photographer Tim Fields
had a more modest ambition: to produce a photo
book on Cape May's Victorian houses in New Jer-
sey. But this August the fruits of a much grander
effort will hit area bookstores. The Secret Life of
Victorian Houses published by Elliott & Clark ($36)
is a 144-page showcase of Fields'-natural-light im-
ages of more than thirty historic homes, inns and
bed-and-breakfasts throughout the United States.
Accompanying his photos is a rich social history by
Cape May innkeepers Elan and Susan Zingman-Leith.
Fields met the authors while scouting a parlor at their
Leith Hall Historic Seashore Inn and "we ended up talk-
ing for six hours," he recalls. "Elan knew the social his-
tory of the Victorian period like the back of his hand." A
student of preservation and urban-and-intellectual his-
tory, Elan had worked for the National Register of His-
toric Places and served as deputy director of preservation
for the New York City Historic Landmarks Commission.
Co-author Susan Zingman-Leith brought skills as a re-
searcher and editor to the project. Together the couple
tells us what wallpaper, table settings, curios and furni-
ture can reveal about the middle- and upper-class Victo-
rians who inhabited the richly decorated homes in Fields'
photographs.
"Once I knew we were going to have this rich social
history, I knew I needed excellent examples of authen-
tic Victorian style, houses showing as few signs of the
20th century as possible," says Fields. "That standard
led me to museum homes and well-interpreted inns, not
the ones with the cutesy lace curtains."
He hopes The Secret Life of Victorian Houses will have
a long-term positive effect "I was impressed with how
much care and attention the curators and owners give
to these places, and what a shame it is that so many of
them don't have better local support. They were strug-
gling to keep these properties in shape. I hope the book
can help bolster support for preservations."
N THE BEGINNING,
❑
A new book by photographer Tim Fields pairs his
sumptuous images of historic Victorian houses,
excerpted here, with insights into what life was
really like within their richly decorated walls.
Victorians'
Secrets