Vernacular architecture of the lake counties

Dr. Brunskill's Illustrated Handbook of Vernacular Architecture has provided an immensely valuable framework for increased understanding and appreciation of the country-wide pattern of traditional building styles in local materials. It is obvious, however, that no single book with such a wide range geographically could do justice to the diversity of vernacular architecture from region to region, district to district, almost parish to parish, which is one of the glories of this country. So he has planned a series of regional handbooks, and the Lake Counties is a happy choice for the first of these, not least because the author's awareness of vernacular architecture was first awakened during the summers he spent as a boy on his grandparents' farm in the Eden Valley. Both in Illustrated Handbook of Vernacular Architecture and in this more intensive study of a compact, apparently homogeneous region, Dr. BrunskiII has set out to help the amateur to embark on systematic observation and recording in the field-a task too extensive for the few professionals, and of great urgency as vernacular buildings become fewer year by year. But Vernacular Architecture of the Lake Counties is of absorbing interest not only to the dedicated amateur making a systematic study, but to visitors to the district, whether teachers, students or simply tourists, and to residents who wish to understand more of their environment and to preserve what is irreplaceable in it.