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Home: A Short History of an Idea

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 459 ratings · 62 reviews

Walk through five centuries of homes both great and small—from the smoke-filled manor halls of the Middle Ages to today's Ralph Lauren-designed environments—on a house tour like no other, one that delightfully explicates the very idea of "home." You'll see how social and cultural changes influenced styles of decoration and furnishing, learn the connection between wall-hung...more

Paperback, 272 pages

Published July 7th 1987 by Penguin Books (first published 1986)

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May 13, 2013 Erika RS rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book examines how the ideas of "home" and "comfort" and "domesticity" came into being and changed over the years and the relation of these ideas to technology in the home. For the most part, the book covers the period from the middle ages to the present. It is the author's claim that during this period, the home as an idea (rather than a shelter) came into being.

During the middle ages, homes contained many people who were only tenuously connected. A person's livelihood was based out of the...more This book examines how the ideas of "home" and "comfort" and "domesticity" came into being and changed over the years and the relation of these ideas to technology in the home. For the most part, the book covers the period from the middle ages to the present. It is the author's claim that during this period, the home as an idea (rather than a shelter) came into being.

During the middle ages, homes contained many people who were only tenuously connected. A person's livelihood was based out of the same building that was used for sleeping and eating, so the buildings housed servants, employees, and apprentices in addition to the family. The family itself was abbreviated because children were sent off as apprentices when they became old enough. The large household (sometimes up to 25 people), the lack of privacy due to being a place of business, and the less coherent family led to the medieval idea of home being quite different from the modern idea of home.

Over time, the ideas of home, comfort, domesticity, privacy, and intimacy started to become more common. These ideas had several sources. Eventually, where people work became more separated from where people lived; it became a distinctly different part of the same building or another building completely. Aristocrats started valuing furniture for its ability to provide comfort as well as the status or appearance it provided; these ideas eventually became more wide spread. Children stopped leaving the family to become apprentices. As industrial jobs became more common, servants were harder to find; this led to the development of technology that could allow a family to maintain a home without servants, and increased privacy. It was interesting to see how these ideas have changed over time. Like so many (more or less) historical works that focus on home life, it shows how our modern idea of the "traditional" family is actually a idea that has changed over time.

At times, Rybczynski focuses on the design home when other social factors should also be considered. He seems to think that nostalgia for past decorative and architectural styles expresses a longing for a sense of homeyness no longer present (I am with him so far) and that this lack of homeyness can be blamed on the fact that modern design (modern in the Le Corbusier sense) is not comfortable and intimate. He does not consider that the modern lack of homeyness may have less to do with any architectural style and more to do with how society has changed. Today, families tend to be more spread out geographically, people are part of many disjoint communities and have to balance them, houses are built in a cookie cutter manner that focuses on maximizing profits rather than comfort. I think lack of homeyness has less to do with the fact that there is a line of sight from the living room through the dining room to the kitchen and more to do with the fact that people plop in front of the TV when they get home from a work place where they are expected to be friends with everyone but not too close to anyone.

Overall, I really really liked this book until I got to the last two chapters. The second to last chapter was the author ranting against modern architecture in a book where it is not relevant proportional to the space devoted to it. The last chapter was a rant against "science" and definitions. Because science (behavioral psychology) has only been able to experimentally determine what comfort is not, science is of no use in defining what comfort is; we cannot hope to have any sort of general definition at all. The best we can do is define comfort as being like an onion [no please, not the onion analogy]; comfort is a complex and many layered thing, but you cannot examine it by cutting it up because then it loses its oniony nature. Instead, comfort can only be defined with vague descriptions of particular comfortable situations (comfort is a good book, a pot of tea in just the right place, and lots of comfy pillows). The author claims that this is the best we can do to define comfort, but then goes on to say that these descriptions define comfort because they address convenience, efficiency, domesticity, physical ease, privacy, and intimacy. Which is it, can we generalize or not? (Okay, that rant felt good. =)(less)

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Jul 22, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

“The notion that what is artless must be better than what is not requires a precarious leap in reasoning, but for all that it carries great weight … It is a shallow conceit. A little reflection shows that all human culture is artificial, cooking no less than music, furniture no less than painting. Why prepare time-consuming sauces when a raw fruit would suffice? Why bother with musical instruments when the voice is pleasant enough? Why paint pictures when looking at nature is satisfying? Why sit...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Tucker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

Examines the European-American evolution of the cultural concepts of privacy, comfort, and the intersection of form and function. I'd group this book as informative to ecopsychology, although the author, writing in the mid-1980s, didn't use the term.

The author admits that comfort "is an invention--a cultural artifice. Like all cultural ideas--childhood, family, gender--it has a past, and it cannot be understood without reference to its specific history. One-dimensional, technical definitions of...more Examines the European-American evolution of the cultural concepts of privacy, comfort, and the intersection of form and function. I'd group this book as informative to ecopsychology, although the author, writing in the mid-1980s, didn't use the term.

The author admits that comfort "is an invention--a cultural artifice. Like all cultural ideas--childhood, family, gender--it has a past, and it cannot be understood without reference to its specific history. One-dimensional, technical definitions of comfort, which ignore history, are bound to be unsatisfactory." (p. 230) Where people struggle for mere survival, comfort is beside the point. Where there is something that might be called a standard of living, people do tend to make themselves what we know as "comfortable," but not everyone has thought about comfort the way we think of it today, informed as we are by advertisements and so forth. "People in the Middle Ages did not altogether lack comfort, as I have tried to show. Their homes were neither rustic nor crude, nor should we imagine that the persons inhabiting them did so without pleasure. But what comfort there was was never explicit. What our medieval ancestors did lack was the awareness of comfort as an objective idea." (pp. 31-32)

He believes that today we have not integrated our domestic technology with our sense of comfort. It is a subtle point: technology is useful, but not necessarily calming and pleasing in a way that appeals artistically or gels with our sense of self. Quote: "With the introduction of devices such as the gasolier and the vent duct a rift appeared between the mainly visual approach of decorators and the primarily mechanical approach of the engineers. As we shall see, with time this rift widened and contributed to a schizophrenic attitude toward domestic comfort that still troubles us." (pp. 147-148) And again: "One might have expected the various inventions that contributed to human comfort at the turn of the century to have had a profound impact on the appearance of the home. Surprisingly, this was not the case." (p. 173)

This is much closer to what I'd hoped Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life would be about. Bryson's book focused more on the architecture and technology of houses, whereas Rybczynski weaves these subjects into his reflections on privacy and comfort that make up the core of the book.(less)

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May 29, 2011 Vasha7 rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a short book, written in a style as comfortable as its subject matter. I'm sure that Rybczynski is not the first person to have written on this subject; nonetheless, it's good to have a work for a popular audience that covers the deceptively simple-seeming idea : what is "hominess"? Although I knew in the abstract that the ways people use their living spaces has changed, still, I was surprised by having the development of privacy, intimacy, and domesticity pointed out. Rybczynski's treat...more This is a short book, written in a style as comfortable as its subject matter. I'm sure that Rybczynski is not the first person to have written on this subject; nonetheless, it's good to have a work for a popular audience that covers the deceptively simple-seeming idea : what is "hominess"? Although I knew in the abstract that the ways people use their living spaces has changed, still, I was surprised by having the development of privacy, intimacy, and domesticity pointed out. Rybczynski's treatment of the historical developments largely rejects sweeping theoretical explanations (based on universalizations of psychology or economy for example) -- although he clearly has read some of the theorists -- and instead favors discussion of contingent local circumstances. I found this congenial to my own way of thinking about historiography; still, I suspect that something like this might make a basis for reading more theoretically-oriented works.

One way that the author's own background (he's an architect) contributed to the book is in his understanding of the institutional forces involved in the building and furnishing of houses. His discussion of why innovations like running water and central heating took so long to be adopted in 19th-century houses even after they were available centers on the division of labor between architects and interior decorators: neither considered themselves responsible for the mechanical aspects of the house, and so those fell into the cracks. The author also points out (importantly) that it was only when the people using the house the most -- the women -- insisted on being involved in planning and designing that improvements were made, starting with Catherine Beecher's pioneering books in the 1840s and continuing with the huge contributions of the "domestic engineers" such as Christine Frederick and Lillian Gilbreth in the early 20th century.

The last two chapters concern the twentieth century, and what went wrong when home design began to be ruled by Modernism, which created spaces that were fashionable and unmistakably new, but which no-one liked to live in. He pointed out that there was an explicit moral crusade among Modernist architects that people were not supposed to be comfortable in modern spaces -- luxury and ease were anti-modern values. Yet these theorists did not succeed in changing the culture. In the middle ages, people accepted uncomfortable houses without privacy because that was the nature of the culture of the time; but the new concepts became widespread 300 years ago, and have not gone away yet. In other words, architecture cannot by itself shape culture.

One thing that Rybczynski does not mention, but I wonder about -- could it be that Modernist architecture and home design were a rejection, not just of "bourgeois" values, but of all things associated with "femininity"? That occurred to me in the discussion of Art Deco -- the way writers of the time described it was as highly feminine; and it was also the last major style that was comfortable (though not "cozy" in its more luxurious manifestations). By the 1920s, men in many professions were feeling threatened by encroachment of women; perhaps architects felt the need to assert control over the domestic environment and erase traces of "femininity".

Though this book is just a small overview, it provides good food for thought.(less)

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Jan 18, 2010 Jenifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Starting in the 1500's and moving pretty quickly forward, the author explores how and when the idea of comfort in the home became possible and came about. This was pretty interesting to me, but Rybczynski is no Malcom Gladwell. The subject matter is thoroughly researched and well presented, but not a lot of fun. Also, there are a lot of paragraphs about chairs. And later there are a bunch more. Paragraphs about chairs.

the author stated at the beginning that this is not an interior design book,...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Adamstrohm added it

I'm a fan of Rybczynski's architecture writing in Slate, so I figured I'd check this out. A history of the home as it has been defined over the centuries, this book not only builds a cohesive arc from the middle ages to the 1980s, it is brimming with all sorts of historical facts and antidotes that, at times, can be more interestingthat Rybczynski's overall point. As the book reaches its final chapters, Rybczynski begins to make some more critical statements, mainly in terms of the lack of archi...more

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Jun 29, 2009 Rick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Witold Rybczynski’s HOME: A SHORT HISTORY OF AN IDEA traces the development of the idea of “home” from the medieval period to the present.

In the middle ages, the interiors of homes were primarily public and ceremonial spaces, but that concept eventually changes as notions of privacy and intimacy develop. Over time, gradually developing ideas of domesticity and a sense of family, convenience, comfort, and efficiency change our perceptions of home.

In the beginning era of this history, for example,...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Tristan Bridges rated it 5 of 5 stars

My dad recommended this book to me. It was written a while ago, but it's a fascinating look at how the concept of "home" emerged throughout architectural history. It has a Eurocentric bias, but it's a really astounding amount of information and it's written extremely well. Rybcyznski makes you really care about furniture and why it changed and when. He does a great job illustrating how homes transformed as the people living in them changed. So, for instance, chairs began to be designed for comfo...more

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Mar 28, 2013 TinHouseBooks rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-we-love

Cheston Knapp (Managing editor of Tin House): For the past few years my wife and I have flown back east to spend Christmas with my parents, on their twenty-ish acre farm in rural Virginia. But this year we decided to stay put, have it at our house in Portland. We resolved to start traditions of our own. We got a tree and decorated it, made cookies and decorated them. We lit fires, lounged by them. We did this thing with the stockings and garland I won’t tell you about. And while we never fully s...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: design-architecture

Rybczynski chooses a seemingly boundless topic and communicates it with a thoughtful series of essay-like chapters. He begins in the Middle Ages and works his way up to modern times using significant themes of each period, also including period-paintings of home life in his discussion.

At no point does the book seem like an encyclopedia or catalogue, which is the tendency for so many other books on this topic. It was enjoyable to read the chapters of this book in the same way I might read an art...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Carmen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthropology, non-fiction

This book was a recommended read for my introduction to interior design class, and I have to say I really enjoyed reading it. For the most part, the book is a historical overview of the idea of the home in Europe and America, which is really fascinating. The author focuses on a single idea, such as comfort or efficiency, for every chapter, which makes the amount of information easier to digest. It is not until the last two chapters that it becomes more about the author's opinion on comfort, whic...more

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May 29, 2012 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a freshman in college, I read a chapter of this book that provocatively addressed the lack of privacy in the home a few hundred years ago. I always wanted to read the rest of the book, and I finally picked it up over 15 years later; Rybczynski did not disappoint. Tracing the changing concept of home from a multi-tasking shelter to the modern haunt of our most intimate desires, dreams, and nostalgia, the author provides a concise but thorough exploration of the development of the private home....more

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Feb 11, 2008 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars

May be of interest to househunters trying to envision what their happy home to be might want to be. It’s basically a selective history of the concepts of home and comfort, related to changing forms of the family, over the last four or five hundred years. It’s full of interesting factoids, probably ultimately of less significance than Rybczynski had hoped, but he’s a good writer and charming (a hair too warm and fuzzy for me). It’s a light, easy and pleasant read. It didn’t leave me with anything...more

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May 27, 2011 Amy Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-read-to-think, art-culture, non-fiction, own, histories, history-of-emotions

Really great history of the development of the idea of home. I was fascinated by the emotional development across time. One of the best chapters was on the Dutch and how much their culture has influenced our ideas on privacy and simplicity. I also loved the discussion of chairs and what makes a comfortable chairs; the 18th c. French perfected the design and it has never been improved on. The one idea I did not hear was the acknowledgment of how the imperfect can make home even more dear. At the...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Sunkist and Mango rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book as a requirement for an art history course about American architectural home design.

As the subtitle says, it's the history of an idea. Rybczynski explains the development of "home", as different time periods have conceived of it, from Middle Ages to Modern.

He also writes a wonderful blog:
http://www.witoldrybczynski.com/

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Jan 02, 2012 JFN rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book on the recommendation of my partner who said that this, along with one other, were the two books that have most influenced his thinking. Considering that and a writing project Im working on related to the topic, I figured I'd better read this. And I'm so glad I did.

I've read Rybczynski before and knew his prose was fluid and flawless, so that was no surprise. What has been a surprise, I guess, is how much this book has stayed in my thoughts in the weeks since I began reading it...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a book I thought I might write someday but in fact is already written by someone else. It has plenty of examples without getting bogged down in any particular period of history (doesn't go much further back than medieval ages) and is very readable. It's primarily about the ideal of comfort as the home's central purpose.

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Jun 18, 2012 Trish is currently reading it

Picked it up at a used book sale...first few pages are interesting if a tad disjointed...am intrigued by how the author paints ideas that we consider fundamental (home, furniture, privacy) as learned behavior that did not exist in the middle ages in europe and may not exist in other civilizations in existence today.

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Sep 09, 2012 Kyle Deas rated it 4 of 5 stars

A cozy book; reading it is almost a zenlike experience. You'll be amused without ever quite knowing why. It should be boring, but somehow it isn't. I felt like this the whole time I was reading it.

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Dec 30, 2011 Mellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: readingmyunreadbooks

This book is a historical review of the concept of home and related concepts such as comfort and privacy in the western world. I loved reading this book. Many times while reading it I turned to my husband and said, "Did you know that..." For example, the first most popular electrical device after lighting...? An electric iron. Another: at the turn of the century water-powered home appliances were available including vacuum cleaners. This book made me think about the way my house is constructed a...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Julie H. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: architecture, non-fiction

This book is amazing and makes my Top 10 desert island reading list. It's the most entertaining, readable, and comprehensive look at domestic architecture in the U.S. The fact that he even includes Ralph Lauren's lifestyle marketing in the discussion simply sealed the deal.

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May 10, 2009 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book as been on my desk for over 3 years, and I opened it midweek to see what I thought. So far I am fascinated by it -- and really enjoying the social history aspect of it. More to follow.

...

And so I finished it, some time ago but forgot to update here. I admit, I found the historical treatment of the "home" more interesting than the modern or contemporary treatment. And, I have to imagine, that results in large part from the fact that in the modern notion of home, we have so little that r...more

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May 10, 2013 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was really interesting! It traces the concept of the home back to medieval times (mainly focusing on european tradition). It chronicles in a fascinating way how many aspects of the modern home came to be. It was a great read for a new home owner!

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Feb 18, 2010 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very interesting book about the evolution of domestic living over the centuries and the idea of comfort in Western cultures. I just joined a new book club, and this was the selection. I would never have encountered it otherwise, but I'm glad I did.

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Jan 31, 2012 Osho rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of those books I know I read right when it came out, and liked, and probably thought I'd noted on Goodreads, but apparently did not. I enjoy Rybczynski and should probably see what he's written since the last time I looked.

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Mar 23, 2009 Tonya rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book took me a while to read...only a few of us are crazy enough to read a book that essentially amounts to the history of the chair :-) Interesting read, just slow.

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Jan 10, 2008 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club-reads

An interesting study of how the idea of (the Western) home has evolved over time. It is largely focused on Europe and the United States. I especially appreciated the part about Catherine Beecher and her contemporaries, applying management principles to the design and function of the home -- they predate Susanka's The Not So Big House by over 100 years. There was also some interesting gender stuff in there -- about how when women really were the mistress of their domain (the home), the home was s...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Serena rated it 5 of 5 stars

An absolutely brilliant book that I return to read (in sections) regularly. By learning how we use our houses, we can learn more about who we are.

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Oct 05, 2008 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As usual, Rybczynski manages to give an intelligent overview of a scholarly subject without oversimplifying. Includes a good, reasoned riposte against modern furniture that is aesthetically pleasing but uncomfortable, though it’s a bit dated; I would like to see an updated version that considers household technology scholarship that came after this book's initial publication, like Susan Strasser’s works and Ruth Schwartz Cowan’s "More Work for Mother." It would also be interesting to see him inc...more

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Nov 23, 2008 A. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, historyoftheworld

Not the book I was expecting, but an easily readable history of the architecture and furniture of homes and houses.

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About Witold Rybczynski

Witold Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh, of Polish parentage, raised in London, and attended Jesuit schools in England and Canada. He studied architecture at McGill University in Montreal, where he also taught for twenty years. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also co-edits the Wharton Real Estate Review. Rybczynski has...more

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