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What if a beautiful room begins not with what you add, but with the walls around you?
In The Decoration of Houses, Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman challenge rooms crowded with heavy curtains, patterned fabrics and knickknacks. Their practical guide puts architecture first: walls, doors, windows and proportions should shape a room before furnishings enter it. Against the fashion of their day, they make a clear case for restraint rather than a pile of decorative objects.
Their models come from houses in Italy, France and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. From entrance halls and staircases to fireplaces, ceilings and floors, they ask how each part serves the whole. The question is not simply what looks attractive, but what makes a room restful, gives it character and helps it suit its purpose.
What you’ll discover
- A room's good bones Learn why the authors place architectural structure ahead of upholstery, ornament and crowded furnishings.
- The quiet of proportion Explore their belief that restful rooms depend on the relationships between their parts.
- Walls that set character Look closely at how walls, doors and windows establish the character of a room.
- A place for every purpose Consider entrance halls and staircases through the first impression they give a visitor.
- Ornament in its place Discover a restrained approach to furniture, pictures and small objects that keeps architecture in view.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you love old houses, notice how a room feels the moment you enter, or plan to build, restore or rearrange a home and want clear reasons behind good taste.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A room begins with its architecture
- Originality grows from understanding tradition
- Proportion gives a style its character
- Comfort should guide the room plan
- Balance can bend to serve comfort
- Openings should preserve privacy and light
- The room frame deserves careful attention
- Give each room a clear purpose
- Restraint keeps the whole room coherent
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The Decoration of Houses
by Edith Wharton; Ogden Codman · 1897
Two authors argue a room's beauty lies in its doors, walls and cornices, not in the drapery piled on top.
Challenging2–5 hours to read20 languages
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In short
Why do so many rooms feel wrong, even after money is spent on curtains, cushions and ornaments? Edith Wharton and the architect Ogden Codman answer that the fault lies deeper.
The Decoration of Houses at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 45 min3 h fast, 4 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 54,000 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1897by Edith Wharton; Ogden Codman
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A room's architecture is its decoration
In the Middle Ages life was unsafe and people moved often, so decoration had to be portable. Bare walls were hung with arras, and cloth stretched under the roof timbers served as a ceiling.
As life grew more secure and classical ideas travelled north from Italy, proportion became the chief decorative value of an interior. Hangings gave way to architectural features, so the room's architecture became its decoration. That habit held until the second quarter of the nineteenth century.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1897
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Wharton, Edith, and Ogden Codman. The Decoration of Houses. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-decoration-of-houses.
Wharton, E., & Codman, O. (2026). The decoration of houses. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-decoration-of-houses (Original work published 1897)
Wharton, Edith, and Ogden Codman. The Decoration of Houses. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-decoration-of-houses.
@book{wharton2026decoration,
author = {Wharton, Edith and Codman, Ogden},
title = {The Decoration of Houses},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-decoration-of-houses},
note = {First published 1897}
}
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What is The Decoration of Houses about?
It argues that good interiors come from architecture, meaning proportion, well-placed doors, windows and fireplaces, and plain walls, rather than from piled-on ornament. It then applies the idea to each room of the house, from entrance to nursery.
Who wrote The Decoration of Houses and when?
Edith Wharton and the architect Ogden Codman wrote it, and it appeared in 1897. It was one of the first books of its kind in English to treat interior decoration as a branch of architecture.
What does proportion mean in this book?
Proportion is the balance between solid walls and empty openings, and between the parts of a room. The authors say a room's style depends on it, so ornament alone cannot give a room its character.
The author
Edith Wharton
1862–1937 · American novelist
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American writer and designer born in New York City. She later lived in France, where she died. Her books include The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), and The Age of Innocence (1920). She co-wrote The Decoration of Houses with Ogden Codman Jr. in 1897.
More by Edith Wharton; Ogden Codman
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