This historical novel contains a description of the five significant historic homes owned by the preservation architect, Joseph Pell Lombardi. Educated as both an architect and a preservationist, Lombardi’s forty-year practice has taken him to every corner of the globe. Few people share his extensive experience with historic buildings.

His personal homes are an extraordinary collection of residential architecture spanning a time period from the tenth to the twentieth century. Over the years, Lombardi has researched, conserved, restored, period landscaped and historically furnished his houses. Their one thousand year story is explored through their historical background, construction evolution, program rational and restoration techniques.

Because of their complexity, the houses continue to be subject to further investigation and discovery and, as opportunities occur, will have additions made to their individual collections. As such, they are works in progress that will never have a completion. This book memorializes their standpoint at the beginning of the 21st century and shares with the reader Lombardi’s extraordinary adventures with them.