Entrepreneurial Vernacular: Developers' Subdivisions in the 1920s

Author:   Carolyn S. Loeb (Central Michigan University)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN:  

9781421433288


Pages:   296
Publication Date:   31 March 2020
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Entrepreneurial Vernacular: Developers' Subdivisions in the 1920s


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Overview

"During the 1920s, enterprising realtors, housing professionals, and builders developed the models that became the inspiration for the subdivision tract housing now commonplace in the U.S. Originally published in 2001. Suburban subdivisions of individual family homes are so familiar a part of the American landscape that it is hard to imagine a time when they were not common in the U. S. The shift to large-scale speculative subdivisions is usually attributed to the period after World War II. In Entrepreneurial Vernacular: Developers' Subdivisions in the 1920s, Carolyn S. Loeb shows that the precedents for this change in single-family home design were the result of concerted efforts by entrepreneurial realtors and other housing professionals during the 1920s. In her discussion of the historical and structural forces that propelled this change, Loeb focuses on three typical speculative subdivisions of the 1920s and on the realtors, architects, and building-craftsmen who designed and constructed them. These examples highlight the ""shared set of planning and design concerns"" that animated realtors (whom Loeb sees as having played the ""key role"" in this process) and the network of housing experts with whom they associated. Decentralized and loosely coordinated, this network promoted home ownership through flexible strategies of design, planning, financing, and construction which the author describes as a new and ""entrepreneurial"" vernacular."

Full Product Details

Author:   Carolyn S. Loeb (Central Michigan University)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.390kg
ISBN:  

9781421433288


ISBN 10:   1421433281
Pages:   296
Publication Date:   31 March 2020
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction. The Entrepreneurial Vernacular Subdivision Part I. Three Subdivisions and Their Builders Chapter 1: The Ford Homes: The Case of the Borrowed Builders Chapter 2: Brightmoor: The Case of the Absent Architect Chapter 3: Westwood Highlands: The Rise of the Realtor Part II. Agency, From, and Meaning Chapter 4: The Home-Ownership Network: Constructing Community Chapter 5: Architectural Style: The Charm of Continuity Conclusion. Architecture as Social Process Notes Bibliographical Note Illustration Credits Index

Reviews

Loeb should be applauded for telling a complicated story. She successfully makes the realtors, architects, and building-craftsmen agents of physical growth. Loeb also uses careful case studies, but moves beyond them to try to tell a wider story. -Ann Durkin Keating, H-Net Reviews Loeb's useful concept of entrepreneurial vernacular may encourage scholars to pay more attention to the builders and tradesmen whose activities were important in themselves and also constitute an important arena in which the histories of business, labor, and cities intersect. -Richard Harris, Journal of American History Loeb's book helps us understand the roots of a significant trend in American housing after World War II . . . It is well organized and well written. -Ellen Christensen, Michigan Historical Review Entrepreneurial Vernacular is certainly the best and most comprehensive book I have read about the design and development of the modern, large-scale housing subdivision. -Thomas C. Hubka, Urban History


Entrepreneurial Vernacular is certainly the best and most comprehensive book I have read about the design and development of the modern, large-scale housing subdivision. -- Thomas C. Hubka * Urban History * Loeb's book helps us understand the roots of a significant trend in American housing after World War II . . . It is well organized and well written. -- Ellen Christensen * Michigan Historical Review * Loeb's useful concept of entrepreneurial vernacular may encourage scholars to pay more attention to the builders and tradesmen whose activities were important in themselves and also constitute an important arena in which the histories of business, labor, and cities intersect. -- Richard Harris * Journal of American History * Loeb should be applauded for telling a complicated story. She successfully makes the realtors, architects, and building-craftsmen agents of physical growth. Loeb also uses careful case studies, but moves beyond them to try to tell a wider story. -- Ann Durkin Keating * H-Net Reviews *


Loeb should be applauded for telling a complicated story. She successfully makes the realtors, architects, and building-craftsmen agents of physical growth. Loeb also uses careful case studies, but moves beyond them to try to tell a wider story. -- Ann Durkin Keating * H-Net Reviews * Loeb's useful concept of entrepreneurial vernacular may encourage scholars to pay more attention to the builders and tradesmen whose activities were important in themselves and also constitute an important arena in which the histories of business, labor, and cities intersect. -- Richard Harris * Journal of American History * Loeb's book helps us understand the roots of a significant trend in American housing after World War II... It is well organized and well written. -- Ellen Christensen * Michigan Historical Review * Entrepreneurial Vernacular is certainly the best and most comprehensive book I have read about the design and development of the modern, large-scale housing subdivision. -- Thomas C. Hubka * Urban History *


Author Information

Carolyn S. Loeb is an associate professor of art history at Central Michigan University and a contributor to The Encyclopedia of Urban America.

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