California Cottage Style

A beautiful book. This book is fairly thin; about a half-inch, but not at all skimpy. It includes a very nice range of gorgeous cottage style homes against a sunny California theme. The homes are a nice range of styles from near-log cabin to rustic stone. Landscaping is also shown to good effect. The California title suggests a bit of Disneyland, but much of the architecture and terrain reminded me more of northern California around say, Big Sur country. A very nice book.

I never thought a design book would become one of my all-time favorites...but this book is the exception. If you're ready to curl up with a warm cup of tea, a lap blanket and an exceptionally good book, filled with wonderful photographs of charming cottages...this is your ticket. I could not put it down until well past midnight, when I had read it cover-to-cover. Even now I go back to it once a week for enjoyment and inspiration. It makes you really think about the kind of home you want to live in with the people you love most and the kind of home you want your children to remember their childhood in. [Warning: It will make the big, boxy, look-alike, "I've finally made it!", homes you see now even uglier!]

Nine different California communities of well-loved cottages through photographs are accompanied by text to reflect a time, a place, and a need for shelter, as well as available building materials, traditions and collective memories of their builders and owners in this charming 144 page book. You can understand the duel forces of the charm and challenges of cottage living from brilliant photography and text with intense vibrant historic detail.

Superb descriptive writing, delicate exposure of photography, this book is a must for those articulately inbued with historic archectural dignity. Nine prominent California style cottages are revealed with discriminating taste.

Great coverage on all of the cottage styles.