history pattern books

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The HistoricDimension Series

A student publication series by the UNCG Department of Interior Architecture

Do You See the Pattern?The use of architectural pattern books

by Laura DiPasquale

Pattern books, orbooks with architec-tural details, descrip-

tive geometry, renderings, colorful images,and descriptions of various techniques andprocesses created by craftsmen or architects,have been used for centuries to provideinspiration and information to homeownersand designers. Their original intent was tobe used by people who did not have directaccess to an architect, but who wanted toincorporate architectural detailing into theirhomes. Before photography became a popu-

lar media, these books featured drawings ofdetails, oor plans and exterior perspectives.Although pattern books had been aroundfor centuries in Europe, they did not becomeextremely popular in the United States untilthe 19th century. The use of pattern bookspeaked in the mid to late 19th century anddeclined in the mid 20th century. Recently,there has been a revival in the use of pat-tern books, with new ones being created,and old ones being utilized, as people turnto historic pattern books as a way to buildor renovate their homes in classical ways.

Much of the literature that exists about pat-tern books describes homes based on theirexterior details, but it is important to notethat pattern books in fact gave excellentexamples and descriptions of interior detailsas well, such as banister and mantel carv-ings and moldings. Pattern books can stillbe employed today by homeowners whowish to learn more about the existing detailsin their homes or to replace missing ones.

Early English Inuences

The traditions of English architecture,including the use of pattern books, greatlyinuenced early American architecture.Many important treatises were publishedand used in England from 1550-1750, includ-ing a treatise by Serlio, which took inspira-tion from the 16th century Italian architectAndrea Palladio. The use of pattern booksin 17th century England led to the introduc-tion of classical motifs and principles in theNew World. In England, the knowledge ofclassical design was mostly used in high-style buildings, rather than smaller scaleones, for which later medieval vernaculararchitecture remained the norm. This trendcontinued in America, while a gradual in-troduction of classical motifs into vernaculararchitecture took place in both England andAmerica. During the 17th century, houses inthe northern colonies were generally de-signed in a lobby plan, which was popularin England (i.e. Whipple House, Mass). Inthe South, other forms of vernacular archi-tecture took hold, mainly due to environ-mental, as well as social, inuences.

Colonial PeriodThe new America as a whole greatly dif-

fered from England on both social and archi-tectural levels. Throughout the eighteenthand nineteenth centuries, architecturalpractices in America were rooted in the co-lonial experience. As design in the coloniesbecame more sophisticated, architecturalbooks played an increasing role. But howcan one tell now what designs were derivedfrom books? Buildings built during the 18th

Recently, there

has been a

revival in the

use of pat-

tern books,

with new ones

being created,

and old ones

being utilized,as people turn

to historic pat-

tern books as a

way to build or

renovate their

homes in clas-

sical ways.


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UNCG Historic Dimension Series2

Fig. 3: Mantel in Drayton Hall designed from Plate 64.

century that stand out dramatically from standardtypes of the same period, according to Daniel Reiff, pro-vide the most direct evidence of houses designed basedon plates from books. It is also evident that books were

actually being used, as the importation of pattern booksincreased greatly during the 18th century. The onlybuilding known to have been built following a patternbook during the rst half of the 18th century is DraytonHall in Charleston, SC, the form of which was based onPalladios plate 56. Many features of Drayton Hall werecommon in Palladian designs, including a loggia, orporch, under which guests could stand before enteringinto a great hall. Also consistent with Palladios designswere a number of smaller rooms, or chambers, whichank the great hall, and a prominent, well-lit stairwaythat overlooks the large space. Further evidence of pat-tern book use in this space is shown in a 2007 publica-

tion by the Friends of Drayton Hall which notes thatthe mantel of the great hall was probably inuenced byWilliam Kents The Designs of Inigo Jones (1727) Plate 64,but with less ornate detailing, and that the roof designmight have been an adaptation of a number of differ-ent sources, including Langleys The City and CountryBuilders and Workmans Treasury of Designs (1750). WhileDrayton Hall also contains a raised basement, and lateradded anker buildings, both of which were consis-tent with Palladios designs, John Drayton adapted theplans to t the hot and humid climate of South Carolinaby increasing ceiling heights in the higher oors of thebuilding, even though Palladios design called for lower

ceiling heights in each consecutive oor.

Designs were rarely executed to look exactly like theoriginal image, with designers taking elements frommultiple books and combining them with their owncreativity and to meet their own needs. Reiff notes thatdesigners propensity to incorporate these different ele-ments makes it difcult sometimes to identify the directuse of pattern books. It is not readily known exactly whoowned pattern books, and generally the books are notcited, as they were considered simply to be inspirational.

Revolutionary Era

Prior to the Revolution, pattern books started to bepublished in America, showing that there was in facta market for them. According to Reiff, the importance

of books heightened during the introductory period ofa new style and helped designers later to work withina given mode. The use of architectural books grewsteadily over the course of the 18th century, droppedaround the Revolution, and increased again in the 1790s.The 18th century also saw an increase in gentlemenarchitects such as John Drayton, Thomas Jefferson, andWilliam Thornton, who learned about materials andstructure in their careers, but were not trained archi-tects. In designing Monticello, Thomas Jefferson used anumber of different outside sources, particularly RobertMorriss pattern book, Select Architecture, and Palladios

Quattri Libri. From Morris, Jefferson derived the scaleand style of the house, and from Palladio, the rules forarchitectural orders. Most likely, the people who usedarchitectural books were craftsmen, carpenters, build-ers and homeowners, although who introduced certaindetails or features is not generally noted in plans.

Mid-1800s

The 19th century saw the greatest increase in the pro-duction and use of pattern books. The rst originalAmerican book on architecture was The Country BuildersAssistant, written by Asher Benjamin, a Massachusettsarchitect. The Country Builders Assistant was followed

by The American Builders Companion, both of whichbecame wildly popular, as evidenced by their frequentreprinting, and the fact that they are still in print today.Benjamins books were written for local carpenters asmanual and guides to add sophistication and style tobuildings. They provided rules and denitions of practi-cal geometry, methods for drawing and cutting basicshapes, as well as designs for interior ornaments, suchas moldings, banisters and ceiling decoration. BenjaminAshers next book, published three years later in 1830,was The Architect, or Practical House Carpenter, which con-

Fig. 2: Plate 64 from The Designs of Inigo Jones.


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tained the previous Federal styles along with the new,popular Grecian styles, with Doric, Ionic and Corinthianorders. As noted in the Dover edition introduction toAsher Benjamins The American Builders Companion, thebook offers practical guidelines on how to constructbasic geometrical forms in wood, such as how a Scrollis to be got out of the Solid or how to draw the Ionicvolute (Benjamin viii). Despite having been writtenin Massachusetts and widely used in the Northeast,Benjamins work was particularly popular in the Southas well, in states such as North Carolina and Mississippi.In Mississippi, whose population grew enormously be-tween 1830-1850, Benjamins designs appear numerous

times. Since Benjamins designs were for, as he claimedin the preface to The Builders Guide, the use of thosebuilders who reside at a distance from cities, where theycannot have the assistance of a regular architect, up andcoming frontier areas such as Mississippi provided theappropriate context for his work. According to Crocker(1979), Plate 28, a Design for a Front Door Case, fromBenjamins The Practical House Carpenter can be seen atleast seven times in Mississippi during this period ofgrowth, each with its own particular adaptations. Pat-tern books were not intended to be copied verbatim,but provided a starting place for designers and can stillfulll this function today. This idea of individual expres-

sion can be seen in Benjamins discussion of a certainfrontispiece in his The Practice of Architecture, where hestates, the sculpture which crowns the entablature, ifthought to be too rich or too expensive, may be left offwithout affecting the symmetry of the composition (75).

The Mississippi Governors Mansion, designed by Eng-lish architect William Nichols and constructed in 1839,appears to have incorporated plates from BenjaminsBuilders Guide for the second story doorway, as well asdesigns for architraves based off of plates by Minard

Lafevers 1839 pattern bookThe Beauties of Modern Ar-

chitecture. Nichols also appears to have used a Lafeverrosette design in the lintel above the governors ofcedoor in the state Capitol. Prior to The Beauties of ModernArchitecture, Lafever wrote The Modern Builders Guide,published in 1833, which is credited with the rise of theGreek revival style, and contains full elevations andplans along with structural elements.

A revolution in the character of pattern books began inthe 1840s with the Romantic age and the PicturesqueMovement. A romantic rationalism in the 1840sbrought an end to the popular Greek Revival style by the1850s. Books which had formerly contained only plates

dedicated to practical geometry, moldings, capitals,replaces, roof framing and staircase construction nowspecically held plans and elevations. Furthermore,there was an increased interest in the social and nan-cial needs of America, as well as American materialsand climate. Andrew Jackson Downing, who publishedVictorian Cottage Residences in 1842, was among the rstto recognize the need to adapt architecture and detailsto t the clients budget and needs. He was an earlypopularizer of small, inexpensive, single-family homes,which were both efcient and beautiful, and was greatlyinuential in this shift in American domestic architec-ture. Focused on the Gothic Revival, Italianate and

rustic styles, Downing believed that even the hum-blest homes should be comfortable as well as artistic(Reiff 65). In 1850, Downing published The Architectureof Country Houses..., which contained 34 plans withGothic, French, Italianate and Elizabethan styles, all ofwhich were for well-styled, efcient and low-pricedhomes. This book included elevations and oor plans,as well as discussions of the design, construction andfunction. Downings designs became so widespread thata copy of a Downing house was even built in Auckland,New Zealand, in 1882. Today, the book can be used by

Fig. 4: Owen Biddle stair bracket detail (c. 1805).

Fig. 5: Bracket detail at Clarendon Hall, Yanceyville, NC

built 1842.


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anyone with an interest in early Victorian houses, sincethe book addresses such a multitude of issues, including:aesthetic concerns, materials, construction, costs, interior

woodwork, furnishings, ventilation, decoration, shin-gling and landscaping.

Samuel Sloans popular book, The Model Architect(1852, 53), was equally thorough, containing designsfor houses, schools and churches, with descriptions offoundations, joinery, ventilation, etc... Sloans book wasaimed at the general reader as well as the artizan,with large pages, perspective views and lithographs.Sloan, who feared that contemporary pattern bookswould decrease the professionalism of architects, soughtto underlie the importance of the profession in his book.

Along with 15 Italianate houses with two villa types, hiswas the rst book to depict the squarish Italianate villawith central roof cupolas, which became a popular style.Published around the same time, Orson Squire FowlersbookA Home for All (1853), created a fad for octagonalhouses during the 19th century.

Civil War to the Turn of the Century

While the publication of books on architecture declinedduring the Civil War, books on the design of housesdid not see such a decrease. Initially published during

the war, architect Henry Hudson Hollys pattern bookHollys Country Seats: Containing Lithographic Designs forCottages, Villas, Mansions, Etc... followed the Downingtype with perspective drawings and oor plans, alongwith descriptions and detailed text. It contained newand traditional designs-- Gothic and Medieval Revival,

Italianate, mansard dwellings, and two Stick Stylehomes. Immediately following the war, George E.Woodards Woodwards Country Homes (1865), includedelevation drawing of traditional styles such as Gothicand Medieval Revival, English vernacular, Italianate,mansarded, and Stick Style, but with a variety of build-ing types -- stables, schools, churches -- as well as homeremodeling. However, this book contained smallerimages, which made it more difcult for craftsmen toadapt plans, so subsequent publications returned tolarger-scale drawings of architectural features that couldbe used to update and enrich traditional vernacular

domestic and commercial structures (Reiff, 2000, p. 88).

The rst of these was Marcus F. Cummings and CharlesC. Millers Architecture: Designs for Street Fronts, SuburbanHouses, and Cottages, including Details for both Exteriorand Interior (1868). This book returned to pre-Downingtype, containing only details, and no house plans. Theauthors, who were both trained as carpenters and gainedarchitectural knowledge in architecture rms, wrote thatthe book was meant for anyone who desires to incorpo-rate the features of any particular style in a building they

Fig. 7: Plate from Asher BenjaminsArchitect; or Practi-

cal House Carpenter.

Fig. 6: Floor plan and elevation from The Country

Builders Assistant by Asher Benjamin.


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propose to erect (as quoted in Reiff, 2000, p. 89). Thisbook contained a full range of details including: frontentrances, belt courses, quoins, windows, window caps,cornices, mansard roofs, dormers, bargeboards, porches,verandas, door and window canopies, bay windows,balcony railings and chimney caps. Their next book,Modern American Architecture, contained plans and eleva-tions, because there was a high consumer demand forsuch. During the 1870s, E.C. Hussey, a New York archi-tect, published Home Building: A Reliable Book for Facts,Relative to Building, Living, Materials, Costs... This uniquevolume contained vignettes and accounts of cities acrossAmerica with their advantages and disadvantages, alongwith comparative prices and labor. He popularized hisown designs in a pattern book, which also containedadvertisements of working plans and specications bymail.

A year after Husseys book came out, George Palliserpublished Pallisers Model Homes for the People (1876),which developed plans by mail as well as architec-tural design by mail. It was inexpensive due to thefact that it contained fewer pictures and more adver-tisements for materials. As Reiff notes, Palliser createdhis own boxy vernacular, incorporating Gothic andItalianate details into smaller, more humble dwell-ings to give them some sophisticated, architectural style.Prices for complete sets of plans with full lithographswere relatively cheap and were listed in the book itself.Furthermore, Palliser set himself apart by promotinghis business of designing buildings for clients through

mail- not just of providing them with plans and speci-cations for their study or use (Reiff 98).

20th Century to PresentHouse catalogues and mail-order companies became in-creasingly popular during the early decades of the 20thcentury, with designs based on efciencies and econo-mies of standardization and mass production. Compa-nies such as Alladin, Standard, and Sears and Roebuckmarketed house plans and kits in their books, but theuse of traditional pattern books declined after WWII.

Recently, however, there has been a resurgence in theuse of historic and new architectural pattern books. Inthe 1980s, tax incentive programs offered by the federal

government for the rehabilitation of historic buildingsinspired developers and homeowners to seek out crafts-men and look at pattern books to restore intricate detailsto buildings. In 1995, according to an article by WilliamHamilton in the New York Times, a man named GeofferyCarter set out to build an entire home by hand, usingAsher Benjamins The American Builders Companion asa guide for the exterior. Carter, then director of preser-vation at Historic Hudson Valley in New York, notedthat pattern books were designed for people like me,those who had no formal architectural training. Carterutilized the books geometric formulas, which gave him

a quick and easy design for Doric columns. Far fromgiving lengthy and convoluted descriptions, Carter mar-veled at the books concise and understandable instruc-tions.

As a reaction to widespread, mass produced new con-struction (or cookie-cutter neighborhoods) and thedestruction caused to the South by hurricane Katrina in2006, a number of modern cities and towns have createdtheir own pattern books, with images and descriptionsof historic homes specic to local styles and history.These government-endorsed pattern books are free tolocal homeowners, and seek to protect local architectural

styles that were destroyed. One of the largest redevelop-ment projects in the nation-- the Mississippi Gulf Coastproject-- which encompasses eleven towns in threecounties-- created a pattern book using four local styles:Acadian-Creole, Victorian, Classical and Arts and Crafts.The project hoped that people would want to build orrebuild in a historic style if they were aware what localhistoric homes looked like. This project, among others,faced much opposition, but nonetheless is an interestingphenomena.

Fig. 9: Mississippi Governors Mansion, details of which

were inspired by Minard Lafever patterns.

Fig. 8: Front Elevation of Greek Revival home in Minard

Lafevers Modern Builders Guide.


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On an individual level, families have been able to usecity pattern books to create and preserve their historichomes. A Washington Post article from 2006 highlightsone family, the Fiveashes, who used a Norfolk, VA, citypattern book to design and construct a porch to t thestyle of their Craftsman style house, since the originalone was in disrepair. The family was appreciative of thebook, which allowed them to look at designs to which,as average homeowners, they might not have had im-mediate access.

ConclusionMany people today are unaware of the impact that pat-tern books had historically, and their potential use today.Popular pattern books, such as those by Asher Benjamin,are still in print and readily available from a number ofdifferent sources (see bibliography for some books stillin print). The clarity of the designs and the thoughtful-ness of the descriptions in these historic pattern booksmakes them legible and practical for people with little orno architectural training, who desire to learn more aboutthe features of their homes or to repair or replace detailsthat are missing or damaged.

Image ReferencesFigures 2 &3-- Drayton Hall: Available: http://www.draytonhall.org/research/architecture/Figures 4 & 5-- Courtesy of Jo Leimenstoll, UNCG.Figure 6-- University of Delaware Special CollectionsAvailable: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/udla/arts.htmFigure 7-- Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Available:http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/PicturingWords/PW_AllImages.cfmFigure 8-- American Antiquarian SocietyFigures 9& 11-- Library of Congress

Figure 10-- Wikipedia: Andrew Jackson DowningFigures 12 & 13--Mississippi Renewal Forum. Available:http://www.mississippirenewal.com/info/plansRe-ports.html

References

(2006). Architectural Resources at the American Anti-quarian Society. Retrieved November 8, 2008, fromAmerican Antiquarian Society: http://www.ameri-canantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Architecture/

(2008). Beauty and the Brick: Illustrated Books and Nine-teenth- Century Domestic Design. Retrieved October30, 2008, from Historic Hudson Valleys Library:

http://www.hudsonvalley.org/beauty/pattern.htmBenjamin, A., & Morgan, W. D. (1969). American Build-

ers Companion : Or, a System of Architecture, Par-ticularly Adapted to the Present Style of Building.Minneapolis: Dover Publications, Incorporated.

Cameron, C. (1989). Charles Baillairge: Architect andEngineer. McGill-Queens Press.

Cowell, E. (2007). Samuel Sloan, Pattern Books, and theQuestion of Professional Identity. In K. Hafertepe(Ed.), American Architects and their Books, 1840-1915 (pp. 95-128). Amherst, MA: University of Mas-sachusetts Press.

Crocker, M. W. (1979, October). Asher Benjamin: The In-

uence of His Handbooks on Mississippi Buildings.The Journal of the Society of Architectural Histori-ans, 38, 3. Retrieved November 8, 2008, from JSTORdatabase.

Downey, K. (2006, February 25). Recognizing a Revivalin Pattern Books: Guides Provide Builders, Hom-eowners With Inspiratin From Earlier Times. Wash-ington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2008, fromhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con-tent/article/2006/02/24/ar2006022400823.html

Fig. 11: Detail of the Timothy Cobb house, based off of a

Downing plate, Design II.

Fig. 10: Front Elevation of an A.J. Downing home, De-

sign II


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Hamilton, W. L. (1995, October 15). Handmade House.The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2008,from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?

res=9E0CE1D61339F936A25753C1A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2McLaughlin, J. (1990). Jefferson and Monticello: The

Biography of a Builder. Macmillian Press.Mitchell, P. B. (2008). Architecture and Design: Reprints,

Used, and Rare Chronological List. RetrievedSeptember 24, 2008, from Mitchells Publications:http://www.mitchellspublications.com/ur/ah/chr.htm#early

Reiff, D. D. (2000). Houses from Books: Treatises, PatternBooks and Catalogs in America, 1738-1950. Pennsyl-vania State UP .

Webster, M. (2007, January). From Mantel to Roof: The

Inuence of Pattern Books on Drayton Hall. Friendsof Drayton Hall Interiors, Retrieved November 8,2008, from http://www.draytonhall.org/news/newsletter/pdf/2007_autumn.pdf

Some Available Reprints:

Benjamin, Asher. The Architect, or Practical HouseCarpenter 1844. Minneapolis: Dover Publications,Incorporated, 1989.

The Historic Dimension Series is a collection of briefs

prepared by UNCG students under the direction of

Professor Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll. For information on

other topics in the series please visit the website at

www.uncg.edu/iar/hds

Fig. 13: Modern day pattern books: Page fromA Pat-

tern Book for Gult Coast Neighborhoods (2005).

Downing, Andrew J., and J. S. Johnson. The Architectureof Country Houses. Minneapolis: Dover Publica-tions, Incorporated, 1969.

Sloan, Samuel, and Harold N. Cooledge. Sloans Vic-torian Buildings : Illustrations and Floor Plans for60 Residences and Other Structures. Minneapolis:Dover Publications, Incorporated, 1981.

Cummings, Marcus F., and Charles C. Miller. Designs forStreet Fronts, Suburban Houses and Cottages. Troy,NY: Young & Benson, 1865. Minneapolis: Dover Pub-lications, Incorporated, 1998.

Downing, Andrew J., and Adolf K. Placzek. VictorianCottage Residences. Ed. George E. Harney. Minne-apolis: Dover Publications, Incorporated, 1982.

Downing, Andrew J., and J. S. Johnson. The Architectureof Country Houses. Minneapolis: Dover Publica-

tions, Incorporated, 1969.Sloan, Samuel, and Harold N. Cooledge. Sloans Vic-

torian Buildings : Illustrations and Floor Plans for60 Residences and Other Structures. Minneapolis:Dover Publications, Incorporated, 1981.

Fig. 12: Modern day pattern books: Page fromA Pat-

tern Book for Gult Coast Neighborhoods (2005).

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