Summer Cottages in the White Mountains: The Architecture of Leisure and Recreation, 1870 to 1930

This generously illustrated book examines the origins and development of the summer cottage in the resort communities of New Hampshire's White Mountains between 1870 and 1930. Bryant F. Tolles, Jr., author of The Grand Resort Hotels of the White Mountains: An Architectural Legacy (1998) and New Hampshire Architecture: An Illustrated Guide (1979), associates the cottages and their outbuildings with a group of forty architects and architectural firms, as well as noted regional builders. He also links the summer cottage phenomenon directly with the origins and growth of the summer resort hotel industry and its distinctive architecture. While focusing primarily on architecture, including such details as the personal eccentricities, habits, and pastimes of cottage owners that often led to distinctive design features, Tolles also interprets these unique dwellings in a broader context of the nation's social, cultural, and economic history.