Product Description

What visitor to the Caribbean has not been entranced by the beauty and spirit of its tropical islands? In Caribbean Style, more than 600 spectacular full-color photographs and an illuminating text re-create the houses, gardens, and lifestyle of this enchanting region.

A trendsetting book that combines travel and design, Caribbean Style offers a previously unseen view of the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Bartélémy, Antigua, Nevis, Montserrat, Barbados, Haiti, and Jamaica. The book includes information on island vegetation and colors, plantation houses, town houses, popular houses, contemporary houses, and gardens. In addition, the Architectural Notebook provides plans and information on different types of houses on the various islands.

These pages take you from plantation manor houses with gracious verandahs that catch the mild, cooling winds to brightly painted native dwellings adorned with imaginative wood trim; from colonial plantation gardens with rows of majestic palm trees and winding water canals left from earlier days to simple town-house gardens with bright
patches of bougainvilleas. Caribbean Style explodes with an intense profusion of images and colors. With this vivid portrait of the Caribbean, you will almost feel the soft breezes, inhale the fragrance of tropical flowers, and luxuriate in the warmth of the sun.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #626961 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12-29
• Released on: 1998-12-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

Amazon.com Review
Part photo essay, part design survey, Caribbean Style offers cover-to-cover color photos (more than 600 in all) of the landscapes, facades, and interiors of the alluring Antilles, a region "at once showy and down-to-earth." Visit the regal plantation manors, the elegant town houses, the nicely appointed vacation homes, the proudly painted homes of the populace, and the omnipresent gardens of nine beautiful Caribbean islands. The very notion of a unified Caribbean style would seem to be impossible in this realm of separate island worlds, yet the diversity is rooted in a common Creole heritage, resulting in a fascinating vernacular architecture that tells the story of life--both past and present--in the West Indies. --Amy Handy

From Library Journal
In 600 color photographs, accompanied by brief descriptive text, this book takes us on a tour of the brightly painted, widely varied architectural landscape of the Caribbean Islands. As with Slesin and Stafford Cliff's earlier French Style ( LJ 10/15/82) and English Style ( LJ 12/84), the presentation is more an appreciation of styles than a how-to or a discussion of design principles. The text concentrates on providing reasons for particular architectural features; the need for ventilation and shelter from heat and sun gives rise to the variety of solutions illustrated here. Houses are divided into four typesplantation, town, popular, and contemporaryand examples of each are examined. Morris's foreword and Jack Berthelot and Martine Gaume's introduction help to put the photographs into a historical and stylistic context. Highly recommended. Margaret Jean Owens, Santa Ana P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Transport yourself across the ocean to the Caribbean with this visual feast of photographs of the islands homes. From colonial splendour to the smallest shanty cabin, the tropics spring to life with the vibrancy of the flora and fauna echoed in the islander's homes. Brightly painted shutters and verandahs reflect the blue of the sky, the aquamarine of the sea, the gold of the sun. Out of place these colours may be over here but, in the glorious islands of Guadeloupe, Haiti and Jamaica amongst a few, they blend effortlessly, reflecting the islanders zest for life. The photographs of Gilles de Chabenex superbly illustrate the diversity of island homes. European influences mix with Latin American and native styles, bringing an eclectic mix to the towns and villages of these little heavens on earth. From stucco-fronted, coral-brick mansions to corrugated iron-roofed wooden shacks, the interiors actually reflect each other in style, with old colonial furniture, stone or wooden floors and luscious flower arrangements collected from the wayside or garden. Outside, the verandahs are decked with orchids, bougainvillea, dracaena and crotons in colourful abundance, offering inspiration for the new-found interest in tropical gardens over here. For a true taste of tropical temptation, look no further. This melange of photographs and text will entice the most recalcitrant traveller to visit these vibrant ocean jewels. And for the adventurous, it offers a feast of decorating ideas and inspirations. - Lucy Watson

Customer Reviews

A step beyond the travel magazines
This book is a treasure. It is unique in the sheer coverage it affords an array of islands which are usually represented by a few photos of beaches and lush foliage. Caribbean Style takes the reader inside the refurbished plantations, through the cities, and around the steep mountain sides to the poorer housing of the average islander. To rave over the colors of their shanties [my word] is akin to extolling the cardboard-box hovels of America's urban homeless. But still, this is a fascinating look at the wealthy and the other Caribbean which visitors locked in their tourist enclaves might not see. I particularly liked the architectural section at the end which delineates the housing styles on specific islands. Given the numbers of vacationers going to the smaller islands every year, it amazes me how hard it is to find picture essays on them. For me this book was a treasure trove of rare images and therefore, a must-buy.

A pioneer in the tradition of creative art-decoration books
When it was first published, this great book stunned every body. I remember our surprise watching the pink cover, the blue pages, the nicely cut pages. As in Marie-France Boyer books illustrated by Eric Morin you found in this series "french style", "english style" and italian style", for the first time, artistic layout, creative photographs, technical architecture drawings and 280 pages full of pictures and precise descriptions. If you plan a trip to Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthelemy, Antigua, Nevis, Montserrat, Barbados, Haiti or Jamaica, buy this book. It is "indemodable". As invitees in Plantation Bologne, one of the best ron maker in Guadeloupe we stayed in the former distillery manager house . All architectural details of this type of houses can be found in this book. If you were lucky enough to spend some time in any of these islands, you will want to buy this book too. It is a standard in its own.

Authentic island style....believe me!
I live in St.Thomas, USVI and wanted to build a doll house for my 3 yr old to have as a rememberance of living on a tropical island. Since St. Thomas is a US Territory it is more Americanized, so I purchased Caribbean Style for a better refference. It is now my doll house bible. Now my daughter will have a authentic reproduction Caribbean house!