ABOUT PETER JOEL HARRISON

How It All Began

In 1979, Peter Joel Harrison moved from New York City with his wife to Raleigh, North Carolina, to start a family. "We bought a lovely two story white colonial with black shutters." Harrison realized his new home needed a fence; a colonial house, a colonial fence. As a designer, it was important to him that the yard fit the style of the house, which meant finding books that would illustrate American colonial landscapes.

"Simple," Harrison thought. Off to the local bookshops: NO BOOK. The local libraries: again, NO BOOK. Undaunted and in much need he went to the state university library where they taught Landscape Architecture. Harrison found two books written about the history and theory of American landscaping, but he didn't need words, he needed illustrations. Where were the books? "I had to build a fence. My wife was now pregnant. I drove to Colonial Williamsburg and visited the Foundation's library; again finding nothing printed that illustrated the pictorial details I needed." It was now quite clear to him that no one had ever documented these important American details. He went out to the restoration and photographed everything he saw.

For twelve years, with zeal bordering on compulsion, Peter Joel Harrison scouted out historic sites, viewing over 549 from Maine to Georgia. "Pretty soon I had boxes of pictures. They were stacked to the ceiling, hundreds of them. One evening in early August 1992 I went out with the dog to walk and pray." It came to Harrison that perhaps he could create the missing pattern books he had so longed for and needed (Learn about Peter Joel Harrison's Faith).

"In the warm months, I traveled. In the winter, I drew." Harrison self published Fences in 1993, Brick Pavement in 1994, and Gazebos in 1995. "In the beginning, I intended to create a series of pattern books devoted to the 18th century to help those like myself engaged in the noble art of building. But while working on Gazebos, I discovered I could not fit the word gazebo on the spine horizontally as was the case with old texts I admired. So I added a sixth chapter on Gothic styles. It was well received. As a result, I began to expand the series."

Peter Joel Harrison, designer of interiors and landscapes, is dedicated to documenting architectural details of the 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. His work has been published in numerous magazines, including Old House Journal, This Old House, Bob Vila's American Home, American Home Style & Gardening, House Beautiful , Cape Cod Life, Early American Life, Garden Design, and Landscape Architecture. His work was a valued source for Warner Brothers' release The Bridges of Madison County, and is part of many fine libraries, including Buckingham Palace, as wells as Duke, Harvard and Yale Universities.