LA DOLFINA

I have recently had the pleasure of previewing several new book releases and wanted to share a bit about them with you as it's never too early to start that Christmas shopping and there is no better gift than a great book, n'est pas? First up is...  A HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY Written by renowned architect Peter Pennoyer and his highly sought after interior designer wife, Katie Ridder, this book tells the story of building their dream house. They spent years looking for the perfect canvas  which they found in a narrow, overgrown 6.5 acre parcel of land in Millbrook, New York. Over the course of several years they transformed the property resulting in an exhuberant, one of a kind Greek Revival-inspired house with woodland and flower gardens that looks as if its always been there nestled amid the gently rolling hills and farms of the surrounding area. It's often said that an architect or designer's best work is seen in his or he...

All it took was one look at this cover with those amazing parasols in their elephant stands set against a background of glorious glossy green palms and I was promptly whisked away to the wonderful whimsical world of Palm Beach Chic! This gorgeous book arrived on my doorstep this afternoon and I simply could not put it down! I was transfixed by the exuberance and creativity exhibited within its pages. As Jennifer Ash Ruddick writes in the Introduction, "These homes and their magnificent gardens aren't slavish copies of interior design magazines or decorators' dictates but testaments to what can be achieved when inspired by the natural beauty of a unique locale and when imagination is one's only limitation." One of the homes featured, Old Bethesda-By-The-Sea, is where Interior Designer Celerie Kemble grew up! I wholeheartedly agree with her! I think I must have lived a prior life in Palm Beach because this fanciful, whimsica...