Mastering Tradition: The Residential Architecture of John Russell Pope, Acanthus Press, 2004

The Residential Architecture of John Russell Pope highlights the extraordinary houses of one of the 20th century’s most prolific architects. John Russell Pope (1873 – 1937) was an architect of tradition and a master of proportion, massing, and scale. Drawing on a personal palette rich in historic precedents from ancient Greece to colonial America, Pope created original and refined designs that embodied the aspirations of the United States as an emerging world power. Both his private and public workâ “which includes the National Gallery of Art and the Thomas Jefferson Memorialâ “possess a poise and confidence that emanated from a disciplined approach to architectural design formed by his experiences at home and abroad. In the brief span of 35 years, Pope and his office designed several hundred buildings and monuments, including over 100 houses. His residential work spans a wide array of styles, and comprises vast estatesâ “with integrated ensembles of living, work, and leisure buildingsâ “town houses, country retreats, and a series of jewel-like mausoleums. The common thread running through all his work is a total mastery of the design vocabulary. In this first comprehensive and lavishly illustrated survey of his residential work, author James Garrison delves into Pope’s design sources and methods, and demonstrates how an apparently diverse body of work is related to the common theme of mastering tradition.