Richard Sammons

Leon Krier

Marianne Cusato

Ben Pentreath

The designer of the Gulf Coast rebuilt Katrina Cottages offers the “dos” and “don'ts” of livable home design, explaining how to build a beautiful, timeless home that relies on structural common sense, neighborhood appropriateness and sustainability. Original.

Architectural Elements to Use & Avoid

Get Your House Right

drawings & essays

Three classicists

Inspirational Interiors from City Apartments to Country Manor Houses

English Houses

“[A] much needed book both for homeowners who want a beautiful and well proportioned house and for the professionals who help them to realize that dream.” —Sarah Susanka, FAIA, architect and author of The Not So Big series and Home by Design Even as oversized McMansions continue to elbow their way into tiny lots nationwide, a much different trend has taken shape. This return to traditional architectural principles venerates qualities that once were taken for granted in home design: structural common sense, aesthetics of form, appropriateness to a neighborhood, and even sustainability. Marianne Cusato, creator of the award–winning Katrina Cottages, has authored and illustrated this definitive guide to what makes houses look and feel right—to the eye and to the soul. She teaches us the language and grammar of classical architecture, revealing how balance, harmony, and detail all contribute to creating a home that will be loved rather than tolerated. And she takes us through the dos and don’ts of every element of home design, from dormers to doorways to columns. Integral to the book are its hundreds of elegant line drawings—clearly rendering the varieties of lintels and cornices, arches and eaves, and displaying “avoid” and “use” versions of the same elements side by side. “This ‘Rosetta stone’ of design will guarantee Cusato a place in the history of twenty-first century American architecture.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer “[Cusato] provides a vision of how we live together and build on our planet, and points out the consequences of flawed building practices not only to our environment, but to our spirit and our soul.” —Michael Lykoudis, Dean, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture

In English Decoration, architectural and interior designer Ben Pentreath presents a major new survey of the best of the English style. Eighteen homes, many of which have never been previously photographed, provide the source material for his wide-ranging investigation of this classic look. The houses include Ben’s own homes in London and West Dorset, alongside those of Earls and artists, writers and architects, book designers and gardeners. The book opens with an essay on the English style in decoration, and then entrance halls, living rooms, kitchens and dining rooms and bedrooms and bathrooms are considered in turn, together with simple Rooms of Utility and spectacular Rooms of Display. There is also a foreword by Nicky Haslam, suggestions for further reading, and a style directory that reveals Ben's own favorite sources—helping you to achieve the classic English look, wherever you live.

Timeless Inspiration for the Contemporary Home

English Decoration

In English Decoration, the acclaimed London-based architectural and interior designer Ben Pentreath presents a survey of the best of the English style. “English decoration is making a bit of a comeback these days, and Ben Pentreath is partly to thank—not just because he’s finessed the young Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Kensington Palace flat.” Architectural Digest Eighteen homes, many of which have never been previously photographed, provide the source material for architectural and interior designer Ben Pentreath’s wide-ranging investigation of the classic English look. The houses include Ben’s homes in London and West Dorset, alongside those of Earls and artists, writers and architects, book designers and gardeners. The book is arranged room by room and Entrance Halls, Living Rooms, Kitchens and Dining Rooms, Bedrooms, and Bathrooms are each considered in turn, together with simple Rooms of Utility and spectacular Rooms of Display. The book begins with an essay on the English style in decoration and ends with an essential style directory, helping you to achieve the look wherever you live.

Ben Pentreath

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