Tapawingo Lake Camp is a lakeside family retreat in Wisconsin that is so picturesque and rustic and cozy that I could totally see myself spending the rest of my days in a home like this (but maybe wayyyyy smaller). It’s the best of cabin/camp/cottage living. Complete with numerous outbuildings for various activities, log cabin architecture, massive stone fireplaces and lake views that can’t be beat. This post features the exterior, family cabin, and east and west house. The rest to come in the following post. Architect: Pearson Design Group; Builder: North Fork Builders; Designer: Emma Burns of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.

I am really just posting all of these photos as an excuse to feature the one above. That chair upholstered in quilt fabrics is just about the cutest and covetable thing I have ever seen. Photos from several country homes designed by the always inspiring Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. (Some photos by Simon Upton)

I have been a fan of photographer Henry Bourne’s work for many MANY years so I was soooo excited to get my hands on his new book Turn of the Century: Portraits of Creative Interiors (it was gifted but I would absolutely have forked over the $ for this one). I love that it is a range of styles so you don’t really know what to expect from one page to the next. Published by Rizzoli, his own photos of course, text by Robin Muir and Pilar Viladas and Jane Withers.
For nearly thirty years, Bourne has been photographing the residences and studios of, or those designed by, some of the world’s most important artists, architects, designers, and innovators. Spaces and portraits in this volume range from the Upstate New York studio of artist Richard Prince, Vincent Van Duysen’s early apartment in Antwerp, and Marc Newson’s residences (his modern former bachelor pad as well as the more textured apartment he shares with Charlotte Stockdale today) to the joyfully chaotic London atelier of artist Paula Rego, the Villa Volpi by architect Tomaso Buzzi near Rome, the London studio of artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster—before and after its sleek renovation, designed by architect David Adjaye.

Next is City of Dreams: Los Angeles Interiors: Inspiring Homes of Architects, Designers, and Artists By decorator and writer Annie Kelly with photographs by her husband Tim Street-Porter and published by Rizzoli. This one is also a book I would have added to my Amazon cart in a heartbeat had it not appeared in my mailbox. Sooooo much eye candy!!!
Los Angeles’s Street-Porter has been chronicling this metropolis’s architecture and interiors for over twenty-five years.This stunning collection of inspiring homes begins with a look back, which includes examples of iconic houses inspired by Hollywood film fantasies, Modernist residences by such luminaries as John Lautner, and Frank Gehry’s Deconstructivism-style home. The heart of the book features today’s forward-looking homes, divided into two sections: Living with Art and Design and Los Angeles Modern. Antiquarian Joel Chen artfully blends an eye-catching collection of period furniture and Chinese objets while interior designer Jean-Louis Denoit’s house sparkles with a Tony Duquette gilded mirror and an abalone shell chandelier. Another trend is the renovation of modernist houses with a personal touch. Artist Mary Weatherford’s reworking of her A. Quincy Jones–designed home, in collaboration with designer Oliver Furth, has a striking orange bedroom.

The third book that arrived was Alyssa Kapito: Interiors, published by Rizzoli. If classic, elegant spaces with a modern approach and really exquisite vintage furnishings are up your alley then this book is for you. My only critique is I find Alyssa’s style to be very one-noted and each project so similar to the last.
With bespoke interiors that merge contemporary touches with time-honored sophistication—think luxurious textures, neutral tones, crisp whites, and sleek lines—she has become one of the most exciting names working in design today. In this beautiful volume, Kapito shares her unique design philosophy and ten of her most outstanding projects. An Upper East Side town house is punctuated with modern design pieces and warm beige hues. A medley of natural materials offset with bold artworks define a sleek duplex in SoHo. Clean lines and a soft palette of blues, yellows, and mauve breathe new life into a grand countryside estate. 

Ok I’m packing my bags and moving to Picts Hill, Langport in Somerset. Though luckily I can save myself the trip because it looks like this incredible home is in the process of being sold. I am IN LOVE with this. Gothic style and stained glass windows, Victorian minton tile floors, many fireplaces, acres of land to landscape… I’d have to do something with that kitchen though. It’s as bland as a hospital room. Listed with Roderick Thomas.

Folly Farm was originally a 17th century cottage transformed between 1906 and 1912 into an iconic Arts and Crafts era home and landscape by the additions of architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. The garden was divided into a series of inward-looking ‘rooms’ separated by yew hedges, including a sunken pool garden, a flower parterre, entrance courtyard, barn courtyard and a Dutch canal. As part of an extensive restoration of house and gardens, we were asked to rethink the gardens and surrounding landscape, and develop a site-wide masterplan that would bring the outdoor environment into the 21st century. A new wind garden of ornamental grasses connects the historic gardens to the surrounding landscape, while the walled kitchen garden, previously unemployed, is now a fertile acre of food and flower-producing beds, borders and pergolas. A new entrance driveway brings guests past ancient oaks and a new wildlife lake set in newly instated wildflower meadows. The refurbished watercourse leads to a new sculpture lawn with access from the house provided by new ziggurat steps inspired by the Lutyens originals, all with the aim of integrating the gardens and grounds and establishing an authentically rural sense of place.
Once again I am floored with how absolutely stunning the gardens are of this home, created by Dan Pearson Studio. Seemingly effortless, wild and whimsical, yet so thoughtful and decisive. This is landscape design at its finest. Photos: Jason Ingram.