Local residents, visitors, and armchair travelers will all be delighted and informed by this unique visual resource. It combines an insightful study of San Francisco and Bay Area history with a thorough survey of its Victorian-era house styles. Prominently featured are house museums to visit among the many fine examples of 19th-century homes from the City and its neighboring communities across the Bay. Chronologically arranged chapters represent the Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Stick/Eastlake, Queen Anne, and Shingle Victorian styles, as well as the Edwardian era (1901-1914), considered the postscript for the Victorian age. Supported by period archival images, the lively and authoritative text by Duchscherer is lavishly illustrated throughout with superb color photography by Keister. Included is a section called "Before and After" that presents the architectural transformations made by dedicated homeowners, who have brought neglected Victorian houses back to life, thus contributing to today's vital historic-preservation movement. More inspiration is to be found in the concluding chapter on "Victorian Revival Interiors," a spectacular showcase of recent period-style interior-design projects.
