Deering Davis

This Dover edition is described as: "An unabridged republication of the work originally published in 1944 by the Achitectural Book Publishing Company, New York ... "

Given this fact, the reader should not be surprised to learn that all of the pictures are in black-and-white. The pictures vary in quality - some are quite good, others are a bit blurry. In some cases, the latter problem is that the authors relied on other sources or historic pictures. I also note that pictures indoors, or pictures taken at a distance, such as of gables, are not as good. Perhaps this is a reflection of the technology of the time.

The book illustrates 22 house in Federal period houses in Georgetown, within, the book points out, 1 mile of the White House. There is a brief essay on each house, with at least one picture of the front of all the houses, in some cases 6 or 8 including details, interior shots, and gardens. Perhaps this reflects the amount of cooperation that the photographers got from the then owners, or perhaps a reflection of the historic value.

I presume that the arrangement is for the convenience of a walking tour: it is a bit frustrating that there is neither a listing of the houses by page, or an index, although the list of illustrations fill most of the void.

At least one of these houses, Tudor Place, has become a public museum (well worth seeing in my opinon: www.tudorplace.org). Dumbarton Oaks had already been given to Harvard. (Check www.doaks.org; the gardens are open, but as off this writing, the house is unergoing restoration). The book says that Mrs. Sevier had intended her house on Q Street to become a museum, but in fact it is listed on the internet as sold in the not-too-distant past. It is also possible that some of these houses no longer exist, especially if no-one has taken the ivy off the slightly derelict McKenney House in the past 60 years. (No, it was still standing, very much restored, in 2001.)

That said, I think this is a very worthwhile book on historic houses. In addition to the information about the 22 houses, the book contains the original foreward, with historical information about the book and the houses; and several page essays on the historical background, the Federal Style, and Dr. William Thornton, a leading architect. The main section is followed by a chapter on George Washington's Georgetown house (razed in 1913), pre-Revolutionary buildings then standing, and a list of all pre-1825 structures in Georgetown, as well as a bibliography.

There is another book called Splendours of Georgetown: 25 Architectural Masterpieces, published in 2001. This is more up-to-date, although the pictures are still black-and-white. It covers some of the same houses, but since it is broader in time period, not all of them, and of course the pictures are different. Both books are relatively inexpensive, and buying both is probably worthwhile. I bought both recently at Tudor Place, so I would guess that they are the best readily available at this time. There is also a 28-page book about Tudor Place itself, which includes color illustrations. Neither this nor Splendours of Georgetown appear to be widely available: one might want to contact ww.tudorplace.org.

There is also Historic Georgetown: a Walking Tour by Thomas J. Carrier, which I have not seen (yet).… (altro)