Follies in America: A History of Garden and Park Architecture

Product Description

Follies in America examines historicized garden buildings, known as “follies,” from the nation’s founding through the American centennial celebration in 1876. In a period of increasing nationalism, follies―such as temples, summerhouses, towers, and ruins―brought a range of European architectural styles to the United States. By imprinting the land with symbols of European culture, landscape gardeners brought their idea of civilization to the American wilderness.
Kerry Dean Carso’s interdisciplinary approach in Follies in America examines both buildings and their counterparts in literature and art, demonstrating that follies provide a window into major themes in nineteenth-century American culture, including tensions between Jeffersonian agrarianism and urban life, the ascendancy of middle-class tourism, and gentility and social class aspirations.

Review

“Clearly written and persuasive, Follies in America broadens and illuminates our understanding of architecture by bringing together literature and the arts. This book is full of memorable anecdotes about things that are generally overlooked but all around us.” — Francis Kowsky, SUNY Buffalo State College, author of 
Country, Park, and City

“Kerry Dean Carso digs below the surface whimsy of nineteenth century American follies, identifying the various meanings the ubiquitous structures have embodied. Interdisciplinary in scope, Follies in America reveals the serious role the ostensibly useless buildings have played in contemporary social and cultural discourses on urbanization, industrialization, and what it means to be American.” — Sara A. Butler, Roger Williams University, co-author of 
University of Virginia: The Campus Guides

“Follies in America deepens our appreciation of seemingly incidental structures erected in the American landscape from the earliest days of the nation. Kerry Dean Caro proposes a new interpretation of their place in American culture that will engage any reader interested in garden history and design as well as landscape architecture.” — Michael Olmert, University of Maryland, author of
Kitchens, Smokehouses, and Privies

Review

“Follies in America deepens our appreciation of seemingly incidental structures erected in the American landscape from the earliest days of the nation. Kerry Dean Caro proposes a new interpretation of their place in American culture that will engage any reader interested in garden history and design as well as landscape architecture.” — Michael Olmert, University of Maryland, author of
Kitchens, Smokehouses, and Privies

About the Author

Kerry Dean Carso is Professor of Art History at the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is the author of American Gothic Art and Architecture in the Age of Romantic Literature. Follow her on Twitter @kerrydeancarso.