In the early twentieth century; developers from Baltimore to Beverly Hills built garden suburbs; a new kind of residential community that incorporated curvilinear roads and landscape design as picturesque elements in a neighborhood. Intended as models for how American cities should be rationally; responsibly; and beautifully modernized; garden suburban communities were fragments of a larger (if largely imagined) garden citymdash;the mythical "good" city of U.S. city-planning practices of the 1920s.This extensively illustrated book chronicles the development of the two most fully realized garden suburbs in Texas; Dallass Highland Park and Houstons River Oaks. Cheryl Caldwell Ferguson draws on a wealth of primary sources to trace the planning; design; financing; implementation; and long-term management of these suburbs. She analyzes homes built by such architects as H. B. Thomson; C. D. Hill; Fooshee Cheek; John F. Staub; Birdsall P. Briscoe; and Charles W. Oliver. She also addresses the evolution of the shopping center by looking at Highland Parks Shopping Village; which was one of the first in the nation. Ferguson sets the story of Highland Park and River Oaks within the larger story of the development of garden suburban communities in Texas and across America to explain why these two communities achieved such prestige; maintained their property values; became the most successful in their cities in the twentieth century; and still serve as ideal models for suburban communities today.
#2979601 in eBooks 2014-08-23 2014-08-26File Name: B00N0FXW9I
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. the shambolic quest to retrieve the screamBy Bart MillsThe theft of an irreplaceable work of art is perhaps the most outrageous and fascinating crime our civilization can imagine. A jewel robbery is a terrible piece of effrontery; never mind the value of the object; but even the rarest gem is replaceable; or nearly so. Identity theft can make our blood boil; but itrsquo;s not as consequential as its analogue; kidnapping. If criminals can ever be romanticized; art thieves qualify for a Hollywood gloss. They must have taste; they must be gentlemenmdash;and they are often portrayed that way.Edward Dolnick says; ldquo;Phooey!rdquo; In ldquo;The Rescue Artist;rdquo; his breezy; entertaining survey of art crime and art criminals; he shows that art thieves are just like most other thieves; only dumber. He wraps his anecdotal survey around a close examination of the 1994 theft of Edvard Munchrsquo;s ldquo;The Scream;rdquo; as told from the point of view of the detective who led the effort to get the painting back; Charley Hill. Hill comes on as a master of the long con; assuming just the right undercover identity to wrest the stolen artwork back without actually paying anything for it. Itrsquo;s an almost comical quest; as Hill maneuvers around clueless Norwegian police and incompetent museum security personnel; to get close to the villains who are close to the dumbos who took the painting.ldquo;The Rescue Artistrdquo; couldnrsquo;t be filmed; because it disposes of all the master-criminal clicheacute;s Hollywood adores. But it makes a fascinating story.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Takes discipline to stick with itBy weatherfieldI thought that the subject matter would be interesting but found sticking to this book was a real effort. Its not written like a flowing story. Its more of a series of accounts. Didnt get involved with the characters at all. Just didnt enjoy.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. How Art Theft is PerceivedBy Mary SchneiderI found the details of art theft and the processes of finding and recovery very interesting. The author spent more time than I felt necessary on the various aspects of Charlie Hills life. It went on and on and there were areas of repetition. The language was rather raw at time and while perhaps totally accurate was not necessary to the story. I had thought to recommend this book to my Art Book Club but having read it; have decided not to do so.
