Art of the House: Reflections on Design

If this book were a person, I would describe it as: nice-looking, bright, but odd. As in, perhaps, there's been a little too much time spent navel-gazing.McAlpine's previous book, "The Home Within us" was excellent, romantic in flavor, and seemed right on the mark. This effort, in collaboration with interior designer Susan Ferrier seems to be working too hard to be something else and what "it" is isn't clear.The book has essentially two story lines going that the authors weave together. The first is a series of still life photographs created with disparate objects purportedly representing the yin/yang of their design philosophy and process. They are handsome, cerebral, esoteric. These still life photos are, according to the authors, also specifically reflective of the five houses presented (the second story line), all of which were designed by McAlpine on contiguous lakeside plots with interiors by Ferrier. The resulting architecture, while individual, clearly shares the same DNA while the interiors are understandably more distinct. We aren't given a great deal of access to the external architecture; the focus is on the interior architecture and design. While two of the houses (McAlpine's being one) are engaging and reminiscent of the projects presented in the earlier book, the remaining three really fail to pass the "So what?" test.Peppering the commentary-style text are quite a number of highlighted statements meant to be profound or even poetic, but these tend to fall flat. One such gusher: "White transports us to an innocent age. As pure and wholesome as milk..." Really? Bathroom tissue is white, garbage bags are white, FedEx trucks are white. I'm not feeling particularly transported, or for that matter, wholesome.The pair speaks of drawing from the five senses and four natural elements to experience created spaces. Emphasis is given to the energy created by contrast and there are several notable examples: a highbrow gold-leafed Venetian bench that curves its way to a dark-stained raw saw-cut floor beside a structural column (actually some sort of utility pole) washed in translucent gray paint. Another shows the view through a large multi-paned window to sunlight reflecting on the lake from the shadowy interior made more enveloping by a wall hung with dark mohair curtains. Beyond those few photos, others might be best categorized as "nice" but most fail to elicit real enthusiasm.In the end, it's an elegantly-finished volume, refreshingly intimate in size, with excellent photography. But I'm not sure it's quite ready for prime time or, perhaps, prime time isn't quite ready for it.

I love the cover of this book. I have it on top of another on a table and it’s gorgeous! But the beautiful home interiors inside are so pleasing to the eye and inspiring.

While I live on Lake Martin, and am great admirer of Mr. McAlpine's designs, I wasn't blown away with this book. The pictures of some the interiors are lovely, but so not my taste. Lake Martin is beautiful and deserves a great backdrop, but I don't think it calls for the darkness of some of these interiors. It reminds me of those minimalistic interiors that just make me tense looking at them. Some of the commentary, while thoughtful, seems to border on naval gazing and feels a bit full of itself. It's obvious that on a lake that one would lean towards a rustic interior, and I would imagine that most of the interiors on the lake reflect this. And no, it doesn't have to be lake tacky either. Rustic elegance, but isn't that what would be expected in $1M+ houses located on Lake Martin. No surprises here.

I'm a huge McAlpine/Ferrier fan, but this book isn't nearly the book "The Home Within Us" is. It's a little TOO poetic, and definitely focuses more on interiors than architecture - which isn't all bad, it's just not what I expected. I pre-ordered it months ago and had forgotten about it, so when it arrived I was very excited, but then somewhat disappointed.

This is just a bizarre book. While the quality of the photos are superbthe subject matter is about light/dark and mixing odds things togetherfor a "still life". Not at all what I expected and am returning the book.Really like McAlpine's work and enjoyed his first book but this one isvery disappointing.

Beautiful bookPerfect for coffee table display

Disappointing. I’m a fan of Bobby McAlpine’s work but the written content is pompous and full of fluff. It was not as helofuor inspiring like his previous work.

A master architect with an ever evolving sense of design, tempered with a sense of continuity, and guided by a refined yet casually elegant perspective. Another wonderful addition to a growing library of impeccable home design by a renowned architect!