This is a practical guide of beaches, marine reserves, lighthouses, monuments, festivals and accommodation. It includes suggestions of itineraries, routes around Formentera and detailed maps.

Desert hues, natural materials, thick hand-plastered walls, and adobe brick construction are hallmarks of the Santa Fe Style, which is as much an expression in architecture, interior design, art, and crafts as it is a way of life. Rooted in a sense of earthy comfort inspired by its history, the surrounding desert, and Native American and Hispanic design influences, the style has a timeless appeal and vibrant ongoing life that has resulted in these extraordinary homes. With features such as eighteenth-century peeled vigas, tin chandeliers, romantic iron sconces, and hand-hewn wood-beamed ceilings, each house is a rich yet harmonious invitation that will engage the senses and speak to the soul. Beyond the houses, the writer and photographer spotlight those details and spaces that together convey the magic of this very special place, including patios and gardens; fireplaces, kivas, and hornos; ceramics; Native American arts; cabinets and trasteros; folk art; and weaving. Casa Santa Fe is the definitive sourcebook for architects, designers, builders, homeowners, and interior decorators seeking to expand their visual repertoire of historically defined and classically inspired architectural details and interior appointments.

The great appeal of Spanish Style homes lies in their aura of romance and drama, a sense of story, of magic, as well as in their very comfortable and engaging proportions and the great livability of the interior spaces. Deep shadow, arched doorways, trickling courtyard fountains, climbing bougainvillea on wrought-iron window grilles, wood-beamed ceilings, and white plaster walls are all hallmarks of the style. Here, through a celebration of contemporary and historic homes in Southern California, as well as existing historic precedents in Andalusia, Spain most notably the intricately detailed Casa de Pilatos in Seville and the Alhambra of Granada The Spanish Style House presents the definitive picture of the style as it exists today. Featured homes include the George Washington Smith-designed Casa Blanca (1928) a fantasy made real in stone and stucco replete with the romance of old Morocco in its horseshoe arches, domes, and evocative tile murals and a Marc Appleton-designed beach house (2007) in Del Mar, California, which is a dream on the sea and an eloquent testament to the virtues of the style for today.

This sumptuous and comprehensive volume embraces one of the most beloved house forms, the Spanish Colonial Revival, presenting at once a lavish portrait of the style as well as the definitive statement on the subject through more than three hundred color photographs.
The Spanish style in architecture encompasses facets from a vast array of traditions, many of which are in evidence in these extraordinary houses. Elements include thickset, whitewashed stucco walls, deeply recessed doors, lushly planted courtyard gardens, intricate and colorful tile work, telescoping towers inset with Juliet balconies, elaborately traced wrought-iron window grilles, and richly appointed interiors heightened by drama in light and shadow cast by moody pendant lamps and low-burning fires. The houses featured are the very best of the type, both famous and little-known, and showcase the work of architects such as George Washington Smith, Bertram Goodhue, Wallace Neff, and Paul Williams, from the early twentieth century, to the work of contemporary practitioners, including Marc Appleton, Michael Burch Architects, and others. These homes are a fantasy for living made real in the Southern California sun.