Library Research Guide for American Material Culture

Houses and homes: exploring their history, by Barbara J. Howe et al. Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History, 1987, 168 p.
Loeb Design | E180 .H68 1987
Widener | Harvard Depository | E180 .H68 1987

The houses we live in: an identification guide to the history and style of American domestic architecture, ed. by Jeffery Howe. San Diego, Calif. : Thunder Bay Press, 2002, 448 p.
HOLLIS Record

Selling the dwelling : the books that built America's houses, 1775-2000 / Richard Cheek. New York : Grolier Club, 2013. 286 p.
Widener | WID-LC | NA7205 .C44 2013x F

The language of cities; a glossary of terms, by Charles Abrams.. NY: Viking Press, 1971, 365 p.
Loeb Design | NAC 190 Ab83
Widener | Soc 576.171

The urban politics dictionary, by John W. Smith, John S. Klemanski. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 1990, 613 p.
Widener | WID-LC | JS48 .S65 1990

Building Technology Heritage Library (BTHL) offers American and Canadian, pre-1964 architectural trade catalogs, house plan books and technical building guides. Information 

Trade Catalogs – A Guide to Architectural Collections 

Ball State University Digital Media Repository: Architectural Trade Catalogs collection

Reiff, Daniel D. Houses from books: treatise, pattern books, and catalogs in American architecture, 1738-1950: a history and guide (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000)

Culbertson, Margaret, "Mail-order architecture: Plan books and American house design," in Consumer culture and the American home, 1890-1930 (Beaumont, TX: McFaddin-Ward House, 1988); pp. 65-69.

Museums & Historic Structures Includes Historic House Museums

Historic American Buildings Survey/ Historic American Engineering Record

Digital Archive of American Architecture - Boston College

Cities and Buildings Database - UW Libraries Digital