New Adobe Home, The [Hardcover]

Michael Byrne (Author), Dottie Larson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2009

THE NEW ADOBE HOME PRESENTS THE SOPHISTICATED, elevated use of adobe through a variety of elegant homes in New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Mexico. These homes comprise a combination of history, furnishings, art, and interior and exterior spaces with adobe construction, adobe style, or detailing.
This beautiful volume features examples of luxurious adobe or adobe-style homes, including a centuries-old renovated hacienda, once the home of a past president of Mexico; a mid-century Clifford May masterpiece; a luxurious estate that pairs Southwestern style with Asian influences; a contemporary dwelling that sits like a sculpture in the Sonoran Desert; and many others.
Adobe is one of the "greenest" building materials available.
Because its components (earth, clay, and straw) are so readily available and it is very efficient to heat and cool, adobe has been used as a building material for thousands of years all around the world.
Half of the world's population lives in buildings constructed of earth.
Author tour in select cities.
Online marketing and promotions.
Print and web advertising campaign.
National broadcast and print publicity.
Co-op available.
Michael Byrne graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Architecture, and from the University of Arizona with a Master's in City Planning. Michael is a principal with The WLB Group, Inc., a Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Las Vegas firm offering planning, landscape architecture, and engineering services. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Dottie Larson completed an art degree at the University of Arizona, Tucson. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

t h e n e w a d o b e h o m e Michael Byrne and Dottie Larson photography by Amy Haskell Michael G. Byrne and Dottie Larson photography by Amy Haskell
The New Adobe Home presents the sophisticated, unusual use of adobe through a variety of exceptionally elegant homes in New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Mexico. Once considered a simple, utilitarian material suitable for only humble dwellings, adobe has the potential to be much more: it can be easily shaped into dramatic architectural features such as archways, niches, and fireplaces, and its natural color and texture can serve as a backdrop for sumptuous furnishings and art. Here, the notion of the "new adobe home" comprises a combination of furnishings, art, and interior and exterior spaces with adobe construction, adobe style, or detailing. Throughout the book are wonderful examples of sophisticated adobe or adobe-style homes, including a centuries-old renovated hacienda, once the home of a past president of Mexico; a mid-century Cliff May masterpiece; a luxurious estate that pairs Southwestern style with Asian influences; a contemporary dwelling that sits like a sculpture in the Sonoran Desert; and many others. Stunning photographs of each home are accompanied by an exploration of what makes the home special, unique, and worthy of the term "the new adobe home."
With a love of adobe buildings and design in general, Michael Byrne designed an adobe home for Dottie Larson and himself, creating a wonderful backdrop for her art as well as for other artists. Byrne graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in architecture, and from the University of Arizona with a master's in city planning. He is a principal with the WLB Group, Inc., a Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Las Vegas, Nevada, firm offering planning, landscape architecture, and engineering services. Dottie Larson earned a B.S. in psychology, University of Dayton, and completed an art major at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Her love of interior spaces and art has driven her to launch a new career in interior design with her own consulting business after almost thirty years as graphic design and graphic standards director at the University of Arizona, where she art-directed and designed publications, including award-winning posters, museum catalogues, and banners. Along with interior design, Larson is an artist and paints non-objective art, acrylic on canvas, large format.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHE R Amy Haskell dreamed of becoming a designer, but it was not until college that her focus changed from design to photography. Now she has been able to marry her two passions in a career of architectural photography. A long-time adobe devotee, Haskell lives in a seventy-five-year-old adobe home with her husband, Jim, and her dog, Elvis.

About the Author

Michael Byrne graduated from The University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Architecture, and from the University of Arizona with a Master's in City Planning.

Dottie Larson completed an art degree at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423602730
• ISBN-13: 978-1423602736
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #300,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary!, January 7, 2010

By 

Sharon L. Kha (tucson) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Adobe Home, The (Hardcover)

This book is a treasure, the kind you keep on a table beside your favorite chair and page through slowly, savoring the images and coming back to some pictures over and over again. The authors have an insightful way of taking us through houses that use adobe in ways that reveal its character and, in so doing, reveal the imagination of the architect and the people who live in these tranquil places.