Product Description

In their third book, authors/designers Karen Witynski and Joe P. Carr forage through the mountains of Mexico and the deserts of the American Southwest in celebration of the strength and wonder of adobe design style. From its humble beginnings to its present-day renaissance, Casa Adobe unearths the homes, haciendas, and holiday getaways that have blended handcrafted details, natural materials, and cross-cultural furnishings to express the elegant simplicity of adobe living.

Stunning photographs reveal the textures of both traditional and modern homes and the unique marriages between adobe's ancient simplicity and homeowners' eclectic global treasures. The interior design elements-hand-wrought iron chandeliers, punched tin and copper sconces, painted Mexican-country furniture, early American antiques, Navajo textiles, African folk art, contemporary paintings, New Mexican retablos and Pueblo pottery-are at happy communion inside the comfortable surrounds of adobe.

Award-winning authors of The New Hacienda and Mexican Country Style Karen Witynski and Joe P. Carr were awarded the spring 2000 Pluma de Plata (Silver Pen) from Mexico's Ministry of Tourism. They have been at the forefront of the Mexican design movement for over twenty-five years as designers, importers, and antique dealers.

Based in Austin, Texas, Witynski and Carr are the owners of Texture Antiques, a gallery specializing in Mexican furniture, architectural elements, contemporary art, and accents.

Individually, Witynski writes on home and garden design for national publications, including This Old House magazine, and Carr designs furniture from recycled Mexican wood.

Together, they divide their time between their Austin, Texas home and the Yucatan Hacienda.

a> Please visit the author's website for more information on this wonderful book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #780578 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From the Inside Flap
Adobe is an old tradition with a new future. In their third book, authors/designers Karen Witynski and Joe P. Carr forage through the mountains of Mexico and the deserts of the American Southwest in celebration of the strength and wonder of adobe design style. From its humble beginnings to its present-day renaissance, Casa Adobe unearths the homes, haciendas, and holiday getaways that have blended handcrafted details, natural materials, and cross-cultural furnishings to express the elegant simplicity of adobe living.

From rugged thick-walled haciendas in Mexico to a Texas for-turned-luxury ranch and a Cuernavaca spa retreat, the seductions of adobe dwellings are many--sculptural walls with contoured corners and softly flowing lines; fireplaces that replace traditional corners with warmth and grace; carved nichos for displaying artworks; ceilings of hearty exposed vigas; earthen floors hand-troweled to a smooth finish; hand-carved Mexican doors; gleaming Saltillo tiles; stone-paved courtyards; stepped walls that hide reflecting pools; and breezy portales that welcome the outdoors. Adobe's capacity to incorporate nature almost seamlessly is a prominent feature of its design, as evidenced in a Santa Fe home through which an acequia, or irrigation stream escorts visitors through it front entrance gallery.

In vivid detail, Carr and Witynski's stunning photographs reveal the textures of both traditional and modern homes and the unique marriages between adobe's ancient simplicity and homeowner's eclectic global treasures. The interior design elements--hand-wrought iron chandeliers, punched tin and copper sconces, painted Mexican-country furniture, early American antiques, Navajo textiles, African folk art, contemporary paintings, New Mexican retablos and Pueblo pottery--are at happy communion inside the comfortable surrounds of adobe.

Heralding the revival of adobe and celebrating its rugged romantic design aesthetic, Casa Adobe traces the roots and reaches of earthen buildings in their many architectural forms, including rammed-earth homes. An extensive resource and travel guide completes the authors' visual journey and invites readers to discover home furnishing sources, haciendas, dude ranches, spas, and hotels that embrace the spirit, design, and huge details of the adobe lifestyle.

About the Author
Award-winning authors Karen Witynski and Joe P. Carr have been at the forefront of the Mexican design movement for over twenty-five years as interior designers and antiques dealers. Their Mexican design book series includes six titles: Mexican Country Style, The New Hacienda, Casa Adobe, Adobe Details, Casa Yucatan, and Mexican Details. Based in Austin, Texas, Carr and Witynski are the owners of Texture Antiques, an interior design firm and gallery specializing in hacienda style, Mexican colonial furniture, and architectural elements. Their design work has been featured in Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, and dozens of other magazines and newspapers. Individually, Witynski photographs homes and gardens for national publications and Carr is a hacienda consultant and furniture designer.

Award-winning authors Karen Witynski and Joe P. Carr have been at the forefront of the Mexican design movement for over twenty-five years as interior designers and antiques dealers. Their Mexican design book series includes six titles: Mexican Country Style, The New Hacienda, Casa Adobe, Adobe Details, Casa Yucatan, and Mexican Details. Based in Austin, Texas, Carr and Witynski are the owners of Texture Antiques, an interior design firm and gallery specializing in hacienda style, Mexican colonial furniture, and architectural elements. Their design work has been featured in Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, and dozens of other magazines and newspapers. Individually, Witynski photographs homes and gardens for national publications and Carr is a hacienda consultant and furniture designer.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction

With an enduring presence spanning four thousand years, the ongoing evolution of adobe integrates old and new architectural styles as gracefully as it melds indoors with out. Calle pise de terre, or rammed earth, in France, tapial in South America, "cob" in northern Europe, adobe throughout Africe, the Middle East, and the American Southwest, every region of the globe has used variations of earthen architecture to construct its homes and public buildings. Though stereotypically associated with arid desert climates and primitive living, adobe building has risen above its once limited topographic and socioeconomic boundaries.

Customer Reviews

Casa Adobe
Casa Adobe is a terrific source book for those contemplating living in an adobe or any other earthen style home. Photographs with informaive descriptions tease the casual reader, while those already familiar with Mexico, Arizona, and the Southwest immediately jump head first into the well-written, beautifully illustrated text. Joe P. Carr and Karen Witynski take you to Sante Fe and the surrounding areas with early photographs of adobe structures. Then you are taken to country and contempory homes and structures that best reflect what Casa Adobe is all about. The last chapter of the book is especially helpful foranyone interested in adobe, stucco, or rammed earth homes. It gives sources and individuals to contact as well as galleries and suppliers. My next purchas will be Casa Yucatan, written and photographed by the same collaborative authors.

Book Review--New Mexico Magazine
Many people find the lines and textures of an adobe building at once seductive and compelling. This book is all about the unique aesthetic of houses made of mud. Third in a series of four books on popular residential design in Mexico and the Southwest, this book contains photos of spectacular adobe homes, inside and out, in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and various places in Mexico.

The book documents the evolution of adobe from its historic past to its most modern applications, including interior details and architectural elements. The authors chose well the buildings they use as examples for their premise that "adobe is an old tradition with a new future," the recurring theme of the book.
--New Mexico Magazine, May 2002

Very Happy
I purchased this book in Carmel, California. We then moved to Florida and my sons rabbit basically ate the book. I was so upset and thought I would not be able to replace it. I found it on Amazon and purchased it. Of course it was used because you cannot buy it new, but it was in great condition. I collect these types of books and would have been heartbroken if I could not replace it. Thanks Amazon!!