California Wine Country: Interior Design, Architecture, and Style (Hardcover)

by Diane Dorrans Saeks (Author), Alan Weintraub (Photographer), Robert Mondavi (Foreword) "It's hard to believe that Wade and Myra Hoefer's urbane loft is just a few steps from Healdsburg's bustling town square and in the heart..." (more)
Key Phrases: decorative accessories, wine country, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
True to the sense of bounty and calm that the California wine regions convey, Diane Dorrans Saeks writes, "Wine Country life is private, peaceful, undisturbed. Rural bliss soothes the mind. The Wine Country encourages simple wonder and gratitude." The inhabitants of the idyllic properties presented in California Wine Country must feel grateful indeed. This unbelievably seductive book of heavenly hideaways is divided into five sections: "Classic," "Poetic," "Rustic," "Collectors," and "Weekends." The Santa Ynez, Russian River, and Alexander Valley regions are explored, as well as the more well-known Napa and Sonoma areas.

Saeks sought out creative people--artists and art dealers, designers, restaurateurs--whose houses range from a splendid Venetian villa near Calistoga to a 12-by-16-foot tent (furnished with antiques) on the edge of a peaceful Sonoma lake. The interiors are magazine-perfect (not a cell phone or fax machine in sight) and true to the prevailing architecture, whether angular and austere or funky adobe. There is a Mediterranean-inspired lusciousness in every photograph: grapes spill from the vines covering a patio, rambler roses cover a wooden gate, and doorways invariably open onto hillside vistas complete with blue sky. The directory at the book's end includes design and furnishings stores, as well as bookstores with good design sections, kitchen equipment stores, and restaurant, hotel, and winery recommendations.

Review
By Cathleen Medwick

Diane Dorrans Saeks and photographer AlanWeintraub spent almost a year researching this understandably convivial book. Wine country has become a chic address for vintners as well as for fast-rooting nongrowers. House styles range from a hand-hewn barn whisked from the New Hampshire hills to the Santa Ynez valley to a colonial Australian farmhouse in Los Olivos. Interiors, whether rustic or refined, inevitably offer a place to sit and drink in the glories of the land.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811815013
• ISBN-13: 978-0811815017
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #721,498 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An architect's opinion of this book, May 4, 2000

By A Customer

This book is a beautiful presentation of Interior (and outdoor) Design, but little true architecture. Most of the profiled homes appear as sets in a film and seem unrealistic as full time residences. As an architect, I will admit that most are wonderful, humanly scaled spaces. I'm not sure why the wine country is profiled-- other than the budgets are fat there. Overall, the book is worth the price.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice start - but barely a beginning, September 5, 2003

By	James Preston "Jim Preston" (Santa Clara, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ms. Saeks did a reasonable job, but the book is close to worthless if you want to design your house in a recognizable California Wine Country style. Katya and I suggest developing a color palette from the book, but after tens of hours of studying it we can not determine a quantifiable style. Consider this book as a raw first start; a survey of modest importance. The interiors are all over the map. The only commonality is their location in California. Worth buying - yes, but only to understand the diversity possible. Is a more serious study necessary - yes. California wine country is a combination of Tuscan, Provencal, and Spanish Colonial/Early California, with Asian influences. Themes and moods vary. Pretty much freestyle designing. However, certain rules will give you a recognizable style. We're working on it.

- Jim and Katya Preston

4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous source books, January 1, 2009

By	Sarah Klacka (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the best things about this book is that it covers a range of different types of houses, from modern to Tuscan to rural country, all within the same general color palette and sharing some elements of the wine country style. The Tuscan homes featured, my personal favorites, are truly spectacular and the photography is detailed enough that there are plenty of elements to be used for inspiration if not down-right copied!

Visually gorgeous from start to finish even in the styles that may not be your favorites, combines to make a great picture of wine-country style. Warm, relaxing, elegant.