NOVEDADES

In the early 1960s a reawakening was happening on Nantucket. Into this world stepped Andy Oates and Bill Euler, one skilled in fine arts and the other in the art of hospitality. In 1968 they opened Nantucket Looms, which specialized in needlepoint, crewelwork, handwoven fabrics, and local artwork, forging their Nantucket style aesthetic. This modest homespun charm held great appeal to such style makers as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Bunny Mellon, and interior designer Billy Baldwin.

With an in-depth knowledge of periods and styles, Watson is known for his meticulously researched designs. His rooms always make architectural sense and his work is often inspired by collaborations with architects. Watson strives to uncover and recognize the special qualities found in historic structures and furnishings, and to preserve them while moving them forward into the present. Watson’s interiors are noted for their calm and lightness of being, which he achieves through a gracious sense of proportion and a harmonious continuity via subtle repetitions in color, pattern, material, and silhouette.

Following her success with Nora Murphy’s Country House Style, Murphy celebrates a selection of homes and their homeowners, each exemplifying a different style. For Nora Murphy, a country house isn’t so much a place as it is a state of mind. A country house is warm, welcoming—at once down to earth, yet elegant. A country house has genuine character, tells a story, and is truly, wonderfully lived in. Here Murphy explores the tenets of country house style, as illustrated by her own “new” country house, and the many other striking homes she has curated for the book. Each one of these homeowners has embraced country house style—but each implements it in their own unique way. There is a pastoral 1732 center-chimney colonial in Connecticut nestled in spectacular gardens, a cozy cottage on the coast of Maine rich with local details, and an 1840s Greek Revival in the Hudson Valley filled with romantic Victorian ephemera. Common threads weave through the stories: the thrill of the antiques hunt, the role of history, and the priority of comfort.