Bucks County is about as good as it gets if you want to live in a largely unspoiled historic rural area and yet close to the culture, excitement and employment of Philly, the Big Apple and Central Jersey. Messrs. Marshall and Rivinus have captured the historic vernacular rural architecture of their bucolic area in 82 pages of stunning photography and accompanying descriptive text. The reader takes a colorful tour de horizon and along the way receives a primer beginning with "What is a Barn?" that continues to timber frame joinery, identification of barn types, and a glossary of traditional terms and bibliography. Marshall and Rivinus confirm their commitment to barn preservation by having respectively saved their own barn and adapting a historic barn to a personal office. Holiday gifting is approaching and this is a good choice for either the veteran Barn Hugger, or that individual who loves the Americana of covered bridges, lighthouses and New England churches and has yet to discover vernacular rural architecture. Barns of Bucks County, Marshall & Rivinus, is available by mail from Jeffrey L. Marshall, 398 Washington Crossing Road, Newtown, PA 18940 at $19.95 plus $ 2.20 postage.

For additional information you can go to www.barnsofbuckscounty.com

Review by Charles Leik. Posted January 5, 2008.