Casa San Miguel: Inspired Design and Decorations [Hardcover]

Annie Kelly (Author), Tim Street-Porter (Photographer), Jorge Almada (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

San Miguel de Allende, one of the prettiest destinations in Mexico, has become a fabulous source for stylish decorating ideas as many international designers are flocking to this artistic mecca. Acclaimed architectural photographer Tim Street-Porter and style writer Annie Kelly take us on an insider’s tour, from stately rural haciendas and villas to renovated colonial townhouses. Featured are more than 250 glorious photographs of residences that show a blending of local crafts and handiwork with antiques and contemporary furnishings. Beautiful outdoor entertaining and garden areas enliven many of the houses. With a foreword by Jorge Almada of Casamidy, a design company based in San Miguel, Casa San Miguel is a unique inspirational design resource. It provides a vicarious look at daily life in this picturesque Mexican town that is attracting many international trendsetters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Street-Porter's photographs imply a serene neverland where time itself seems to have dozed off on a dreamy afternoon." ~Su Casa

"Though some of Street-Porter's photographs are of the Architectural Digest variety, his forays into the idiosyncratic are delightful...Images explode off the pages with the colors of Mexico." ~LA Times

"Readers get a look at statuary brightly painted walls, courtyards, gardens, roofs, rustic architectural gems and a lot more. The photos of sunlit, colorful homes against bright blue skies are stunningly beautiful." ~Newsday

“The tour of the historic town, home to many artisans as well as American expatriates, runs the range from old villas to contemporary townhouses. Readers get a look at statuary, brightly painted walls, courtyards, gardens, roofs, rustic architectural gems and a lot more. The photos of sunlit, colorful homes against bright blue skies are stunningly beautiful.” ~The New Hampshire Union Leader

About the Author

Annie Kelly is a well-known decorator and journalist who has been featured in such publications as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Vogue Living, and The World of Interiors. She is the author of Casa Mexicana Style and Rooms to Inspire: Decorating with America’s Best Designers. Kelly and her husband, Tim Street-Porter, live and work in Los Angeles and Connecticut. Tim-Street-Porter is an award-winning architectural photographer, whose books include Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847830446
• ISBN-13: 978-0847830442
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 1.1 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author Annie Kelly is also a decorator, design writer, and magazine editor.
With her husband, photographer Tim Street-Porter, she is based in Los Angeles, and has a second home two hours outside of New York in Litchfield, Connecticut.
Born in Australia, Kelly first trained as an artist. In 1993 she started work in Los Angeles as a decorator, and her projects have been published in a variety of design magazines: House and Garden, House Beautiful, Australian Vogue Living, Elle Decor, Metropolitan Home, English House and Garden, Traditional Home, Country Living and World of Interiors. Kelly's renovation of Frank Lloyd Wright's La Miniatura in Pasadena was featured as a cover story in Architectural Digest. She is currently working on several decorating projects in New York and Los Angeles.
In the 1990s she was a contributing editor on House & Garden (USA), and worked as a stylist on shoots for them, as well as Town and Country, Western Interiors and many others.
Kelly's design work has been featured in numerous books including three written and photographed by her husband Tim Street-Porter. They are Freestyle (Stewart Tabori and Chang,) Casa Mexicana (Stewart Tabori and Chang) and The Los Angeles House (Clarkson Potter.)

She has been a guest in the past on many decorating television shows, and apart from her books, writes about design and decoration for national magazines both here and in other countries. These include World of Interiors, the Robb Report, German Architectural Digest, and Belle magazine in Australia. She is also an editor of the twice-yearly New York Observer Home magazine.
Kelly is currently reviewing design books for the on-line website magazine "Introspective," at the furniture-selling website 1stdibs.com where she writes for a weekly column called "Required Reading," as well as putting together designer profiles for "Style Compass." Her next book will be Litchfield County Style also for Rizzoli.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I paid for a lavish ad, September 2, 2008

By 

Ellen M. Shapiro (Irvington, New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casa San Miguel: Inspired Design and Decorations (Hardcover)

I realize that many Americans live in San Miguel and have been restoring houses, and that it is increasingly home to an international design community. However, it soon became apparent that this book is largely an expensive and lavish ad for the work of Anne-Marie Midy and Casamidy furniture, which nearly every home features. Publishers should be more responsible and not allow books to become blatant self-promotions. I wish more of it were like the final "Elementos," section, which features walls, courtyards and architectural details that seem to more genuinely reflect the rich design heritage of the area -- rather than being re-interpreted by North American and European designers (as talented and culturally sensitive as those designers may be).

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author response, April 2, 2008

By 

Annie Kelly (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Casa San Miguel: Inspired Design and Decorations (Hardcover)

Mexico is famous for color. Especially the colorful town of San Miguel, with its walls of reds, yellows and pinks. But step inside and you will find their interiors are mostly white. Even the vividly painted houses of famous architects Luis Barragan and Ricardo Legoretta have few interior wall colors-a hot pink passage, around an indoor swimming pool, or perhaps as an accent wall. Instead, Mexicans bring color inside with fabrics, painted furniture, textiles,ceramics, flowers, bright tablecloths and napkins-even Mexican food!
This book has hundreds of interior design ideas, including color-but even though there are plenty of colorful exteriors, the inventive and inspirational Mexican interiors are the focus here.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A more refined side of San Miguel..., May 3, 2008

By 

Rick L. Hall (Galveston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casa San Miguel: Inspired Design and Decorations (Hardcover)

It was interesting to find a little controversy among the submitted reviews, and that alone was reason for me to immediately purchase CASA SAN MIGUEL. With my own copy in hand, I soon discovered houses, interiors and gardens not previously photographed---yet another reason to buy this book. It is a quieter palette found here, drawing from historic churches, weathered haciendas, and authentic materials. For me, CASA SAN MIGUEL is more of a lovely whisper rather than a Viva Mexico shout, and a welcome addition to my design library. Submitted by Debra Hall.