Books by Katherine S. Howe

This in-depth study of the Herter Brothers, New York, the leading furniture-making and decorating firm of late-19th-century America, is the first to focus on the design, richness of materials, and splendid diversity in the work of Gustave and Christian Herter. Herter Brothers finest furniture and interiors are displayed here in 133 color and 167 black-and-white illustrations, many showing rich detail. The authors place the company in its context, international as well as domestic, and provide an absorbing narrative of the furniture industry in New York City.

This ambitious book, originally published by Rice University Press in 1991, describes Houston home life and culture from the settlement of Houston to World War I, when rapid economic development spelled demolition for many notable nineteenth-century public buildings. Sadie Gwin Blackburn discusses landscape and horticulture, from the early plantations and the farms of German immigrants in Harris County to the residential gardens of early twentieth-century Houston. Barrie M. Scardino traces the development of domestic architecture from the log cabins built along the bayous in the 1820s to the grand Neville house built at 11 Courtlandt Place. Katherine S. Howe focuses on the evolution of home interiors, describing how four-poster beds were used to support mosquito netting and likely had mattresses filled with Spanish moss. Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton addresses domestic life and its influence on the social and cultural fabric of the city, describing how schools, religious assemblies, and even businesses evolved from the home.