Books
Tudoresque: In Pursuit of the Ideal Home
Andrew Ballantyne and Andrew Law
Tudoresque architecture is viewed around the world as a symbol of British identity. This style has a powerful hold on the popular imagination, representing the idea of 'home' to British citizens, both in the United Kingdom and abroad. Some love it, others hate it, but the Tudoresque is still being built, sometimes to give a house a settled, old-fashioned air, sometimes to supply exotica. While lots of people live in Tudor-style houses, very few know anything about their general history. Tudoresque is an insightful book that explores the origin of the style, tracing its roots to the antiquarian enthusiasms of the eighteenth century. It looks at the Tudoresque cottage style, which later influenced 1930s architecture, and the Tudor-style manor house, particularly favoured in the nineteenth century. While the style has been discouraged since the 1920s - and is especially reviled by modernists - it continues often to be chosen when design professionals do not have the upper hand. Contrary to common view, the authors show how Tudoresque is the mainstream of twentieth-century British architecture and a mass phenomenon. Whether 'mock Tudor', 'Tudorbethan' or 'Tudor Revival', they are important not so much because they are great architecture, but because they are everywhere. Illustrated with more than 200 years of Tudoresque buildings, and including examples from Britain, America, India and East Asia, this perceptive and knowledgeable book will enlighten anyone with a curiosity about the subject or about the house in which they live.