Variously labelled Eden, one of the 100 gardens you must visit before your die, and among the 10 best botanical gardens in the world, Madame Ganna Walska s Lotusland is magic mixed with paradise in the hills of Montecito, California. Walska, a well-known Polish opera singer and socialite, purchased the estate in 1941 and spent 43 years creating Lotusland. The collections of exotic plants on the 37-acre property are an expression of her penchant for the dramatic, the unexpected, and the whimsical. Home to more than 3,400 types of plants, including at least 35,000 specimens, it is recognized not just for the diversity of its collections, but for the extraordinary design sensibility informing the many one-of-a-kind individual gardens that comprise the whole. As pleasing as its aesthetic and sensorial qualities are, Lotusland is also an important centre for scientific research and conservation. A leader in the field of sustainable practices, it is the first botanical garden in the United States to become entirely organic.

"In Montecito Style, photographer Firooz Zahedi and writer Lorie Dewhirst Porter capture the sheer beauty of the West Coast town, known for incredible homes." - Galerie Magazine The seaside town of Montecito is often overshadowed by its neighbor Santa Barbara-which is generally how its residents like it. Though home and refuge to numerous celebrities, Montecito's intentional cultivation of a low-key profile has allowed for a unique community to emerge, and with it, a multifaceted interior and garden design culture. Montecito Style: Paradise on California's Gold Coast is the first book to present twenty houses and landscapes in an eclectic range of styles and rich architectural legacy that coalesce into a quintessential "California style." The residences featured in this book reflect the diversity of design that has defined California living for more than a century: early standard-setters by George Washington Smith and an Andalusian-style abode by his protege (and Santa Barbara's first licensed female architect) Lutah Maria Riggs, Beaux-Arts mansions, converted carriage houses, nouveau palazzi, low-slung midcentury modern abodes, an iconic concrete-and-glass house from the 1970s, and even a studio apartment above a garage. With houses and gardens by prominent interior and landscape designers-from the home of living legend John Saladino, and recent projects by Richard Hallberg, Daniel Cuevas, Stacy Fausset, and Lee Kirch-Montecito Style provides an inside look at this coastal design haven. Heavily illustrated, Montecito Style features more than 250 photographs by celebrity and interiors photographer Firooz Zahedi, alongside captivating text by established design writer Lorie Dewhirst Porter, both longtime residents of the area. Zahedi's photographs are alluring, and his passion for these homes and gardens is palpable, as well as the design elements and art collections of these creative homeowners. An informed foreword by Marc Appleton, an architect and California architectural history expert, also helps establish the local context for these homes. Montecito is the hidden Southern California treasure, and with Montecito Style, readers will experience peak interior inspiration and have unprecedented access to this truly special design haven in all its coastal glory.

The lure of the West has been strong in American history, representing the promise of beautiful, wild landscapes, broad vistas, clean air, and bright skies. Set on this magnificent land are the homes and their interiors-from the 150-year-old Rancho Camulos of Ramona fame to Jack London's Beauty Ranch on the slopes of Sonoma Mountain to the working ranches of today. Ranches: Home on the Range in California presents an expression of a lifestyle steeped in self- sufficiency, love of the land, and unpretentiousness. Arising from the tradition of the Mexican land-grant ranchos and the spread of Spanish Catholic missions, the ranches of California have a long and multifaceted history, which is examined by author Marc Appleton, who himself can attest to the challenges and charms of ranch life. Located in dramatic landscapes of rolling hills, upon the sides of mountains, or in vast plains bordered by snow-capped mountains, the featured homes demonstrate archetypal types-from the Spanish-style hacienda form of historic Rancho Camulos, with its open porch and broad eaves, to the New England clapboard traditional, as seen in Jack London's Beauty Ranch. At once a tribute to a historic form and a fading way of life, as well as a celebration of renewal, architectural beauty, and the romance of the West, this book offers the reader an immersive experience of living on the land.