AMERICAN HOUSES: Colonial, Classic, Contemporary

A Competent if unexceptional history of housing in America, this starts out with a survey in miniature of forerunners, from Mesopotamia and Egypt on. In America, the Indian teepees and pueblos gave way to the New England house (the English house had to be adapted to New England winds), the 17th Century Cape Codder, the Virginia brick house, the North Carolina log cabins, the Dutch colonial. Later came the elegant Georgian, the Greek classical (the country's first fad), the Victorian gingerbread. The Victorian era' produced the steel frame and passenger elevator that made possible the skyscraper apartment house. The advent of the contemporary house (international style in the '30's and Frank Lloyd Wright's organic house), the prospects of assembly line houses are considered. Mr. Hoag foresees an industrially produced contemporary house such as Techbuilt. Like the contemporary house, his book is functional, but lacks the accessories to attract a wide or demanding readership.