A Field Guide to American Houses

Lengthily subtitled:

The guide that enables you to identify, and place in their historic and architectural contexts, the houses you see in your neighborhood or in your travels across America - houses built for American families (rich, poor and in-between), in city and countryside, from the 17th century to the present.

I can't describe the content more accurately - except to say it is brilliantly illustrated with photographs, examples, drawings and sketches.

And I absolutely loved this book. Some books register a new idea or a new vocabulary - impart a little knowledge that colors the everyday world - and create a foundation for new observations and appreciations. This book is very much one of those.