Book excerpt: A beautifully illustrated volume on the Tudor-style house, a keystone in American interiors and architecture. Since its birth in sixteenth-century England, the Tudor-style house has been a favorite for homeowners from all walks of life. Hallmarks of the style include steeply pitched gables and roofs covered in slate or imitation thatch, bays of casement windows with diamond-paned leaded glass, clustered chimney stacks, interiors of wood paneling and plasterwork, and, especially, half-timbered and stuccoed facades. In the United States, prime examples can be found coast to coast, from the Tudor City apartment buildings of New York to the stately homes of Tuxedo Park; from the cozy, Prairie-inspired homes of Oak Park, Illinois, to the richly nuanced Arts and Crafts-inflected mansions of Pasadena, California. In an age when all agree that the McMansion, with its ungainly proportions and sameness of design, should be banished from the landscape, the Tudor house remains a delight and an inspiration, being anything but cookie-cutter, with tremendous variation from home to home. The Tudor Home showcases the wide variety of Tudor homes and the many manifestations the form has taken across the nation, from the famous communities of Bronxville, New York, to the California Tudors of Highland Park. With a wealth of color imagery newly photographed for this volume and insightful commentary on the history, development, and evolution of the Tudor style in America, the book is an engaging read that opens a window on this much loved style of home.