Product Description

Since the opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821, the town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been a rich source of original American design. Santa Fe Style explores the beginnings and current forms of this exciting design tradition, from the ancient inspiration of the Canyon de Chelly to the innovations of Frank Lloyd Wright and contemporary passive-solar architects. The elements of style for which the area is known-- warm adobe brick, simple hand-carved furnishings, rough-hewn beams, Indian pottery, Navajo rugs, and colorful folk sculpture-- are all beautifully photographed in over 450 illustrations.

A community of fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, Santa Fe has had an impact on American culture far greater than its size. The Spanish colonists who founded the town in 1608 adapted their European tradition to the Pueblo Indian building materials and methods, creating an architecture that is unique in the world. The trade routes and the opening of the railroad brought ranchers and farmers from the East; and spectacular surroundings of mountains and high desert drew twentieth-century writers and artists from D. H. Lawrence to Georgia O'Keeffe. Each new wave of settlers added to the Santa Fe legend and the Santa Fe style.

Here is not only the romance of Santa Fe, but the irresistible appeal of its lifestyle-- a casual elegance enlivened by a dynamic, ever-changing mixture of the old and the new, the West and the East, the plain and the sophisticated. In addition to the wide range of design ideas offered by the illustrations is a list of sources directing readers to Santa Fe merchants and services.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1032021 in Books
• Published on: 1993-04-15
• Released on: 1993-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 264 pages

About the Author
Christine Mather is former curator of Spanish Colonial Art at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe and the author of Baroque to Folk: de lo Barroco o lo Popular and Colonial Frontiers: Art and Life in Spanish New Mexico, as well as articles in numerous periodicals, including Antiques. She lives in Santa Fe.

Sharon Woods is a designer and partner in Robert A. Woods Construction, which has built and renovated many Santa Fe homes. She is active in Santa Fe design circles, and is a member of the Historic Design Review Board. Her 1983 restoration of the Professor J. A. Wood home won the Historical Society of New Mexico Award. She lives in Santa Fe.

Paul Hardy was formerly art director of Attenzione magazine and has been a leading editorial and book designer for many years. His book designs include Pierre Deux's French Country. Jack Parsons, a Santa Fe resident, is a film maker and photographer, whose work has been included in Cowboy and New Mexico USA. Robert Reck is a leading architectural photographer in New Mexico who has been published in many magazines.

Customer Reviews

Real disappointment. Book filled with black & white photos.
Santa Fe decorating style is an inviting decor which overlaps several regions with warmth and a comfort feeling. Although this book, SANTA FE STYLE, has an inviting cover and beautiful color photographs, it is filled with black and white photos of interiors as well...too many for the cost of this book. Overall has a "dated" look to it, oversized fonts and poor use of white space, and photos are often lost in the center bindings...all a major distraction to this book. Consider Mexican Country Style by Witnyski & Carr.

A New Appreciation.
This book is a good introduction to the Santa Fe Style, and covers all aspects of it from historical to the present. There are lots of great colour photo's and lots of old B&W photo's also. I just bought the book for information on the famous Boulder House, but after reading it I came away with more of an appreciation of the architecture, interiors, and culture of Santa Fe.

Perspective ethnostylistical historical than architectural
Expected far more architectural and design illustrations from this book. It is 70% concerned with cultural interior design, furnishings and decoration. Only a small chapter devoted to the "Santa Fe Style home." It is a high quality book but not at all what I was looking for.