BELLAS ARTES

A new tower stands out against the city skyline: the Unipol Tower designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, an internationally renowned architecture studio based in Milan and Bologna. The Unipol Tower is a 124-meter elliptical tower in the Porta Nuova area, in the heart of the city. Made from glass and steel, it has a glasshouse on the rooftop serving as a cultural venue. Commissioned by Unipol, the leading Italian insurance company, the tower looks beyond the corporate identity and headquarters of Unipol and has been acclaimed as one of the most advanced architecture projects ever created.

This debut volume presents several extraordinary homes, ranging from a stone-clad villa in Austin to a casual seaside retreat to an art-filled family compound, each of which gracefully balances high style with easygoing comfort. Mohon draws on the heritage of the Mediterranean world to fashion living environments that transport their occupants to an enchanted realm far removed from day-to-day concerns. Intimate foyers beckon from behind carved wooden doors, dining rooms boast dramatically embellished chandeliers suspended above sleekly simple tables, and sitting rooms entice with luxurious blends of color, texture, and furnishings both modern and antique.

With new photographs of houses steeped in the period revival tradition, from 1838 to today, not since Rizzoli’s Santa Barbara Style (2001) has a book so eloquently captured the distinctive splendor of this seaside paradise. Known worldwide for the Santa Barbara style, the town epitomizes a type of building at once elegant and suffused with poetry. At its heart is the historic downtown, featuring white-washed Mediterranean-style stucco buildings with tile roofs and the iconic Santa Barbara Mission of 1786, whose austere beauty set the tone for all that followed. From its earliest days, the influence of this place has been felt and has since radiated across the sunbelt; it continues to be a model of emulation and inspiration. But it is the houses and the dream of living in Santa Barbara and its sister communities of Ojai, Carpinteria, Summerland, Goleta, and Montecito that casts the most profound spell.