A Place to Call Home: Tradition, Style, and Memory in the New American House Hardcover – Illustrated, September 26, 2017

I love Gil’s design books. Each shows where he is in his pursuit of good design for the home. Elevated looks that are still comfortable to be in… not museum spaces… homes.

This new book of Gil Schafer is even more of a pleasure than his first book. There is a much greater variety of home styles represented and they do indeed give the feeling of "home" and personal style. The homes featured here are less in the classical style for which he is well-known, more eclectic and varied. I keep reading/browsing this book over and over since I received it; it's a great favorite. His own home in Maine is wonderful - a great departure from his original style - and a gorgeous location. There is nothing like the area around Mt. Desert and its mountain-sea vistas and his modern style in this instance is the right tone for the location. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book so much! Many ideas. Great coffee table book. Gave it to my DIL too. Lovely rooms.

This stunning book not only has captivating photograph of the author/architect's work, but it compelled me to actually read it rather than to just look at the pictures. I especially loved the seven stories that accompanied the featured houses. Particularly the author's own house in Maine. How I would love to have the budget to hire him. But until then, I'll settle for this sumptuous book.

I purchased this book because I am a HUGE Nancy Myers fan. Parent Trap, Father of the Bride, Somethings Gotta Give-if you’ve seen any of these films then you know Nancy Myers makes the most incredible dream homes. She posted online that she uses this book as inspiration for her film sets. I bought a copy for myself and my mom for Mother’s Day. We both loved this book.

I’m conflicted by this book. As someone who recently moved to the US from Europe, I was hoping this book would give me an insight into the American style of decorating. It’s full of beautiful grandiose houses, but there’s no real diversity of style and the book and author’s aspirations are full of deeply conservative, colonial and “plantation house” ideals. There’s no attempt to explore local Spanish or indigenous traditions or a memory of the place pre-settlement. What I find disturbing is its tone deafness and the fact that the author seems to have no awareness of this or at least makes no effort whatsoever to discuss these issues when addressing the reader. No dialectical approach, just problematic dogma. This is not a book that I will cherish or display on a coffee table. I will donate it swiftly. One for the Goodwill bin.

The enjoyment I got reading this book approaches the sublime. Even though the pages are two-dimensional, I felt transported into every room, indoors or out. The scale, light and color balances are very appealing and there is no sense of where the timeline begins or ends, which in my mind is the hallmark of classic design. Do not miss this experience.

𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎! 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝.