A History of Homebuilders from Early Modern to Modern Times provides a diachronic account of homebuilders' more than 500 years history in the Anglosphere nations of the U.S., Britain, Canada, and Australia. The comparative absence of individual homebuilders' histories in the literature, despite builders' importance in providing our dwellings and over 70% of our entire urban built environments, is surprising. Part One introduces homebuilders from several perspectives. These are useful for evaluating the homebuilders' whose histories are presented in Part Two, and in providing a balanced understanding of homebuilders and the societal value of what they do. The actual, albeit brief, histories of mainly large homebuilders for more than 500 years in Part II, supply historians with some particulars of homebuilder attitudes, practices, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in how they operated over the centuries, with a modest trending to community building rather than just housebuilding. Part Three specifically focuses on the following evolutionary changes in homebuilding practices: 1) increasing standardization of dwelling components, 2) increasingly institutionalized sources of financial assistance, and 3) changes in production scale. Three technical appendices on dates of homebuilder 'firsts' in practices; in conceptualizing housing markets; and some government regulations, follow, with a fourth appendix on homebuilders' organizational changes over the centuries.
William C. Baer is emeritus professor of policy, planning, and development at the University of Southern California's Price School of Public Policy.
List of Tables and Figures Foreword, Richard Peiser Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: Overview of Homebuilders and Society Chapter One: Background on Housing and Homebuilders Chapter Two: Commonalities in Homebuilding Down Through the Centuries Chapter Three: The Perplexing Homebuilder Setting Chapter Four: Homebuilders' Creative Performances Chapter Five: Homebuilders' Calling, Origins, and Dispositions Part Two: Homebuilders' Histories Chapter Six: Preamble to Homebuilders in Early Modern times Chapter Seven: Homebuilders in Early Modern London and America Chapter Eight: Homebuilding in Eighteenth Century Britain and the U.S. Chapter Nine: The Nineteenth Century's Start of Mass Homebuilding in Britain, and Homebuilding in Its Colonies Chapter Ten: Nineteenth-Century Mass Homebuilding in the United States Chapter Eleven: Anglosphere Homebuilders, 1900-1950 Chapter Twelve: Anglosphere Homebuilders, 1951-2000 Part Three: Homebuilding Trends Chapter Thirteen: Advances in Standardization of Housing Components Chapter Fourteen: Progress in Homebuilder Financing, yet Continuing Bankruptcies Chapter Fifteen: Evolving Scale of Homebuilders' Production Conclusion: What the Future Portends for Anglosphere Housing Shortages in Light of the Past Appendix One: 'Firsts' in Homebuilding Practices Appendix Two: 'Firsts' in Conceptualizations for Housing Market Analysis Appendix Three: 'Firsts' in Selected Government Interventions Appendix 4: Basic Historical Organizations for Homebuilding References About the Author
