional styles. Unfortunately, there has been a disconnect between what architects have been taught to design and what consumers wish to purchase. One need only drive through the streets of most American suburbs to see the numerous failed and often times grotesque attempts at traditional architecture.
Into this skills void steps Marianne Cusato. She is a product of Notre Dame's School Architecture, a program known for embracing traditional and classical architecture. "Get Your House Right" is a comprehensive guide to the architectural language of classicism. Through the use of nearly a thousand beautifully rendered pencil sketches, she shows both poorly and properly executed architectural details. In this relatively short book, Cusato tries to show other architects what they missed in their architectural studies.
I am not an architect. My hobby is looking at old houses. The value of this book is that it helps me understand why some houses work while others houses fail. For those interested in this subject, I would recommend Sandra Edelman and Judy Gaman's "What Not to Build" and "Traditional Construction Patterns" by Stephen Mouzon. One might also want to check out the web site(www.classicist.org)for more information about traditional architecture. These are some of the best resources to help one make sense of what has been going on architecturally in this country for the last seventy years. Highly recommended.
30 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Why all those new houses don't look quite right.Mar 30, 2008
By Richard F. Weyand
I live in Naperville, IL, the McMansion capital of the Midwest. I have watched new multi-million dollar houses go up, and I thought most of them were just plain ugly. Over-done, or pompous, or something. Yet they sell, even now, and they keep going up.
I started to think maybe it was just me.
Then I picked up this book, and there, just above the AVOID label that adorns many of the design examples in the book, was a pencil sketch of what could be a typical new-construction Naperville street.
Having read the book through -- and several parts twice -- I now understand what it was that was causing the rejection of this architecture by my inner voice: bad design. I have nailed down the specific elements in many actual houses that hurt the appearance of the house, that make it less -- much less -- than it could be.
And -- surprise! -- I found that the few houses I did like of the newer construction were properly designed to classical principles.
The book is an incredible achievement. Well-written, accessible, and with hundreds and hundreds of beautiful pencil sketches that clearly demonstrate the principles. Marianne Cusato is a young, brilliant and well-educated designer whose vision has been shaking the architecture world for several years. And she's all of 33 years old!
So get this book, read it through, and then have some fun. Start scanning front elevation drawings on house plan sites and see if you can spot the issues that keep each from being as welcoming, as home-y, as they could be.
We are embarking now on designing our own new home, and this book is by far the most important acquisition in our burgeoning design library.
Thanks, Marianne. We all owe you.
31 of 32 found the following review helpful:
An instant classicJan 12, 2008
By M. Guenther
I have been absorbed by this book since my copy arrived. The organization is simple and easily accessible. Start in the beginning, middle or end, wherever you like. No problem reading two pages and putting it down until later.
The thing that makes this book exceptional are the illustrations. Thousands of the clearest sketches ever contained in a book, all expertly dovetailed with the text.
While this would have been my most cherished text in architecture school, it really excels for the practicing professional. Extremely practical. It shows how to design and build essential traditional house details like dormers, window and door trims, roofs, home entries, porches, chimneys, garage doors, bay windows, arches and more.
19 of 20 found the following review helpful:
Just what the doctor orderedMar 21, 2008
By Brize Books
I have struggled for years with design issues in the buildings I renovate and (sometimes) modify. It is the "just doesn't look right" syndrome where you spend money and time on what you think is a good idea, but when it's done you can tell it looks goofy, or backwards, or convoluted or something.
Well this book is exactly addressed to people like me - indoctrinating the reader to the (seemingly) rigid rules of traditional architecture that have evolved over the centuries since we emerged from caves. It's like getting an abbreviated overview of the lessons learned by earlier generations of builders, condensed into a readable book. Probably the most notable lesson I gleaned from it is the importance of details on the overall look and feel of a building.
I know I'm not going to necessarily follow every rule on every decision I make - economics play an important role too - but at least now I have a little better understanding of where I can cut corners, and where spending a little more on the right details will be crucial. It's like having the wisdom of the ages at your back when making design decisions.
One thing that attracts me to traditional architecture is that it comes from times where buildings were much more monumental accomplishments than they are today. With our concrete and steel, equipment and technological advances, buildings go up in a matter of days rather than years, and will be replaced just as quickly if we decide we don't like them. Sometimes the way they look reflects this lack of thought necessary for their contstruction.
If you follow the guidance provided by this book, you building will at least look like an accomplishment worth celebrating.
26 of 29 found the following review helpful:
One of the very best, most useful books on residential architectureNov 25, 2007
By Jeremy Fretts
"www.humanedesign.com"
Learn the forgotten language of architectural details.
This is one of the most important books on architecture written in decades. Marianne clearly teaches the lost art of designing homes with REAL traditional detailing that looks good and feels right. This is a must-read for architects, developers, and homebuilders.
With hundreds of excellent illustrations, the "do's" and "don'ts" are clearly explained. Marianne suggests that you must learn the rules before you can break them, and this book will be an excellent teacher.
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