He writes on art and culture, and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, commentary, and the New Criterion. His books include Frank Furness: Architecture and the Violent Mind (W. W. Norton, 2001) and The Gothic Revival (Thames and Hudson, 2002). His book August Reichensperger: The Politics of the
German Gothic Revival (Architectural History Foundation, 1993) received the Society of Architectural Historians' Alice Davis Hitchcock award for the best book of the year. He has been at Williams since 1993.