Linley Sambourne House in London is probably the best original Victorian house interior you will find in the UK. It is definitely worth a visit. The virtual tour on the web site is interesting.
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The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society has information about this great Scottish architect as well as links to many of his buildings and houses.
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Craig & Yvonne's Victorian House is interesting and has lots of quality pictures of an on-going restoration in the USA. They are doing most of the work themselves and seem to be almost rebuilding the house.
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Victorian House Museum is a large Queen Anne style house in Ohio. The site includes a good photographic tour.
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Victorian House Restoration of a fabulous Queen Anne style house in California.
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House in Progress is about a 1914 Chicago house undergoing restoration. This site has many great links as well as being a very interesting diary itself.
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The Tenement House in Glasgow is a Victorian tenement house with a period interior to match. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and open to the public. Also owned by them and open to the public is
The Georgian House
in Edinburgh. While this is pre-Victorian the architect Robert Adam was from Kirkcaldy.
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The John Schwartz House of 1889 in Iowa is being restored by the owners. This website is documenting the project which began in December 2000 (about the same time as we started our project).
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The Building Conservation site contains excellent articles on conservation of period properties. Consult this site before talking to any renovation or preservation 'expert'. |
The Victorian Society campaigns for the preservation of our Victorian architectural heritage. This is a good starting point for advice on style and restoration. |
Victorian and Edwardian House provides technical advice and web resources for owners of Victorian and Edwardian properties. This is the web companion to the Haynes Victorian House Manual. |
The Arts and Crafts Home is a design source for Arts and Crafts home decoration. This is a vast site offering A&C and Victorian furniture, decoration and accessories. You can browse, purchase or conduct research from this single site. |
Bricks and Brass provide information about period house design, renovation and resources. |
Period Features is a real little shop in England as well as a very nicely presented online shop for good quality reproduction goods. |
Salvo Web provides details and links for architectural salvage companies. These are very useful when trying to source and match original materials. |
Old Houses Directory is an index of old house products and services. |
Old Houses is a resource for old house lovers buying or selling historic property. |
The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland is concerned with the protection, preservation, study and appreciation of Scottish buildings. |
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings is a UK based society founded by William Morris in 1877. There is a strong Scottish branch. |
The House Planner conservation links for owners of historic and listed buildings. |
Edina Lock & Key Company have a brilliant selection of genuine reproduction Victorian fittings at sensible prices. |
Period Property has Q&As and features on all types of period houses. |
The Scottish Lime Centre provides specialist advice and training in the use of lime-based materials for the conservation and repair of traditional buildings. |
The Thomas Crapper Company can supply the ultimate in Victorian reproduction loos based on original designs. |
Sanderson still produce a range of Morris & Co. wallpaper, fabric and paint. |
Bradbury offer a quality range of Victorian wallpapers. |
The Door Knocker Company sell a good range of reproduction door furniture, much of it is from the Victorian period. |
Stuart Interiors design, manufacture and install period interiors including architectural joinery, panelling, staircases, and lighting. |
This will be a growing list of books on Victorian houses that I have read and would recommend to anyone interested in architecture, interiors or restoration. Don't be put off by any of my constructive criticism. If it is here I am recommending it and if you would like to recommend a book please contact me with the details.
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The Victorian Society book of
The Victorian House
by Kit Wedd. Aurum Press, London, 2002, ISBN 1 85410 875 1. This is a superb book concentrating on middle class British (mainly English) houses. It is not just a great reference but is an enjoyable read from cover-to-cover. I just hope there will be a 2nd edition that is even bigger.
Highly Recommended.
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The Victorian House Manual
is a no nonsense book written by Ian Rock and published by Haynes (The car repair manual people). It is designed to help Victorian home owners understand how their houses were constructed and how to look after and repair them. The book is quite comprehensive and well illustrated but lacks a little detail in places. For the DIY restorer this book is useful. It was published in September 2005 by Haynes, ISBN 1 84425 213 2.
Recommended.
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Victorian House Style
an architectural and interior design source book by Linda Osband. David & Charles, Newton Abbot, first published 1991, ISBN 0 7153 13119 3. An interesting book and very useful resource with examples from middle-class to rather grand houses. My main criticism of the book is that the source illustrations are not always well captioned or tied to the text by references to period, region and popularity of style. The focus seems to be on S.England with odd examples from USA and Australia thrown in for good measure. In the books favour there a lots of illustrations and as a design source it stands up well.
Recommended.
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How to Restore & Improve your Victorian House
by Alan Johnson. David & Charles, Newton Abbot, first published 1984, ISBN 0 7153 8334 5. A very useful and interesting reference book detailing the design, construction, fittings, problems, repairs and modern alterations for Victorian houses. Although this book is now out of print I found it easy to source a cheap copy via Ebay. I also saw copies available from second-hand on-line book sellers at sensible prices.
Recommended.
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Kirkcaldy Civic Society is concerned with civic interest and information, preservation and planning in Kirkcaldy. |
Adam Smith, the world's first economists was born in Kirkcaldy. He was a moral philosopher who, as an observer, analysed how free markets appeared to operate.
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Robert Adam the World renowned Georgian architect and interior designer was born in Kirkcaldy. |
Linoleum industry in Kirkcaldy. For over 100 years Kirkcaldy has been the World's largest linoleum producer. |
Rossend Castle history. The Kirkcaldy linoleum manufacturer, James Shepherd, who once owned our house lived in this castle in Burntisland. |
Wemyss Ware was made in Kirkcaldy from about 1882. Original Wemyss Ware is now very expensive although Griselda Hill Pottery are now manufacturing quality pottery (possibly better than the originals) under the Wemyss Ware name. |
The Boy in the Train is a poem about a boy going to his Grandmas house in Kirkcaldy. The final two lines refer to Kirkcaldy's smell which came from the linseed oil used in linoleum manufacturing. |
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Acknowledgements
are gratefully given here for the various resources used in building these web pages.
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