At Home in New Zealand - Houses, History, People By Barbara Brookes. SIGNED

SIGNED. At Home in New Zealand - Houses, History, People By Barbara Brookes (Edited by).

Publisher: Bridget Williams Books 2000. FIRST EDITION. SIGNED BY AUTHOR with an inscription to previous owner. Near new softback.

This book explores the idea of home - inside and out, materially, ideologically, and even morally - from the mid-nineteenth century through to the development of state housing in the 1930s. Is the house a physical structure or is it a home and a place of emotional intimacy? Is the New Zealand idea of home still a detached house, surrounded by garden - flowers in the front, vegetables out back, often weatherboard with a painted corrugated iron roof? All of the essays uncover new dimensions in the meaning of the central word 'home' and the issues that notion encompasses - work, pleasure, style, feeling, and even the creation of a national culture. 256 pages with photos.