A celebrated photographer focuses his lens on distinctive period and contemporary residences amid the natural beauty of New York’s Catskill Mountains and Hudson River Valley.
The majestic panoramas, lush vegetation, and bucolic vibe of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson River Valley in upstate New York have long proved irresistible for city dwellers seeking respite from urban life and inveterate country lovers alike. These homes, whether hundreds of years old or brand new, all resonate with their natural surroundings, as each of the 20 houses that photographer William Abranowicz captured for this volume attests.
They range from the historic houses of Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church, quintessential landscape painters of the Hudson River School, to the rustic wood-and-stone house of a dealer of mid-century furniture, art, and jewelry, in which the clean lines of Frank Lloyd Wright side tables and other mid-century furnishings are exuberantly contrasted by vibrant textiles and contemporary ceramics.
Perusing the pages of Country Life is the equivalent of taking a vacation and being warmly invited into the homes of artists, architects, writers, museum curators, dancers, photographers, antiques dealers, set designers, a social worker, a yogi, and even a hall-of-fame BBQ chef.
Full-color photographs throughout
Praise
"A love letter to upstate New York . . . the photographs are breathtaking . . . gentle and evocative writing. A collective sentiment of realness permeates the book, as these houses are lived in by people with an authentic, personal style."
—House & Garden, Rose Washbourn
"It just might make you want to move upstate yourself."
—Design Hunting, New York Magazine, Wendy Goodman
"William Abranowicz’s new book explores distinctive period and contemporary residences amid the natural beauty of Upstate New York. . . . Highlights include the Germantown residence of artist Melora Kuhn, the modernist Catskills house of architect Alan Wanzenberg and landscape architect Peter Kelly, and the capacious Beacon studio of twins Doug and Mike Starn."
—Galerie Magazine, Geoffrey Montes
"Abranowicz’s artistic images transcend the usual home decor book, and he asserts as much in discussing the book: 'I’m less interested in design than the spirit of the house. Design is always important—that’s why these houses were chosen—but it was their spirit I hoped to capture.'"
—Upstate House
