This sumptuous and comprehensive volume embraces one of the most beloved
house forms, the Spanish Colonial Revival, presenting at once a lavish
portrait of the style as well as the definitive statement on the subject
through more than three hundred color photographs.
The Spanish style in architecture encompasses facets from a vast array
of traditions, many of which are in evidence in these extraordinary
houses. Elements include thickset, whitewashed stucco walls, deeply
recessed doors, lushly planted courtyard gardens, intricate and colorful
tile work, telescoping towers inset with Juliet balconies, elaborately
traced wrought-iron window grilles, and richly appointed interiors
heightened by drama in light and shadow cast by moody pendant lamps and
low-burning fires. The houses featured are the very best of the type,
both famous and little-known, and showcase the work of architects such
as George Washington Smith, Bertram Goodhue, Wallace Neff, and Paul
Williams, from the early twentieth century, to the work of contemporary
practitioners, including Marc Appleton, Michael Burch Architects, and
others. These homes are a fantasy for living made real in the Southern
California sun.