"Oh, what a luxuriously gorgeous book this is."

Flyoverland (blog) reviews Larry Millett's ONCE THERE WERE CASTLES.

Millett_Once coverOnce There Were Castles by Larry Millett. Oh, what a luxuriously gorgeous book this is. It'd be a shame to classify it as either history or architecture, because for many people (um, me) that might make it sound dry. Instead, this is a sumptuous, wallow-around-in-it kind of book, especially if you're a fan of old-style mansions from long ago. I am; I love any excuse to drive along Summit Avenue in St. Paul and various spots in Minneapolis, seeing the grand dames of great days gone by. But I never realized how many more there were, once upon a time, until I had a chance to peruse this coffee-table-sized book.

Author Millett has done considerable research, learning about these lost mansions, who they belonged to, and why they're gone. It's not always a case of "knock down the house to build something modern." Sometimes houses were torn down to build even bigger houses; sometimes they were moved when owners decided to use that particular piece of property for other reasons, such as commercial.

Plus there are the architectural oddities: who knew that octagon-shaped houses were once in fashion?

But this book is really enhanced by the photographic evidence. Those of my readers who have been to Seven Corners in St. Paul, does this look even remotely familiar?

Keep reading.

Published in: Flyoverland
By: Amy Rea