Books: Gimme Shelter House

by Tracy Kidder Houghton Mifflin; 341 pages; $17.95

Thomas Jefferson, author of our blueprint for independence and designer of Monticello and the University of Virginia, said it confidently: "Architecture is my delight, and putting up, and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements." Heirs to the Palladian vision are more subdued. The modern couple who decide to build a house had better check their marital foundations first. For his part, the architect must patiently extract straight lines from his clients' tangled desires. He must also establish a working truce with his natural enemy, the builder. Then there is the money, probably the largest amount most people will ever spend...

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