Beginning with the Pennsylvania Railroad’s development of the Main Line in the Gilded Age of the 1870s and continuing through the frenetic years of the Roaring Twenties, The Main Line records the successful efforts to establish the region as the paradigm of aristocratic country life in democratic America and documents the architectural evolution of the American country dwelling from Victorian gargoyle to domestic ideal.

Illustrated with nearly 300 vintage and contemporary photographs, plans, and drawings, the thoroughly researched text by Main Line native William Morrison features the works of renowned residential designers including Wilson Eyre, Mellor & Meigs, Addison Mizner, R. Brognard Okie, Peabody & Stearns, Charles Adams Platt, and Horace Trumbauer. In a departure from conventional practices, The Main Line focuses upon the clients who built these opulent country seats—the railroad, iron, and coal barons and investment bankers who transformed an unimportant rural backwater into an elegant and exclusive residential district.

A fascinating architectural and social journey that sheds new light upon a little-known period in American history, The Main Line features a thoughtful introductory essay by practicing architect and preservationist Mark Alan Hewitt and biographies of the major designers and builders responsible for these remarkable buildings.