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40 of the year's best coffee table books to buy now
This year has seen a raft of marvellous design books published, and they couldn't be more welcome in a year when we're mostly confined to our own houses. This selection of coffee table books make brilliant sources of inspiration from some of the greatest designers, gardeners and artists in the world. Once read, their beautiful covers double as decorative pieces, brightening up dark corners or sitting prettily atop a table. For the design lover or home renovator in your life, these coffee table books are ideal for Christmas gifts too. Scroll on for House & Garden's edit of the best coffee table books to buy now.
1/40Pastoral Gardens by Clare Foster and Andrew Montgomery (Montgomery Press, £55)
Sometimes a book is published at exactly the right moment. Written by House & Garden's garden editor Clare Foster with photographs by Andrew Montgomery, Pastoral Gardens carefully and tenderly draws together deeply felt ideas about gardening at this daunting time of climate change and habitat loss - and offers a myriad of exhilarating ways forward. It is a serious and thoughtful book, but beautiful and practical, too. Four shimmering essays written by leading garden designers Jinny Blom, Nigel Dunnett, Kim Wilkie and Tom Stuart-Smith introduce subtly different areas of enquiry: how to relish informality in the garden; how to create a sense of sanctuary; how to celebrate the natural landscape; and how to nurture habitat for wildlife. Their words are energising not least because they are so honest. Tom, for instance, admits that it has taken him a while to realise that if you want to try to create complex plantings with large numbers of species coexisting, and you want this state of affairs to persist for some time, then a low fertility soil is essential'.
The range of gardens explored is a complete delight. There are some that were already familiar to me, such as Julian and Isabel Bannerman's romantic creation at Ashington Manor Farm in Somerset, or the airy, explosive Walled Garden at West Sussex estate Knepp. And there are gardens I did not know at all - in Düsseldorf, Virginia and Nottingham. Clare's conversations with their makers have a rare, intimate quality that is particularly generous and inspiring. The passionate story of Andrew Salter's Barn Garden in Kent - brilliantly fulfilling his ‘vision of a barn floating through a sea of tall grasses and flowers’ - might well stop you in your tracks.
Andrew Montgomery's graceful and atmospheric photographs take you deeper still into each of the gardens visited and offer seductive observations of the details and the colour palettes that set each project apart. I loved the way that the narrative flowed so naturally between text and image and from passionate ideal to accessible and practical solutions - never forgetting that gardeners will always want to know the name of a key plant. Pastoral Gardens is the exciting, idea-filled, boundary-pushing book that we all need right now. Non Morris
2/40A Year In The French Style: Interiors & Entertaining by Antoinette Poison by Jean-Baptiste Martin and Vincent Farelly (Flammarion, £50)
Paris-based Antoinette Poison has become known for its collection of exquisite printed domino papers, wallpapers and fabrics. Here, the studio's two founders and artistic directors invite readers into their historic townhouse and restoration project in Brittany, revealing how their way of life, social circle and creative processes are inextricably intertwined - and always infused with a certain je ne sais quoi. Rose Washbourn
3/40Studio Ashby: Home Art Soul by Sophie Ashby (Rizzoli, £45)
This book is a delight. Sophie Ashby's friendly tone gives the impression of her taking us on a private tour of her home and favourite projects. The London-based designer spent some of her formative years in South Africa, and the colours and textures of the bushveld and the African sky are clearly big influences. She has coined the term 'happy clashing' for her style, but it is more sophisticated than that. She shows a formidable talent for combining unexpected shapes, colours, textures, and pieces from different periods. Highlights include a sophisticated apartment in Paris, a contemporary coastal villa and the colourful, layered interior of JM Barrie's former London home by Hyde Park. Ticky Hedley-Dent
4/40Kelly Wearstler: Synchronicity by Kelly Wearstler and Dan Rubinstein (Rizzoli, £47.50)
If any doubts remain about Kelly Wearstler's status as one of the most influential American designers of her generation, this latest round-up of her work may well put that debate to rest. Here are seven vast and pitch-perfect projects, each demonstrating a style for our times, one that is not easy to define but would not exist without Kelly. Perhaps its essence is the balance of intriguing pieces by contemporary designers with jaw droppingly expensive materials and an ambitious approach to scale. Shape over decoration, materials over pattern and interiors chosen to impress rather than provide comfort - this is the Kelly Wearstler look. Ruth Sleightholme
5/40Painted Travels: Portraits of Remarkable Places by SJ Axelby (Pavilion, £35)
'The eye has to travel,' said Diana Vreeland - and in the skilful hands of artist SJ Axelby, it does. A follow-up to last year's Interior Portraits, which explored the homes of creatives, Painted Travels takes us on a tour of exquisitely decorated hotels, shops, restaurants, museums and more. Watercolour and mixed-media paintings invite us to marvel at exceptional interiors: the striking red and white colour scheme of the Villa Palladio in Jaipur; a Scottish agate-inspired ceiling at The Fife Arms in Braemar; and the hand-painted Villeroy & Boch tiles adorning every surface of the fund dairy in Dresden. Among the details picked out are the cornicing at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, hibiscus flowers on one of Nour El Nil's Egyptian dahabiyas on the Nile and the porcelain on Belmond's British Pullman train. There are even occasional recipes and the Hotel Cipriani's signature cocktail - the Bellini - proves a perfect accompaniment to these joyful pages. Fiona McKenzie Johnston
6/40Veere Greeney: Seeking Beauty by Veere Grenney (Vendome, £65)
This is the story of the three current homes of Veere Grenney, an interior designer at the very top of the tree. There is The Temple, a Georgian fishing lodge in Suffolk, which has one glorious Palladian room with huge windows that look out in one direction over a canal - its long stretch of water bordered by an avenue of trees - and, in the other, over gentle arable land. Veere describes it as the ideal combination of 'a palace above and a cottage below'. Second, there is his flat in Chelsea. Small and intensely chic, it has a collection of marvellous pictures, chocolate-brown cashmere walls and a shiny egg-yolk-yellow kitchen, which hint at the influence on the young Veere of two designers - David Hicks and Billy Baldwin. As a boy growing up in New Zealand with an acute visual sense, he was transported by their books, which opened up possibilities and induced him to travel. This flat also has wonderful views of the capital and the River Thames.
Veere describes his third home, Gazebo in Tangier - now his main residence - as 'the acme of my creative powers'. Over six years, he transformed a modest and somewhat dilapidated 1930s Moroccan villa and two acres of scrubby hillside into a large and very beautiful house, with a verdant garden overlooking the intense blue of the Strait of Gibraltar - the waters that divide Africa and Europe. Tangier was a revelation to Veere when he first travelled there as a long-haired, 20-year-old hippy and found like-minded people who have become lifelong friends. The city has been a continual thread in his life ever since.
Alongside Francesco Lagnese's photography, which mixes broad vistas with close-up design details, Veere explains his approach and his choices - for example, the importance of shiny black floors in hot climates and the fact that Gazebo's painted floorboards are regularly washed with rosewater. This deeply personal book is a joy for anyone who loves interior decoration, but there is another, more profound skein in his writing, referenced in its title. Alongside his Christian faith, mentioned at intervals in the book, Veere's search for beauty in both his work and his surroundings is his defining lifelong quest. 'I think I have become more fluent in beauty,' he says. 'And I'm still learning.' Elfreda Pownall
7/40New English Interiors: At Home with Today's Creatives by Elizabeth Metcalfe (Frances Lincoln, £28)
New English Interiors is a 250-page snapshot of a particular (and particularly appealing) style of English decorating - one in which the rooms are layered and textured, colours are strong and patterns playful. The shelves are lined with books and the mantelpieces laden with treasures and oddities; there is a mixture of high art and folk art. It is the way so many of us want to live.
Its writer and mastermind is House & Garden features editor Elizabeth Metcalfe, who writes in the Introduction about ‘a certain eccentricity’ that is also associated with the style. She promises that the 22 houses she has included are 'deeply personal... a visual feast'. They certainly are. As a writer, it pains me to admit that these kinds of books do not always require deep reading. Studying the pictures and gleaning ideas can often do the trick if you have bought it looking for inspiration. And what beautiful pictures they are, too. Lizzie has worked with photographer Dean Hearne, a House & Garden contributor, to capture the homes of some fascinating individuals and couples working in the creative arts. Highlights include the houses of decorators Gavin Houghton and James Mackie, of dealers Holly Howe and Tobias Vernon, and of artists Fee Greening and Annie Morris. The last two join Tess and Alfred Newall (in East Sussex) and Rosi de Ruig (in Dorset) in allowing their houses to be photographed for the first time.
Each chapter opens with a striking portrait of the homeowner, which sets the scene perfectly for the stories Lizzie goes on to tell. Because, in this case, it really is worth taking a moment to read the interviews and insights that accompany the photographs. You get the sense Lizzie knows her subjects well and that the interiors she has chosen to feature appeal to her personally. It gives this book an intimate and pleasingly authentic feel. David Nicholls
8/40The Globemakers: The Curious Story of an Ancient Craft by Peter Bellerby (Bloomsbury Publishing, £25)
It is impossible not to like Peter Bellerby, who decided to buy a globe for his father's 80th birthday, could not find what he wanted, elected to fashion one himself and is now the only fully bespoke globemaker in the world. Nominally, this is the tale of how Bellerby & Co Globemakers came to be, but it is just as much a richly human story from an unusual character.
As Peter falls down the rabbit hole of globemaking, he meets the challenges of deciphering and perfecting his craft with stunning equanimity. The effects are often gently comedic, and I confess to laughing out loud on several occasions, including at his attempts to make a prototype sphere from plaster of Paris under the auspicious gaze of his two cats, Randolph and Mortimer. The tales of grappling with map software on the other hand were too painful for laughter.
The text blends engineering and art with historical vignettes and philosophical musings while covering every aspect of globemaking - from forging the meridian ring to making the globe spin. It is also a love letter to globes and the esoteric craft of making them, which, it seems, Peter has single-handedly revived.
Unsurprisingly, the book is also a beautifully designed object in its own right, with evocative photographs and charming illustrations throughout. Globemaking is undoubtedly niche, but this volume has a wonderfully broad appeal. Jennifer Goulding
9/40Venice: City of Pictures by Martin Gauford (Thames & Hudson, £30)
Few cities hold as significant a place in our collective cultural imagination as Venice, so often has it been depicted by great artists over the centuries. This new visual history by The Spectator's art critic, who is a regular visitor, takes us from the Renaissance up to the present day, with Yayoi Kusama, Chris Ofili and Banksy following in the footsteps of Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese. Featuring nearly 200 illustrations, it captures the magic of the city and the masterpieces it has inspired in a uniquely compelling way. Rose Washbourn
10/40Villa Cetinale: Memoir of a House in Tuscany by Ned Lambton (Rizzoli, £57.50)
A first-hand account of inheriting and restoring a 17th-century villa outside Siena in Italy, this is an engaging and enlightening read. Villa Cetinale's owner and author Ned Lambton brings to life its rich history and ongoing renaissance, including the artful and sensitive redecoration by interior designer and friend of the family, Camilla Guinness. Specially commissioned imagery by Simon Upton is interspersed with photographs from the family album, revealing decades of joyous memories here. Rose Washbourn
11/40Grounded in the Garden: An Artist's Guide to Creating a Beautiful Garden in Harmony with Nature by Tj Maher (Pimpernel Press, £25)
Having visited the beautiful garden of Irish artist TJ Maher some years ago and fallen in love with it, I was looking forward to his first publication, eager to learn more about how he creates the alchemy in his plant-filled garden. And this delightful book definitely does not disappoint, with plenty of vibrant photographs to illustrate TJ's distinctive and highly individual planting schemes. It takes the reader through the gardening year from tulips to dahlias, with - perhaps unsurprisingly - a whole chapter devoted to colour. As TJ explains, this is one of the easiest ways for me to create atmosphere and he does this by varying the colour schemes throughout the garden. There are helpful plant recommendations and inspirational ideas for using pots and containers, and for creating borders. He concludes with a chapter on insects, birds and wildlife - as important to TJ as the people who inhabit a space. More than anything, his book conveys the real excitement that results from combining plants in fresh ways, encouraging everyone to be bolder and more experimental with their own schemes. Clare Foster
12/40The Bloomsbury Photographs by Maggie Humm (Yale University Press, £30)
A hundred and twenty years on from the Bloomsbury group's Bloomsbury beginnings, their diaries, art, novels and houses still enthral. Offering further insight is this presentation of the photo albums of Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf Dora Carrington and Lytton Strachey. Insightful text provides context for photographs of picnics, children and fancy dress, plus Vanessa's camping (she skipped sleeping in a tent) on a trip to Norfolk with Roger Fry and Rupert Brooke, which later informed pieces that she designed for the Omega Workshops. It is a fresh portrayal and affords a delightful tangibility to familiar names and fabled history. Fiona McKenzie Johnston
13/40A Year Full of Pots: Container Year Full of Pots Flowers for All Seasons by Sarah Raven (Bloomsbury Publishing, £27)
Plants spilling out of pots always seem like an excellent idea in early spring, when you are aching for your garden to come back to life. However, unless you know some basic tricks of the trade, by high summer they can look straggling and starved. Plantswoman, writer and broadcaster Sarah Raven is the mistress of the ornamental pot, knowing precisely how to plant, place and primp them for most of the year. In her latest book, she shares her wide-ranging horticultural and design knowledge in her distinctive, encouraging style.
Even seasoned gardeners can get pots wrong. Containers that are too small; flowering times that are out of sync; colours that are too random; not enough watering or too much; and the wrong plants in the wrong place. But get it right and even the smallest city garden can be transformed into an elegant, seasonal space that is worth going outside for. Using the full range of shrubs, perennials, bulbs and annual plants, and by selecting pots that group well together in terms of height, width and texture, Sarah designs with a Fauvist's flair for strong colour. And her cheerful, what's-the-worst-that-can-happen attitude heartens even the most timid gardener to think, big, bold and beautiful. Caroline Beck
14/40An English Vision: Traditional Architecture and Decoration for Today by Ben Pentreath (Rizzoli, £45)
I first came across an exuberant Ben Pentreath after he received permission to close a Bloomsbury street so everyone could bring out sofas and chairs, and enjoy a film showing. This was 25 years ago and that enthusiasm and joy - along with an obvious love of beauty and appreciation of nature and craftsmanship - have been the driving forces that have propelled his interior design, architecture and planning practice to go from strength to strength. He takes on projects as varied as country houses, London flats, Scottish bothies and comfortable rectories. This includes his own home in Dorset, The Old Parsonage (photographed for this book and shown on the cover), which he shares with his husband, the gardener Charlie McCormick. Having been told that his lack of ability in mathematics and physics precluded him from studying Architecture as a subject, Ben instead read Fine Art, History of Art and History of Architecture at the University of Edinburgh. Surrounded by the 18th-century buildings of the Scottish capital, he developed an appreciation for the scale and beauty of Georgian architecture in particular, and an acknowledgement of the artistry and eye of those who had preceded him.
But, to my mind, his greatest achievement - and the one that I especially appreciate - is his approach to new urban developments, in particular Tornagrain in the Scottish Highlands. Discussed in the chapter on towns and townhouses, this development is as far removed from the box-like creations that have littered our countryside over the past few decades as can be imagined.
This is a deeply personal book, with both text and photographs by Ben himself. It emphasises the need for us all to stop occasionally and feel our surroundings. In short, it is a warm bath of a book, in which one can wallow for hours at a time. Liz Elliot
15/40London: A History of 300 Years in 25 Buildings by Paul Knox (Yale University Press, £25)
So familiar are so many of us with the capital that we can often overlook its architectural brilliance. Proving that familiarity can, in fact, breed newfound appreciation, the urbanist Paul Knox emerged from his own exploration of London with a fresh perspective on our built environment. And this book is the result. It features 25 buildings, which he treats not as theoretical case studies to demonstrate the hallmarks of a particular period or style, but as living histories that reveal their social, political and economic context. Equal weight is given to the V&A South Kensington and a primary school, to a grand Georgian residence and a Victorian workhouse - such is the beauty of a holistic approach that looks beyond a façade to consider people, places and progress. Spanning 300 years and bringing us up to the present day, this book covers a lot of ground and raises some important questions about the future of London. Rose Washbourn
16/40Off The Grid: Houses for Escape Across North America by Dominic Bradbury (Thames & Hudson, £35)
As our call to the wild has intensified in recent years, so have advances in technology, making off-grid living in remote locations a more viable prospect. The houses featured in this book from House & Garden contributor Dominic Bradbury fuel this fantasy, melding with their surroundings while putting green energy and passive design strategies front and centre. I would happily give up urban life for any one of them.
Whether hovering above the earth, embedded into a mountain or hidden within the twists and folds of the landscape, they are designed with a deep respect for their wild surroundings. The Caterpillar House in Carmel, by Feldman Architecture, is even born from the ground itself, its rammed earth walls anchoring the building to its Californian site. Inland a little further north, in Orinda, the Miner Road House has been carefully built into the hillside by Faulkner Architects, with durable, fire-retardant materials providing protection from the elements.
Some of the architects used their own houses as test beds, such as Marc Thorpe and his self-sufficient wooden cabin in the Catskills. Others have fulfilled their clients' fantasies, using prefabricated elements to allow construction in inaccessible locations.
Dominic makes the case for small-scale living to minimise environmental impact. The fact that many of these projects are holiday homes somewhat waters down the point. Nevertheless, the book is rich with ideas we can replicate wherever we are in the world using local materials. As the owners of a super-sustainable ranch retrea explain, 'When you are completely off-grid, you are forced to live differently.' It is all about treading lightly and living within our energy means. A helpful guide to planning your own home at the back of the book lays the foundations. Malaika Byng
17/40A Flower Garden for Pollinators by Rachel de Thame (Greenfinch, £25)
A particularly timely and valuable addition to our libraries as we enter into a new era. This delightful book has a clear message: we can all do our bit to help. In its pages, Rachel de Thame presents a selection of her favourite flowers for pollinators. 'The decrease in pollinator numbers may seem a daunting global issue, yet each individual can make a significant difference,' she writes. 'To achieve this, we gardeners need to adopt a change of mindset in our own plots.' Rachel did this a few years ago, replanting her cut flower garden with plants chosen for their appeal to beneficial insects. She advises gardeners to introduce variety in terms of colour, shape and scent, and make sure there is something in flower in every season - from the early-spring Crocus tommasinianus to the single-flowered, pollen-laden dahlias that she loves. She describes each plant in detail, noting cultivation needs as well as the insects that it is likely to host. Beautifully illustrated throughout, it alternates close-up photographs by Jonathan Buckley with the most charming watercolour illustrations by Rachel's daughter, Lauren Lusk. This makes it the perfect gift for anyone wanting to change the way they garden. Clare Foster
18/40Chris Dyson Architects: Heritage & Modernity by Dominic Bradbury (Lund Humphries, £45)
In the foreword, the writer and curator Owen Hopkins makes the point that architect Chris Dyson is impossible to categorise. His projects 'seem like they have always been there. It is architecture that seems old and new at the same time'. That sets this book up rather nicely, as it takes a tour of private houses, mixed-use spaces and commercial projects. Chris is best known for his extensive work in Spitalfields, with numerous sensitively renovated and reimagined houses under his belt. However, this monograph looks beyond east London, with exciting glimpses of the practice's projects in country settings, which are every bit as appealing. David Nicholls
19/40Home at Last: Enduring Design for the New American House by Gil Schafer III (Rizzoli, £42.50)
The title of American architect Gil Schafer's new book is a charming double entendre, since it speaks to both his work designing homes for his clients and the more personal news - as we learn in the preface - that, since the publication of his last book, Gil has got married. He talks of a deepened sensitivity to the intimate character of home and family since his union; ergo, the reader understands that he too is 'home at last'. Eight chapters illuminate eight architectural projects, from coastal New England to South Florida, and the sure hand and humble spirit of this architect and his team is evident on every page. A house on Long Island that is all shingle style up top with a pretty fabulous discotheque down below is presented with the same storied detail as the Block Island barn and house in Washington County. This needed (and wanted) to be so wildly sensitive to the local vernacular that the view of the barn, meadows and rolling hills that passers-by might enjoy was clearly taken into account in the planning. The houses are well detailed on the interior and landscape design sides, too. Outside collaborators or Gil's own design team add to the visual language to make perfect sense of the interplay between the buildings, the interiors and the land that wraps around them as well as - most importantly - the people who live there. Gil says that we are in the 'joy business'. I loved that. Anne Hardy
20/40The Overview: Meditations on Nature for a World in Transition by Willow Defebaugh (Atmos, 2024)
This is a wonderful anthology of meditative essays by Willow Defebaugh, editor of Atmos, a non-profit biannual magazine and digital platform that explores all things climate and culture. Willow's poetic writing perfectly captures the beauty of nature with its thought-provoking messaging and is accompanied by incredible immersive photography. Amid the climate emergency we are facing, she offers a sense of hope, optimism and resilience. Frieda Gormley & Javvy M. Royle
21/40Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops by Martin Crawford (Green Books, £25)
Edible plants are often overlooked or segregated in garden design. Forest gardening is an insightful way to reframe and appreciate their structural and aesthetic qualities. Martin is an authority on agroforestry in the UK, so this is a valuable resource to broaden the mind on growing edibles in a more integrated way instead of confining them to the vegetable garden. Tom Massey
22/40Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency by Sarah Ichioka and Michael Pawlyn (Triarchy Press, £25)
Drawing from cultural wisdom and that of the natural world, Flourish proposes and explores a set of radical regenerative design principles. Sarah (an urbanist and strategist) and Michael (an architect) make a compelling argument for the fundamental importance of designing and building to restore balance and ensure a positive future for younger generations. Frieda Gormley & Javvy M. Royle
23/40Rosario Candela & The New York Apartment 1927-1937 by David Netto (Rizzoli, £65)
It is widely agreed that the best interior designers and architects have highly tuned powers of observation; their drive to deliver interesting and effective design is such that they cannot help but be masters of taking notice. This book introduces itself with a story of the teenage David Netto walking to and from school on New York's Upper East Side in the 1970s and looking up, curious about what was going on behind the steel-frame, masonry-clad buildings that he later learned were the work of Rosario Candela. Decades later, the interior designer, along with architecture critic Paul Goldberger and architect Peter Pennoyer, have delivered this account of Rosario Candela's work, with opening essays that explore the architect's impact via their three different lenses. In the foreword, Aerin Lauder described the trio as 'marvellous scholars' who guide our journey. David describes Candela's buildings as 'the great romantic givers of form to New York'; Paul notes that the architect's work 'transcends the mundane and inspires exhilaration'; and Peter ably decodes the working specifics, setting the scene around a new, lighter hand in interior design', which developed alongside Candela. Each of the 18 chapters that follow focus on a Candela building, complete with floor plans and magical interiors imagery.
The subject of this book might seem rather niche, but it is not. Candela was a master at spatial planning and his sensitive-to-lifestyle, urbanist thinking still feels completely effective. David suggests that his 'architecture provided the visual drama for uptown that gave rise to a mythical idea of living well in New York City'. Indeed, if you have ever closed your eyes and conjured up the buildings that epitomise the classic Manhattan skyline, if you have thought, as the jingle goes, 'I love New York' and you would like to know more, this book is for you. Anne Hardy
24/40RHS Resilient Garden Sustainable Gardening for a Changing Climate by Tom Massey (DK, £27)
25/40Naturalistic Planting Design: The Essential Guide by Nigel Dunnett (Filbert Press, £35)
Nigel's designs inspire such joy. His successional layered planting is grounded in nature's principles and in practical constraints, yet there is a strong emotive connection with an audience. His work shows how nature-led design can also be fun, artful and uplifting. Sustainable need not mean serious. Tom Massey
26/40Planting in a Post Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West (Timber Press, £32)
Thomas and Claudia are passionate about bringing nature back into urban landscapes. They use ecosystem models and plant behaviours to inform palettes and groupings that will knit together into designed plant communities. Their work encourages us all to keep learning and challenging what is possible. Tom Massey
27/40Jewish Country Houses edited by Juliet Carey and Abigail Green (Profile Editions, £45)
Before the 19th century, Jews did not have secure rights to freehold property in much of Europe. So some great houses, explain the writers of this magnificent new book. are not only symbols of wealth and power but also 'served as a vehicle for the emancipation of a historically persecuted and disadvantaged minority'. Several of the residences, photographed by Hélène Binet, may be less known to readers. Others will be more familiar: Strawberry Hill, Hughenden, and Waddesdon Manor. And within the architecture, gardens and spectacular collections are stories integral to our collective history. Fiona McKenzie Johnston
28/40Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces by Dominic Bradbury (Phaidon, £100)
Featuring 450 buildings across six continents, this is a very hefty work. But House & Garden contributor, Dominic Bradbury, whose extensive oeuvre on this period includes this book's Phaidon predecessor, Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses, makes the subject approachable and compelling. Case studies are arranged geographically, classified by type and well illustrated. So it is easy to dip in and out, admiring Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's US office towers one day and remote Australian churches the next. Dominic's text is succinct yet factually dense and captures the rich diversity and pioneering spirit of the postwar era, when new technologies and increasing globalisation made the impossible possible. Even those who do not admire the mid-century aesthetic will appreciate such feats of human ingenuity. Rose Washbourn
29/40Blenheim: 300 Years of Life in a Palace by Henrietta Spencer-Churchill (Rizzoli, £57.50)
Blenheim is one of the greatest houses in Britain. This masterpiece of the English Baroque by Sir John Vanbrugh was completed by Nicholas Hawksmoor (the east wing was habitable by 1719). Intended as a symbol of gratitude for the 1st Duke of Marlborough's 1704 victory against the French, the house is, as Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill reminds us, also a family home. This very engaging book is crafted by someone who knows Blenheim intimately and it is enhanced by superb photography by Hugo Rittson-Thomas. It gives the reader an insight into both the great staterooms and the more private spaces. It also introduces members of the Spencer-Churchill family who have shaped the house and have perhaps, to paraphrase Winston Churchill - who was born there in 1874 - been shaped by it.
Along with the challenges of conservation, including works to the chapel, orangery and lake, its more recent story encompasses initiatives such as the Blenheim Art Foundation, presenting contemporary works in historic surroundings Enjoyable excursions into the country-house life include accounts of gambling and card playing, and the Blenheim Christmas Day family dinner in the great Saloon of Lady Henrietta's child-hood. Her memories and observations provide a personal touch to the history of this house. We learn, for instance, that all the old mattresses have been replaced with sumptuous new ones, 'ensuring comfort and sweet dreams even if en-suite bathrooms are in short supply'. The latter was, of course, something that Vanbrugh just had not thought of. Jeremy Musson
30/40The Irish Country House: A New Vision by Robert O'Byrne (Rizzoli, £50)
Lovers of the Irish country house have a treat in store with this new addition to the stable. Robert O'Byrne, otherwise known as the Irish Aesthete, is the foremost writer on a subject that has seen many volumes published over the past few decades. However, this latest book, as its subtitle suggests, presents something new.
Here is a narrative of hope and rejuvenation, written in an easy-to-read style that is underpinned by serious scholarship. After an informative introduction distilling the historical background and setting the scene, Robert discusses 15 houses and castles, giving each its own chapter. The properties chosen represent different styles, periods, sizes and geographic locations. Some of them have never been featured in print before, which lends the book an air of discovery, like a behind-the-scenes tour with someone who knows his subject intimately. It is illustrated with elegant photographs by Luke White, whose compositions have a calmness and completeness about them.
Each chapter opens with an enticing image, before plunging the reader into the history of the house or castle, followed by multiple pages of beautiful photographs. Robert deftly sums up the complicated chronology of ownership, peppering his prose with fascinating snippets of history; Lawrence of Arabia and John Wesley both make an appearance. There are echoes of the Gaelic families who originally owned some of these properties and the Irish origin of their names is explained.
The 21st century has seen the rejuvenation of the Irish country house, including some that have risen from ruins, such as Killua Castle. The book sings a happy tune of houses brought back from the brink of collapse to become cherished family homes - Ballysallagh, Rush Hill, Castle Gurteen de la Poer, Ballinderry Park. While most have been meticulously conserved, some are still in the throes of restoration, as at Coollattin and Castlecor. All of them are a triumph of contemporary Irish craftsmanship: stonework, plasterwork, joinery, glazing, roofing and landscaping.
Readers will find much to inspire them in the interiors revealed and their eclectic contents (the detailed captions are very informative). Throughout the book, you cannot escape the unique Irish character that pervades these colourful country houses and castles. James Peill D
31/40Streetscapes: Navigating Historic English Towns by Ptolemy Dean (Lund Humphries, £45)
Architect Ptolemy Dean has dedicated this new book to his children 'to encourage them to look up from their handheld telephone devices'. It has worked for me. Now, every time I walk along Fleet Street, I notice different details. London is among the 26 towns he examines, illustrating key routes through each. Ptolemy's own drawings are prefaced by John Speed's 16th-century plans and first-edition Ordnance Survey maps, while his lively analysis is enhanced by bons mots from the likes of Daniel Defoe and John Betjeman. We discover not only how attractive these historic streets are, but also how their layout and landmarks can often help us to find our way. This provides a timely lesson: that urban development can be both useful and beautiful. Rose Washbourn
32/40Michael S. Smith: Classic by Design by Michael S. Smith with Andrew Ferren (Rizzoli, £52)
Michael S Smith became a household name in the US after it was revealed the Obamas had commissioned him to decorate The WhiteHouse during their tenure. But the Los Angeles-based designer's star was in the ascendant long before then. An internationalist (he studied in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum), Michael is admired by his peers for an antiques-centric approach that is also quintessentially American - tailored, smart, practical and erudite.
This monograph captures his global output: from a Beverly Hills hacienda to a Mallorcan villa. We are in aspirational terrain. Here is the New York apartment of Bridgerton television producer Shonda Rhimes, which has a desk with a view in every room, and George Lucas and Mellody Hobson's house in Provence, a vineyard-framed, 18th-century chateau. For a 695-square-metre villa in Hawaii, Michael commissioned Polynesian-themed painted ceilings to evoke a sense of context. His interest in art history is reflected by the likes of a Jean Royère inspired sofa, or a chimneypiece that is made from 60 bronze panels. Oh, for a peek inside his address book.
Michael's affinity for architecture is another theme. In the disjointed adjacent duplexes of a Manhattan building by the 1920s architect Rosario Candela, he did what no one else had dared to do - inserted a new staircase to link the vast apartments, like a house in the clouds. Michael's own Los Angeles home (which was featured in the April 2014 issue of House & Garden) confirms his acuity for potential. He punched through the roof of the modernist pavilion originally built for art collectors and added a generous guest wing above. If the Obamas decide to visit, there will always be room. Serena Fokschaner
33/40John Soane's Cabinet of Curiosities: Reflections on an Architect and his Collection by Bruce Boucher (Yale University Press, £35)
Nowhere is quite like the Sir John Soane's Museum London, as this brilliant book by its former director confirms. By opening up the architect's 'cabinet of curiosities', where antiquities, art, furniture and models are displayed cheek by jowl. Bruce offers unprecedented insight into the personality of Soane the collector. We learn of his motivations and preoccupations: his fascination with ruins (including his mock temple at Pitzhanger Manor); his ideas on the Gothic; and his promotion of British artists. Like many eccentrics, he was a tricky character, but by no means devoid of sentiment - a portrait he commissioned of his late wife Eliza and her dog Fanny is just one example of his deep sense of love and loss. Rose Washbourn
34/40Lost Gardens of London by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan (Modern Art Press, £25)
London is a fascinating palimpsest created by successive generations who have lived and worked in the city, but to read it, you require a skilled interpreter to guide you. Step forward Todd Longstaffe-Gowan who has, for more than 30 years, studied, advised on and enhanced the design of countless public, private and historic green spaces across the capital, through his various roles as a landscape architect, cultural geographer and garden historian.
In his latest book, which is being published to complement the eponymous exhibition that he has curated at the Garden Museum, SEI, Todd presents a compendium of gardens past, conjured back into being by vivid descriptions and illustrated plates.
From Smith's Dust Heap, a 'mountain of filth and cinders' that sat at the top of Gray's Inn Road from the 1666 Great Fire of London until 1848 (when the whole thing was apparently bought by Russians to help to make bricks to rebuild Moscow), via Islington's mineral spas (including Sadler's Wells, which opened in the 1670s), to the Camouflage Fair of 1918 (when Trafalgar Square was briefly transformed into ‘a shell-shattered French village’ on the Western battlefront), he guides us around a landscape that is both entirely alien and utterly familiar. This appreciation of gardens lost and the vital role they played is a rallying call to protect what might otherwise be lost in the future. Jodie Jones
35/40RHS Horti Curious: A Gardener's Miscellany of Fascinating Facts & Remarkable Plants by Ann Treneman (Mitchell Beazley, £19.99)
This is the perfect diversion for green-fingered friends when the winter weather forces them indoors. Six easy-to-read chapters are filled with interesting - and often surprising - facts and figures relating to all aspects of the horticultural world. Learn which plants can poison and cure, where you can see a natural super bloom, who slept on a volcano on a botanical expedition and how to grow your own pineapple (slowly). Rose Washbourn
imac36/40A Life in Design: Celebrating 30 Years of Interiors by Kathryn M. Ireland (Cico Books, £40)
Earning a place in Holly-wood A-listers’ little black books is no mean feat. But leaf through the pages of this retrospective and it is easy to see why the British interior and textile designer Kathryn Ireland has made her name in Los Angeles and beyond. We travel from West
Coast to East Coast, then to Europe, through 20 houses (six of which are or were her own) that showcase her signature elegant yet relaxed style – layered with vibrant colour and pattern, and filled with interesting vintage and antique finds. That is not to say she never deviates: the muted palette and quiet charm of actor Steve
Martin’s home speak of Kathryn’s innate ability to capture the essence of every client. RW
37/40300,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World by Seán Hewitt and Luke Edward Hall (Particular Books, £25)
A ‘golden thread is stitched through our culture’s idea of queerness’, writes Seán Hewitt in the prologue to this glorious anthology of stories from the ancient world, exquisitely and plentifully illustrated by artist and designer Luke Edward Hall. From Homer’s truly heartrending description of Achilles being visited by the ghost of Patroclus, reaching out to find ‘only air, only smoke’, via Plutarch’s
Sacred Band of Thebes – an elite troop made up of pairs of lovers – to Martial’s accounts of powerful queer women, it charts, celebrates and gives new life to the full diversity of classical
literature, which was censored and suppressed for centuries. Fiona McKenzie Johnston.
38/40Venice: A Private Invitation by Servane Giol (Flammarion, £55)
How many have wandered through Venice and wondered at the reality of living amid such splendour? This extraordinary book feeds that dream, taking us into ancient palazzos where modern life meets matchless interiors. We see rooms of antique mirrors that reflect the water beyond the windows, others hung with rich damasks, and an abundance of exquisitely frescoed ceilings, both old and new. There is a bathroom stuccoed with daisies, intricate glasswork and fragments of an imaginary chapel conceived by the renowned Italian
master of illusion, Renzo Mongiardino, which is now an artist’s studio. Tear your eyes away from Mattia Aquila’s photographs and you will find comparable treasures in Servane Giol’s text: an account
of a Serge Diaghilev-themed ball in the early 20th century, for which each guest was given their own little choreographed entrance; the birth of Fortuny fabrics; a recipe for dyeing your hair Venetian blonde; and details from the lives of four generations of Arrivabene women, whose beauty, charm and creativity has inspired poets
and portraitists. The myth-like Venice of opera and Carnival is explored, as is its position as host of world-famous biennales
of art, architecture and film. And the likes of composer Richard Wagner, art collector Peggy Guggenheim and socialite Daisy Fellowes appear alongside native Venetians, offering further inducement to ponder on what life in this city could be. Fiona McKenzie Johnston
39/40David Netto by David Netto (Vendome, £65)
This monograph by the New York-born and Los Angeles-based designer and writer David Netto is an interesting work. It is in the familiar structure of town/country/escape projects. But there, any similarity to what you might be used to seeing in a book about interior design ends. This is one to return to again and again. Why? First, the photographs leap off the page. They are dichotomous: both intimate and expansive as they set each scene. Secondly – and
equally significantly – the narratives that accompany the projects soar. When David details his own work, he is self-effacing,
warm-hearted, brutally honest and, almost always, completely assured. An added – and delightful variation – is when David’s projects are described with the help of a letter from one of his clients. For anyone who is interested in how a good, respectful relationship is forged between a client and an interior designer, these are a superb guide. When asked why he employed this device in the book, David says simply, ‘I didn’t want to be the only one talking.’ It is self-awareness at its best. A strong point of view with colour, shape and provenance in equal measure really comes through, but David does not mix for mixing’s sake. There are reasons why something ends up where it does. The designer both solves problems and is a champion assembler of what should be in a room,
and of a room, for the people who will live in it. He calls himself a ‘late bloomer’ as a decorator, but actually, with this book, it all feels right on time. Anne Hardy
40/40Country Life: Homes of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley by William Abranowicz with Zander Abranowicz (Vendome, £50)
A love letter to upstate New York, this visual feast sees the celebrated American interiors photographer William Abranowicz train his lens on a personal selection of houses in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley. As a local resident, the author is on home territory here, with artists, designers, architects, gardeners and friends opening their houses to his eye and his heart, if the essays introducing each house – written by William’s son Zander – are the measure. These words make for gentle and evocative writing that opens my eyes to why a particular house was selected and how it fits into the broader narrative of the region. Some begin as almost travelogues – what the conditions were on the day they visited or how it felt as the sweep of the drive revealed the house – but they go
on to introduce the photographs in a thoughtful, almost soulful way. Words and images are equal partners here; the spreads are left unfettered by any copy or commentary. And the photographs are breathtaking – clear captures of a way of life that is only a couple of hours’ drive north of New York City. A collective sentiment of realness permeates the book, as these houses are lived in by people with an authentic, personal style. Each project seems set against a
backdrop of reverence for the wild nature of the area; both its toughness (long winters and short summers) and its fragility. A favourite? Andrea Menke and Clark Sanders’ house in East Meredith. Built by Clark, it is described as his life’s work, with the stonework alone taking a decade. It is at once simple and soaring, but it is the way the essay frames its style – a promiscuous range of influences, somewhere between pagoda and chateau, with a dose of Gaudí and a dash of hobbit –that gets me. This book takes you up a hill (literally
as well as figuratively – the area it covers is one of the most mountainous in the Northeast), from which you gain a broad perspective of what a thoughtful life in the country might look and feel like. Anne Hardy
