Wolfe & McKenzie was the most prolific and one of the most prominent architectural firms practicing in San Jose during the first decade of the twentieth century. They designed hundreds of homes throughout Northern California and did more than any other architects to define the residential character of San Jose during its transition from the Victorian to the modern era. In 1907 Wolfe & McKenzie published their Book of Designs, a pattern book that featured 102 buildings that had been built over the previous twelve years.
 
In Cottages, Flats, Buildings and Bungalows: 102 Designs from Wolfe & McKenzie, 1907, architectural historian George Espinola reproduces the photographs and accompanying floor plans from the original Book of Designs, identifies the locations of the buildings, and recounts the history of who built and lived in these houses. The original plan sequence has been rearranged to present the designs in a more meaningful order, one that illustrates the evolution of their work from some of Frank Wolfe's solo commissions of the 1890s to some Arts & Crafts inspired houses finished just weeks before the book was published. Cottages, Flats, Buildings and Bungalows is both an insightful introduction to the Wolfe & McKenzie style and a wonderful snapshot of what was turn-of-the-century San Jose.
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