Painted Ladies Revisited: San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians Inside and Out - Hardcover

Authors Larsen and Pomada have done it again . . . and again. The painted lady people add two more volumes to their previously published Painted Ladies (Dutton, 1978) and Daughters of Painted Ladies ( LJ 11/15/87). As in their first volume, in Painted Ladies Revisited San Francisco is the point of reference for a further exploration of the colorist movement and its relationship to domestic, and especially Victorian, architecture. Fabulous interior and exterior shots give the reader a glimpse of the city's mix of modern, traditional, and Victorian and how they harmonize. Richly illustrated in full color, and enhanced by clear annotations, Painted Ladies Revisited is a natural for architectural and design collections and for public libraries that are budgeted to collect widely in this area. It is How To Create Your Own Painted Lady , however, that deserves the extra attention here. As the subtitle indicates, this book includes information on paint selection, techniques for special effects (faux marbling, for example), equipment, interior and exterior painting, and more. Color photos and drawings illustrate the painting techniques and color plans for exteriors, and designers are given the opportunity to demonstrate and explain their own particular ideas and color and design preferences. Public libraries, particularly those situated in areas with much vintage architecture, will want this fine addition to their how-to collection.
- Carol Spielman Lezak, General Learning Corp., Northbrook, Ill.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This new volume in Pomada and Larsen's popular series on Victorian restoration in San Francisco surveys recent additions to that city's trove of ebullient renovated gingerbread. From an original stock of almost 50,000, 13,437 residential Victorians are still standing; much as 19th-century California gold built them, yuppies began financing their rebirth in the mid-'70s. Asserting that those early projects, typified by a whimsical use of bright, contrasting colors, are giving way to a "more subtle, sophisticated" style, the book unveils interiors and exteriors of many splendid high-ceilinged, bay-windowed specimens often furnished as lushly as old-time bordellos. Though accompanying text is repetitious, and may state the obvious ("a Victorian profusion of possessions and decoration can be found"), Keister's photographs are irresistible, evoking a dignified fantasy in architecture given a gleefully childish air by San Franciscans.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.