NO PLACE LIKE HOME: A History Of Domestic Architecture In Springfield And Clark County, Ohio
by George H. Berkhofer

I was given this book for Christmas by a relative. It is one helluva coffee table book about Springfield.
It is decribed as:
No Place Like Home is a book which tries to capture the essential spirit of Springfield, Ohio, as expressed by its architecture over the last two hundred years.

It is 12x9 in and illustrated with beautiful drawing, photography and the author has dug up some great older illustrations as well s examples of "original" architectural styles.
ok, I really know nothing about architecture, so I'm just taking the author's word for it.
It is a visually beautiful piece printed in light brown and black. It would have been nice to have some color but, I'll live.
The only problem I had with the book is that the interior design, under the direction of John Baskin, is almost impossible.
Inserts describing the pictures follow no perceptible pattern. Instead of using a top to bottom, left to right or even just a clockwise pattern, the descriptions seem to be tossed in as a last minute afterthought.
The use of the light brown is ok but in some places type and halftones are printed solely in the light brown and are effectively "ghosted" and almost impossible to see. A heavier color used with screening would have been much better.
Further, the number of pictures caught in the spine, that probably looked great in proofs, are incredibly disfigured printed across the pages.
Note: This book is about houses - not commercial arhitecture or even apartment buildings. It would be great to see the author take on these topics in more books in the future.
The book is easily worth the price and should be on the coffee table of every home in Clark county if not SW Ohio.

orange Frazer Press