Building Ohio

Jane ware's Second Volume of Building Ohio, subtitled A Traveler's Guide to Ohio's Rural Architecture, is a wonderfully anecdotal revelation of the buildings found in the state's smaller cities and towns, as well as the countryside itself. This is the architecture born of Ohio's great and optimistic pre-1920s energy when the state was near the apex of America's wealth and importance. At some moment in the past, virtually every place in Ohio had money and some of it ended up in buildings, writes Ms. Ware.And so she demonstrates, taking us on a tour that includes churches, schools, factories, castles, frat houses, railroad stations, hog barns, and at least one water treatment plant. We meet the world's only female ironmaster, see Philip Johnson's tool shed, and visit Dave Longaberger's seven-story basket with the 70-ton handles. Building Ohio is filled with stone masons, carpenters, groundkeepers, activists, rehabbers, founders, donors, even a boiler attendant.Ms. Ware's book, the product of eight years plumbing the architectural nooks of Ohio, details the remarkable built landscape of Ohio and the people who left us such a rich heritage. Their work is monumental art, buildings to give us pause -- and to instruct and soothe us with their timeless beauty.