Add to ORKGThe text examines the influence of balloon frame construction as part of the increasing use of industrial methods and transportation on the development of rural life. Peterson shows particular skill in understanding the process of initial settlement and the gradual adaptations and extension to the dwellings that occur as the farm and its family enlarge and become more successful. He explains in detail how the methods of balloon framing assisted these purposes and enabled families to make dwellings that suited their practical needs and moral and aesthetic choices. He also shows how the influence of architects\u27 pattern books and builders\u27 and farmers\u27 journals influenced the form of the dwellings, drawing on inhabitants\u27 letters a...