The Decoration of Houses

The Decoration of Houses, first published in 1897, is a manual of interior design written by Edith Wharton, the famous Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, and Ogden Codman, Jr., the architect of such famous homes as The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island. In the book, the authors denounce Victorian-style interior decoration and interior design. Wharton and Codman, who met in Newport, advocated decoration and design with strong architectural wall and ceiling treatments, accentuated by well-suited furniture and rooms based on simple, classical design principles such as symmetry and proportion with a sense of architectural balance. The Decoration of Houses is a classic work by one of America’s most famous writers and one of America’s most famous architects.