Summer School instructor Kerry Dean Carso points out some of the unique architecture in Boston's North End to her class. Behind her is the Paul Revere House (erected circa 1680), which was rebuilt in the mid-18th century and restored by Joseph Chandler in 1907-1908. Photo by Rose Lincoln

The Boston area is steeped in American history and as the nation has grown, so have its buildings, from wooden-framed colonial-era homes to public buildings of brick and stone to skyscrapers soaring over the city skyline.

Navigating the city streets this summer is a group of about 50 Harvard Summer School students and their instructor, Kerry Dean Carso, who is teaching a course on Boston architecture (HARC S-183) at the Summer School.

Carso is guiding the students not just through the streets, however. Her tours take students through a veritable architecture hall of fame – including structures designed by such notables as Charles Bulfinch, I.M. Pei, and H.H. Richardson.

"I think the most interesting thing is that in studying the history of Boston architecture, you’re really studying the history of American architecture," Carso said. "You touch on some of the best architects in America."

The Architecture of Boston may be an ideal summer course. Classes alternate between lectures and outdoor tours, so every other class is spent outside looking at buildings that are examples of architectural themes discussed in the previous lecture.

"The walking tours are great, and I’m really excited about that," said Alexandria Masud, a class member and third-year student at Suffolk University Law School. Masud wants to use her law degree to specialize in museums and museum management. To help her reach that goal, she’s enrolled in a master of museum science certificate program through the Harvard Extension School.

During a recent lecture preceding a tour of the North End and Dock Square, Carso gave students a crash course in the architecture of colonial Boston.

The architectural styles of the time, Carso told them, were largely borrowed from England and reflected the post-medieval period with overhung second floors, asymmetrical placement of the windows and doors, and a centrally placed chimney to conserve heat.

Wood-framed houses were abundant because of the large supply of building material in New England’s thick forests. Even today, New England’s sturdy oak post and beam homes, built on foundations rather than right on the ground, have survived better than wooden homes built in the same period in the southern colonies.

Along with the analysis of the structures themselves, the course paints a picture of everyday life in America. Students look at not just what was built and how, but also why it was built and by whom.

The wooden colonial homes reflect harsh winters amid a forested landscape and structures from the more ornate Georgian Period reflect the nation’s growing wealth. As the nation grew, a budding civic pride spurred thought about design and decoration, resulting in brick structures that are notable even today, such as Boston’s Old State House.

The course takes students from the colonial period through the centuries as Boston grew from a small town on the end of the narrow Shawmut peninsula to a major city, much of which is sitting on the filled wetlands that once defined that peninsula.

The walking tours give students a view of the North End and Dock Square, Beacon Hill, Mount Auburn Cemetery, the Back Bay, and Harvard University.

A recent tour took students through Boston’s Beacon Hill to look at everything from the obvious – the Massachusetts State House – to the often overlooked – the kiosks housing the stairs to the Park Street T-stop, which were built in 1897 as an original part of the Boston subway system, which is the nation’s oldest.

The tour continued along Beacon Hill, stopping at churches and monuments, public buildings and homes. Students were enthusiastic, chatting quietly on the walks between stops and then listening attentively as Carso or a graduate student described a building, pointing out unique and significant features.

"We might cover more ground if we just were sitting in class, but you remember more [by actually seeing the buildings]," said Lee Noel Chase, a graduate student in the course who delivered a lecture about the Boston Athenaeum.

Carso picked up her love of architecture while an undergraduate here and wrote her undergraduate thesis on architectural space in literature. She said her favorite building in the Boston area is on the Harvard campus – Memorial Hall.

Carso, who graduated with an English literature concentration in 1992, taught a similar Boston architecture course as an adjunct professor at Simmons College last fall.

Describing herself as a "lifelong Bostonian," Carso grew up in Everett, Mass. She first gained an appreciation for architecture when she took a history of art and architecture class at Harvard. Family lore claims as an ancestor Gridley J. Fox Bryant, who in the 19th century co-designed the old Boston City Hall on School Street.

One of the appeals of studying architecture, she said, is that it allows one to see the layering of history in buildings. The Paul Revere House in Boston’s North End, for example, is the oldest wood-framed structure in Boston. Built circa 1680, it was already 100 years old when Paul Revere lived there.

Over the years, a third story was added to the Revere house and later removed during a restoration in the early part of this century. The house also had a variety of uses besides being a residence, including being used as a cigar factory and a tenement house.

"I want students to learn about styles and the history of architecture, but I really want them to appreciate the built environment around them and appreciate what they see," Carso said.

Students in the course have a variety of backgrounds. Many are undergraduates, at Harvard and other colleges, but there are also high school students seeking advanced placement, graduate students, and others from the general community. Students also come from all over the United States as well as from as far away as Ukraine.

"The mix of students is what I find interesting," said Susan Collings, director of development for the Phillips Brooks House Association, who is taking the course through Harvard’s Tuition Assistance Program. "I’ve always loved architecture."

Another student, Bill Pyles, is a senior at Hamilton College pursuing an architecture minor to go with his economics major. Pyles said Hamilton has a limited number of architecture courses, so the Summer School class will help him fulfill graduation requirements.

Pyle said he lives in a historic Beacon Hill apartment and knows a bit about the area, but wants to learn more.

Carso, who is the vice president of the New England chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, also knows what it’s like to be on the other side of the lectern in the class, since she took The Architecture of Boston as a student right after she graduated in 1992.

"This class is interesting because you’re half-student, half- tourist," she said.