Rural Architecture

Allen, Lewis Falley, 1800-1890Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 497K words
Chapters: 50

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Rural Architecture by Lewis Falley AllenAuthor: Allen, Lewis Falley, 1800-1890,Language: English, Class: NA: Fine Arts: Architecture, Release Date: Dec 3, 2006

Editor's review

Rural Architecture is a nineteenth-century American work on rural building, by Lewis Falley Allen, a longtime observer of agriculture and rural life. Classified under fine arts and architecture, it discusses not city high-rises but farmhouses, barns, and other rural structures, bearing clear marks of its time and region. Its value lies in preserving for today's readers the ideas, materials, and aesthetic preferences of rural building of the period, making it a useful companion to the study of architectural history, agricultural history, and material culture. Read it not as a modern design manual offering practical solutions but as a historical text, attending to its understanding of dwelling function, rural order, and building technique. For readers surveying vernacular architecture or renovating old farmhouses, the descriptions offer background reference, but must be weighed against modern codes and on-site conditions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century rural architecture and farm building
Enthusiasts studying architectural history, agricultural history, or material culture
Learners needing public-domain English architectural material for thematic reading
Practitioners surveying vernacular architecture and seeking historical reference

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking modern residential design codes and construction drawings
Readers expecting abundant contemporary photographs and colour plates
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are unused to old-fashioned English

Reading tips

Skim the table of contents first, then select chapters on farmhouses, barns, or materials and techniques as needed.
While reading, consult an architectural history timeline and note how the book's ideas relate to the social context of the time.
Take comparative notes with modern rural building cases, distinguishing historical experience from contemporary codes.
For research use, excerpt key terms and check them against the original context to avoid taking passages out of context.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this book be used directly to design a modern farmhouse?

Not directly. It reflects nineteenth-century ideas and practices in rural building, while materials, codes, and living needs have all changed. It is better used as historical background and design reference; actual construction still requires current codes and professional design.

Does the book contain many illustrations or drawings?

The data does not state the number or form of plates, so readers should not assume it is a picture book. After beginning, look through the contents and text to confirm whether illustrations exist and how clear they are, then decide whether to read mainly text or compare text and images.

Is it difficult for non-architecture readers?

It may be challenging. The text uses nineteenth-century English expression and architectural terminology; non-specialist readers may first read introductory chapters to build a framework, slow down at terminology-heavy passages, and need not finish the whole book at once.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Allen, Lewis Falley, 1800-1890 Author · American · 1800–1890

Lewis Falley Allen (1800–1890) was an American agricultural writer; public information about his life and education is limited. Only one of his works is held in this collection, Rural Architecture, and other sources mention that he also wrote on cattle raising. Judging by their subjects, his writings addressed the practical needs of rural life and farm management, covering the planning and construction of farmhouses and farm buildings as well as cattle-raising and other agricultural practices. They share the practical character of nineteenth-century American agricultural writing and served as everyday references for farmers and rural residents. Although his output was small and his works had limited circulation, such books offer useful texts for understanding rural construction and livestock ideas in the United States of that period.