I was floored by how fabulous the homes featured in this book are and that we have never featured work by architect Timothy S. Adams before and that I had never heard of his firm. Buy Tradition Made New: Houses with a Sense of Soul and History (published by Rizzoli) immediately and thank me later.
The first book by architect Adams features houses that embody the resonance of tradition, the authenticity of craftsmanship, and the lasting beauty of natural materials. Informed by Adams’s deep knowledge of historic precedents, proportions, and details, the homes featured in this book are imbued with soul, whether it’s a charming house in the woods on the lake, a refined contemporary beachside retreat, or a traditional manor house in town. While the homes featured range in scale and style— Tudor, Arts and Crafts, French country, Southern farmhouse—Adams imbues each with natural materials such as bespoke architectural details in millwork and molding, arched doorways, and oversized windows. These are houses that are grounded in the past, designed for the present, and intended to remain beautiful and functional over the long term.

Ray Booth: The Expressive Home: Architecture and Interiors (published by Rizzoli) is an effortless book to get into. So many pretty spaces in a easy on the eye, contemporary aesthetic with lots of take-note moments.
For his second book, Booth, a master of modern elegance, creates homes that are strikingly sophisticated and wonderfully livable at the same time. Booth showcases his innovative and sophisticated modern interiors, which mix a keen sense of tranquility with bold and elegant details, as well as homes renovated inside and out, and houses designed and decorated from the foundations up. Both his exteriors and interiors display a harmonious blend of traditional and contemporary elements, resulting in an appealingly timeless aesthetic. This exquisitely designed tome presents his forward-thinking vision. The spectacular projects featured span the country from coast to coast—from a dramatic Los Angeles hillside dwelling with expansive windows to a contemporary Nashville home that marries brick, metal, and wood. For his own Provincetown seaside getaway, he has chosen an unexpected cutting-edge style.

La Pausa: The Ideal Mediterranean Villa of Gabrielle Chanel (text by Montse Aguer Texidor and Laura Bartolomé and Philippe Collas, published by Rizzoli). In 1928, Gabrielle Chanel built La Pausa, a magnificent villa in Roquebrune in the South of France. Designed and decorated by the couturiere herself, it was her refuge for decades, and where she welcomed many friends—leading artistic, cultural, and high-society figures such as the Duke of Westminster, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Jean Cocteau. Plunging the reader into the bustling atmosphere of the Côte d’Azur in the ’30s, this book showcases all facets of Chanel’s Mediterranean home—its conception and construction, its unique architecture and gardens, and the artists and creatives it inspired. The luxurious tome is bound in Orient blue cloth with an inlaid portrait of the villa, seven-color printing on two paper stocks, and three facsimile inserts—Chanel’s correspondence with Picasso and Dalí, and an architectural plan of the villa.
For coffee table books such as this one, particularly given the description above, I expected lots of juicy photos. I quickly realized this book was heavy on text and had very little photos of the villa, much to my disappointment. There are some intriguing photos of past visitors of the villa (the one below of Salvador Dali had me chuckling) and copies of receipts and a surprise postcard insert that was a nice touch. I hope I have time to read this one over the holidays.