Nearly forty elegant residences dating from the late eighteenth to the early
twentieth century are presented and from the core of this book. Each
residence is depicted in stunning color photographs along with background
information about the families who built and lived in them. These accounts
reveal the entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese as well as their social and
economic circumstances. Images and drawings from China help clarify the
cultural influences from that region, and in a few cases similar and even
closely related residences in China are also presented.