FALL FOR THESE COFFEE-TABLE BOOKS
some that hearken back to another time. Bonus: Chan allows readers to explore the insides of the homes they come with as well.
WHITE HOUSES
BY PHILIP JODIDIO Thames & Hudson; $50; 288 pp.
Fans of modern architecture will enjoy Philip Jodidio’s “White Houses,” a tour through more than 40 of the world’s most interesting homes that happen to be white. Modernism is slowly growing in the American realestate market, but elsewhere, it’s eagerly embraced. Though nearly half of the book’s featured homes are in Europe, there are some unexpected finds, too: an unusual stack of boxes in Iran, another in South Korea that looks like an oversized playhouse and one in Israel that looks like it’s wrapped in lattice.
FRENCH REFRESHED
BY BETTY LOU PHILLIPS Gibbs Smith;
$50; 240 pp.
You might think that Francophile Betty Lou Phillips had run out of angles on French design. Her 14th book, “French Refreshed,” revisits the luxury and sophistication of King Louis XIV and his descendants and shows the ways it is incorporated into 21st-century American décor. A 1750 Louis XV commode or 19th-century French painting in a gilt frame still can make its way into homes striving for a more contemporary mix. Powder rooms are another great place to go Francaise, using little color, fabulous wallpaper and an artful mirror.
CABIN STYLE
BY CHASE REYNOLDS EWALD AND AUDREY HALL Gibbs Smith; $50; 224 pp.
Big skies and vast wilderness fill the pages of Chase Reynolds Ewald’s and Audrey Hall’s “Cabin Style,” a book whose simple title undersells the beauty in its 224 pages. These amazing homes in the American West are filled with rough hewn logs, wood floors and big stone fireplaces, and the décor adds to the sense of place. Windows look out onto grassy plains or wooded lots, and nearly every one has a view of a mountain range. Maybe it’s time for a vacation.
NEW ORLEANS: AN INTIMATE JOURNEY THROUGH A CITY WITH SOUL
Images Publishing; $50; 288 pp.
A city’s architecture says much about its history, and in New Orleans it shows us the evolution of needs and wants, materials and manpower, culture and class. In his new book, Geoffrey H. Baker shows the enduring soul of this historic place, even after Hurricane Katrina delivered so much damage. Baker finds beauty in mossy, above-ground crypts, charm in shotgun-style homes and, of course, grandeur in the European influences in the French Quarter and the Garden District.