Getaways : Carefree Retreats for All Seasons

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Getaways : Carefree Retreats for All Seasons Overview

A haven, a retreat, a special place that offers a sense of sanctuary--this is a getaway. And as Chris Casson Madden discovers in her beautiful new book, a getaway can be found in myriad forms and in varied locations. Whether it's a log cabin in the mountains, an elegant villa by the sea, or even a cozy suburban house lived in year-round, a true getaway encourages family gatherings and personal renewal.
        
In Getaways: Carefree Retreats for All Seasons, Chris celebrates the easygoing spirit that creates such havens. She uncovers a harbor hideaway on a New England island, a one-room cottage by the race tracks of Saratoga Springs, a sleek farmhouse in the Malibu hills, and a Hudson Valley treehouse built for two little girls by their father. Other delightful retreats include a fragrant garden arbor in a Long Island backyard, a fifty-year-old yacht moored off the coast of California, and Chris's own stone house in the suburbs of New York. She visits the private escapes of renowned architects, designers, and artists, as well as the weekend homes of Katie Couric, Michael Keaton, and Toni Morrison. Along the way, Chris discusses the importance of creating a getaway to our physical and spiritual well-being. She also reveals the simple design elements that can inspire a feeling of comfort and warmth in any house.
        
In describing her rebuilt boathouse, Toni Morrison speaks of "a vision of a place you've had in your mind and when you find yourself there, you recognize it." With more than two hundred glorious photographs, Getaways captures the essence of that vision and encourages readers to add its richness to their own homes.

Getaways : Carefree Retreats for All Seasons Specifications

Whether it's a weekend home, a shady retreat out in the garden, or just the memory of a summer spent at the beach, many of us associate a specific place with a feeling of getting away from it all. It's a place one goes to feel removed from the stresses of modern life and leaves feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

Of course, your idea of a getaway depends on your definition of relaxation, and Chris Casson Madden's Getaways serves up a variety of exemplary, sometimes lavish, retreats, such as a 58-foot boat; a family farm with a menagerie of horses, ducks, geese, and goats; and a compound in the Hudson River Valley with its own natural waterfall. Several celebrity getaways are featured as well, including Michael Keaton's cabin on his Montana dude ranch, a boathouse on the Hudson River that serves as Toni Morrison's creative inspiration, and Katie Couric's country home.

Not all of Casson's getaways are the typical weekend or summer homes. Some are year-round retreats or even special rooms within a home. Donna Kaplan's re-created 19th-century French bathroom, with its antique glass perfume bottles, tapered candles, and fireplace, leaves her well rested after a long soak in the cast-iron tub. Lynn von Kersting and Richard Irving's Sunset Boulevard home has a pool and a porch filled with bohemian furnishings, cozy paper lanterns and candles, and lush tropical flowers and plants--a perfect spot for entertaining friends. Bob Levenson's garden getaway is a backyard arbor consisting of four intertwined gingko trees layered with clematis and climbing roses.

These imaginatively decorated and diverse retreats should inspire those with beach houses, cabins, and the like to consider how the elements of a "getaway" can be incorporated into their second home. And those currently without a getaway may be motivated to simply set aside a room or space outdoors that can serve as a sanctuary from busy otherworlds. --Kris Law

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