"Big house, little house, back house, barn"- this rhythmic cadence was sung by nineteenth-century children as they played. It also portrays the four essential components of the farms where many of them lived. The stately and beautiful connected farm buildings made by nineteenth-century New Englanders stand today as a living expression of a rural culture, offering insights into the people who made them and the lives they led there.

Architect and professor Thomas C. Hubka provides in a single source a detailed architectural analysis, generously illustrated with drawings and photographs. "Working from his solid knowledge of how the buildings were made and used, Hubka challenges popular assumptions about their origin, postulating that these buildings were primarily constructed during the nineteenth century in response to progressive farming ideas. To support his view, Hubka examines in detail the complete building history of several farmers and shows how their buildings achieved their connected form during the nineteenth century. A visual delight as well as an engaging tribute to our nineteenth-century forebears, this book will become one of the standard works on regional farmsteads in America.

Thomas C. Hubka taught architecture for fifteen years at the University of Oregon where he was an associate professor. He has also written about American vernacular buildings and architectural design method. He is currently practicing architecture in Portland, Maine.