Villa by John Saladino

John Saladino's powerful new book, Villa, is nothing less than a master class in interior and garden design by one of the world's most distinguished architectural designers.

It focuses on the stone ruin in the California hills looking over the Pacific that he has painstakingly refashioned as his dream house. It shows how his principles and passions guided him through the five-year process of reconstruction, restoration and decoration of the house and its gardens.

With the aid of groundplans, drawings, photographs of the house in the 1920s, as it looked when he first bought it and during reconstruction, the author traces the architectural work involved.

Then, in a superbly illustrated tour of the house and grounds, he proves that he practices what he has preached for more than thirty years. He juxtaposes light and dark, old and new, classical and modern, monumental and miniscule, hard and soft, to create the serenely timeless interiors and gardens that are his hallmark.

Included with the book is a DVD tour of the house and garden, with a commentary by the author.

Reviews.

The infrared photos Mr Saladino includes among the colour ones are ghostly and lovely, and Mr Saladino's interiors are as painterly as ever. - New York Times

The volume - "lavish" is an insufficient adjective - ought to inspire anyone planning a move, but, we warn you, it sets the bar very high. - Times

Part of the pleasure of Villa is the detail - every photograph is carefully captioned giving an idea or a lesson, from a master craftesman. - Daily Telegraph