The Gilded Age (1865-1918) saw the sudden rise of America's first High Society, including such prominent families as the Astors, Whitneys, and Vanderbilts. As an aristocracy based on fortunes recently acquired, these families endeavored to live like Europe's blue-blooded nobility, shedding Puritan restraint as they joyously flaunted their new wealth--especially where their homes were concerned. They erected French chateaus and Italian palazzos on New York's Fifth Avenue, at Newport, and elsewhere, often taking inspiration from Parisian styles of the Second Empire. They rejected more modest American styles just as they rejected middle-class society, and for interior decoration they turned to such artisans as Tiffany, Herter Brothers, and Allard's of Paris. Immensely readable and illuminated with 250 stunning color and black-and-white illustrations, this is the fascinating story of America's first millionaire society, the way they lived and partied, and the lush artistic and cultural legacy they established.

A definitive volume on the storied designers of the Gilded Age. Architects of America's Gilded Age, Carrere and Hastings designed commercial buildings, elaborate residences, and prominent public structures in New York, Washington, London, Paris, Rome, and Havana between 1895 and 1924. Their client list included Carnegie, duPont, Rockefeller, Harriman, Morgan, Gould, Astor, Payne, Whitney, and Vanderbilt. They are revered for Beaux-Arts masterpieces such as the New York Public Library, the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine, and the Frick House (now The Frick Collection) in New York, among many others. In addition, they made extensive renovations to the U.S. Capitol, and designed the Senate Office Building, the House Office Building, and the Carnegie Institute in Washington. This sumptuous monograph explores their work with a detailed look at residential, institutional, and commercial works such as the Alfred I. duPont House (now Nemours Mansion) in Delaware; the Flagler House in Palm Beach; and, in New York, the Henry Sloane House (now Lycee Francais), the Public Library, Standard Oil Headquarters, the Neue Galerie, Grand Army Plaza, Bryant Park, and others.

Florida Book Awards, Bronze Medal for Florida Nonfiction Florida Historical Society Charlton Tebeau Book Award Arguably no man did more to make over a city—or a state—than Henry Morrison Flagler. Almost single-handedly, he transformed the east coast of Florida from a remote frontier into the winter playground of America’s elite. Mr. Flagler’s St. Augustine tells the story of how one of the wealthiest men in America spared no expense in transforming the country’s “Oldest City” into the “Newport of the South.” He built railroads into remote areas where men feared to tread and erected palatial hotels on swampland. He funded hospitals and churches and improved streets and parks. The rich and famous flocked to his invented paradise. In tracing Flagler’s life and second career, Thomas Graham reveals much about the inner life of the former oil magnate and the demons that drove him to expand a coastal empire southward to Palm Beach, Miami, Key West, and finally Nassau. Graham also gives voice to the individuals history has forgotten: the women who wrote tourist books, the artists who decorated the hotels, the black servants who waited tables, and the journalists who filed society columns in the newspapers. Filled with fascinating details that bring the Gilded Age to life, this book will stand as the definitive history of Henry Flagler and his time in Florida.

Architectural style is defined as a definite type of architecture, distinguished by special characteristics of structure and ornament. This revised edition of What Style Is It? includes new sections on Neoclassical, Romanesque and Rustic Styles. It also provides more examples of how pure styles vary by geographic region across the US. * Includes sections on 25 of the most significant architectural styles including Early Colonial, Federal and Second Empire * More than 200 photos and line drawings make this a visually rich resource. 30% of photos and drawings are new to this edition * A glossary offers quick access to architectural terms * Includes an added guide to using the Historical American Buildings Society online catalogue of more than 30,000 historic structures, giving access to more than 51,000 measured drawings, 156,000 photographs and more than 30,000 original historical reports

This lively and informative guide offers tourists, residents, and architecture aficionados alike insights into more than 400 of Washington, D.C.’s most important landmarks. Organized into 19 discrete tours, this thoroughly redesigned and updated edition includes 45 new entries, encompassing the House of Sweden, the U.S. Institute of Peace, classic buildings that epitomize the city—the White House, the Capitol, Union Station—and a number of private buildings off the beaten path. G. Martin Moeller, Jr., blends informed, concise descriptions with engaging commentary on each landmark, revealing often-surprising details of the buildings' history and design. Every entry is accompanied by a photograph and includes the structure's location, its architects and designers, and the corresponding dates of completion. Each entry is keyed to an easy-to-read map at the beginning of the tour. From the imposing monuments of Capitol Hill and the Mall to the pastoral suburban enclaves of Foxhall and Cleveland Park, from small memorials to vast commercial and institutional complexes, this guide shows us a Washington that is at once excitingly fresh and comfortably familiar.

The official guide to New York's must-see buildings profiles a host of new landmarks and includes 80 two-color, easy-to-read maps, and more than 200 photographs. This new edition will make every visitor feel like a native--and turn every native into a wide-eyed tourist. Includes a Foreword by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.