Family Houses by the Sea

I received this book for my birthday last year and still enjoy looking at it. In fact, I was getting ready to order it for a friend for the holidays when I saw an earlier review of this book that also mentioned another vacation home book called Second Home, I bought it, too. I highly recommend both books. This is wonderful dream book, as is Second Home. Second Home also includes pointers (throughout the book) on deciding where you might want to have a second home, real estate shopping tips, and ideas on building and decorating, too. Second Home is as inspiring as Family Houses by the Sea, but it offers the bonus of being practical and talking directly to me about what I can do to actually realize my dream of having a weekend house.

And therein lies the beauty of this book. Yes, some of the homes are older & some are rustic-but there's the sleek & contemporary too. In other words, something for everyone who loves to live by the water (or wishes they did). Buy this book to appreciate the different ways to express loving the natural light & atmosphere in a home that is reflective of the sea. You may not get Decorating Lessons 1-100 - but thats not the point. You can escape thru this book, dream thru it, share it, admire those who have created beautiful spaces in beautiful places - without displaying every obvious "seaside" nic-nac but with much good taste & class. Buy it for those pleasures & of knowing that kind of life does exist & can be lived by those to whom it means the most. To the authors - a beautiful volumn - thank you for seeking these places out & creating an arm chair trip to some incredibly beautiful spots by the water.

A beautiful book that captures what it feels, smells and looks like to live by the sea. If you want glitzy resort style houses then this book is not for you. The houses shown are not show cases for a glossy magazine but places filled with memories and life. It's my favourite beach house book.

This book was my inspiration for a beach house I just finished completely cosmetically rehabilitating. The book took me all the way through the process by stimulating me with the beautiful visuals of its photos. I would look through it repeatedly, looking one time at flooring, another at windows, and so on, depending on where I was in my rehab process. I can't imagine it not being a superb stimulus for anyone.

I read a previous review and agree that this book is beautiful -- I have given 2 copies as gifts to friends -- but it can make you crazy unless you can bring the look home. I can't live by the sea now, so I'm supplementing this book with a decorating book called Cottage Style which is all about decorating with such vacation-home looks in mind.