An Affair with a House: A rare inside look at a top decorator's approach to the pleasures and challenges of creating a beautiful, comfortable country home

Interesting book

Thirty years ago Bunny Williams fell in love with a run down 18th century farmhouse that was being used as a rental by college students. (That should indicate to you just how run down it had become.) She has done much to restore the house and grounds to their glory days. The landscaping projects alone have taken decades to reach their potential. As Bunny's father pointed out, had she not been a young woman when she bought the house, the project would have outlived her. Instead, she had the time and talent to bring this house into her vision of what a gracious old home should be. A renown decorator of others' homes, when Bunny was working on her own dream house, no corners were cut and no expense spared. This book describes how she envisioned the hedges, the entrance foyer, the living room, the kitchen, the patio - and then what she did to bring that vision to reality. There is an amazing sequence as she describes what she felt would be the ideal color of the entrance hall - a delicate peach that she had once seen in the table linen of a restaurant in Tuscany - and what she did to reproduce that color. The attention to detail that Bunny paid to every aspect of her home over thirty years has resulted in a place that is a true reflection of the owner's passions. The spaces devoted to her beloved dogs; the collections she has gathered through the years; the way she found the perfect place to work in an old wing chair that belonged to her late father. Bunny also loves to entertain. She shows us her dining areas; how she settled on certain tables; her collections of tableware and linens; and the storage areas. But she doesn't stop there - she shares her favorite methods of flower arranging, and gives us some lovely recipes. It's just another nice touch in this jewel of a book. "An Affair with a House" isn't a decorating book, per se. It's one woman's story about how she reclaimed a neglected house and brought it back to life. This a beautiful book to spend an afternoon looking through and, if you like the traditional styles, you can find plenty of inspiration from Bunny Williams' own story. Highly recommended!!!

I've spent the past two evening reading this book cover to cover and looking at the gorgeous images. Multiple times have said OMG aloud. This house(s), the property, and the lifestyle encapsulated in this book are just incredible. It was so very inspiring to read Bunny's multi-decade journey restoring this old house into an unbelievably beautiful home. No detail is left unconsidered. As a very detail-oriented person who has been very blessed this past year to acquire an 1890s row home both big on character and big on projects (projects, so many projects...), I've recently felt a bit overwhelmed about what we've taken on. This book has re-energized me. Also, she offers plenty of inspired ideas for things one can only hope to acquire. Her taste is really so beautiful; nothing like the generic, modern design style so popular today. I love this book very much.

The reviews all ready written describe the book perfectly. I have around fifteen hundred books as I am a lover of them. This book is the most beautiful one I have ever bought. It is worth far more than the price.. The house that is the subject of the book and was restored by Bunny Williams and her husband was built in 1840, a time period when architects loved beautiful homes and not what is built today. The photography of the rooms, porches, decorative items and paintings is superb. Every page is glossy and of extremely high quality paper. I could never own a home of such incredible beauty but, it brings joy to my heart to turn the pages and admire this very old one restored to more than its original state. The Manor House as they call it, the old carriage house where the original owner pulled in the horses and carriage have all been restored and the barn turned into living quarters. Bunny searched ways to match original paint scraped from places. The magnificence of the buildings is never reproduced today. I get enjoyment looking at the pictures of the incredibly beautiful gigantic windows (this is a large size book, not a regular hardcover size). Not only have they brought beauty to each room from the furnishings for which they searched over years but, they painted inside and out and restored courtyards. I have turned these pages dozens of times. I am so appreciative that Bunny Williams admired beauty to a degree that she and her husband would spend 28 years creating a "paradiso". All the ugliness in the world today of fashion, language, music and architecture, the tearing down of old buildings of stunning architecture from a different age and replacing them with "pop art" type of designs is heartbreaking. So it is sheer joy to hold this book in my hands as a treasure. Thank you Bunny Williams for working on this book so we can be thrilled with your love of beauty that is rare these days. Thank you to John your husband whom you say is an antiques dealer for finding (I am assuming) so many of the antiques that grace the home.

I've wrote it before, not just anyone can be Bunny Williams. Not even Martha Stewart. Another tome of a read on design, this detailing how her property (not just house) came to be. Her advice is wildly impractical for anyone with a large family or frequent house guests, or limited means (both in time and money and availability of contractors). But oh can we aspire! Unlike the last Bunny Williams book I read, this one only requires a cursory knowledge of interior design and art history. I give it four stars for the same reason as "On Garden Style" a book of this design and pricepoint should not have widows, the typeset needs to be more consistent. I find the movement of the dogs in the pictures whimsical, but the uneven boarding of the collage shots drives me up a wall. Additionally, the book jacket on my first copy came ripped, so I had to return and reorder. A book of such weight and page design deserves a more thoughtful exterior. Maybe in the reprint.

"I am not sure if I believe in destiny, but I do know that after years of looking for a house, my palms began to perspire as I turned onto a tree-lined driveway in a small New England village." This is the beginning of a beautiful tale that grows in the telling, as Bunny Williams invites the reader into a creative journey that is uncommonly rich, deep, and satisfying. The author has in fact woven a number of story lines together into a seamless fabric of exceptional beauty. Each chapter begins with a piece of the actual love story - the room by room accounting of how Williams transformed a dilapidated 18th century manor house and the property on which it stands into a masterpiece of surpassing elegance and style. This is followed by a photographic exploration of each area in which every image is a composition that would stand on its own as fine art. Captions to the illustrations are instructive and helpful without deconstructing the harmony of the spaces that Williams has created. And, interspersed throughout it all, are practical tips and advice on a variety of subjects such as hunting for antiques, arranging flowers, and even setting up for a picnic. Totally absent is the self absorbed, prissy, and obsessive tone that often attaches itself to the work of great decorators. Instead, this is an intimate celebration of life complete with dogs, chickens, vegetables, flowers, and a very beloved husband. Williams makes the point that a zest for living and a keen understanding of human behavior underscore every successful design. This book is beautifully conceived, beautifully written, beautifully illustrated, and beautifully executed in every aspect. I give it my highest recommendation.

This book is a classic in home interior coffee table books. Bunny tells the story of how she found this house and then renovated it, and later welcomed her husband into the house. He's a well-known interior designer and antique dealer so the two of them have added lots of details to the house over the decades, which inspires readers. I'm inspired!

Bunny Williams has created a wonderful book. I had previously seen her house on a PBS decorating show and wanted to know more about Bunny and her wonderful house. The book is a beautiful creation and the photography is very high quality. I keep this book by my bed and when I'm a bit blue leaf through the book and it cheers me up. The book is well written and thought out. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in beautiful and workable interior design.