National Preservation Month post: We must read the new edition of A Field Guide to American Houses.

With her now-deceased husband, in 1984, Virginia Savage McAlester co-authored A Field Guide to American Houses. Last year a new edition of the book was published. I haven't picked up a copy yet, but I have looked it over and the writing-descriptions-photography is incredible.

Also see "Virginia Savage McAlester wrote the book on Dallas homes" from the Dallas Morning News. From the article:

The original book “ended pretty much in 1940 because I was interested in these neighborhoods and historic districts,” she says. “But all of a sudden, ranch houses were eligible to be on the National Register because they were more than 50 years old. So I started to think about an update. “It turns out that something like 70 to 80 percent of houses in the U.S. have been built since 1940. That’s a huge percentage.”

Another book she and her late husband authored, A Field Guide to America's Historic Neighborhoods and Museum Houses: The Western States, is great and worth picking up, even though it's 15 years old, because it describes historic neighborhoods as well as architectural styles.

-- "Virginia Savage McAlester: Leading the Ultimate House Tour, New York Times