Bestselling author and popular American architect Gil Schafer returns with the final installment in his trilogy on the rewards of living in the American house.The work of Gil Schafer—one of the world’s leading experts on contemporary traditional architecture—is beloved for its elegance, charm, and strong sense of history and place. Since his last book, Schafer has become a husband and stepfather, a change that has deepened his understanding of how a house must reflect and support the lives of those who live within its walls. Home at Last is a distillation of what he has learned and how he translates it to his work on houses that are adaptive to the evolution of life, depending upon a family’s needs.The book includes homes he has designed in the mist-covered Hudson Valley, on a bluff above Lake Champlain, on the windswept shores of Block Island, and on the coast of Maine. Schafer shares the stories of these houses and their owners, exploring the choices made for architecture and interiors, and reemphasizing his guiding principles: how to create classical buildings that “live modern”; how to adapt buildings to different regions and ways of life; the connection to landscape; why fancy can coexist with simple, and traditional with modern.  With original photography by Eric Piasecki, layered with practical takeaways, Home at Last is a tribute to the power of the American house.

Acclaimed architect Gil Schafer illustrates how he blends classical architecture, interior decoration, and landscape to create homes with a feeling of history. As a traditional architect, Gil Schafer specializes in building new "old" houses as well as renovating historic homes. His work takes the best of American historic and classical architecture—its detailed moldings and harmonious proportions—and updates it, retaining its character and detail while simultaneously reworking it to be more in tune with the way we live now—comfortable, practical, family-oriented. In his first book, Schafer covers the three essential cornerstones of creating a great traditional house: architecture, landscape, and decoration. He discusses the important interplay between the interior architecture and the fabrics, furniture, and wall treatments. In-depth profiles build on these essays, including Schafer’s own new "old" house in the Hudson Valley; the renovation of a historic home in Nashville designed by Charles Platt in 1915; and the restoration of a magnificent 1843 Greek Revival mansion in Charleston. Filled with hundreds of interior and detail shots, The Great American House is an invaluable resource for anyone who loves old houses and traditional design.

Bestselling author and popular American architect Gil Schafer returns with the final installment in his trilogy on the rewards of living in the American house.The work of Gil Schafer—one of the world’s leading experts on contemporary traditional architecture—is beloved for its elegance, charm, and strong sense of history and place. Since his last book, Schafer has become a husband and stepfather, a change that has deepened his understanding of how a house must reflect and support the lives of those who live within its walls. Home at Last is a distillation of what he has learned and how he translates it to his work on houses that are adaptive to the evolution of life, depending upon a family’s needs.The book includes homes he has designed in the mist-covered Hudson Valley, on a bluff above Lake Champlain, on the windswept shores of Block Island, and on the coast of Maine. Schafer shares the stories of these houses and their owners, exploring the choices made for architecture and interiors, and reemphasizing his guiding principles: how to create classical buildings that “live modern”; how to adapt buildings to different regions and ways of life; the connection to landscape; why fancy can coexist with simple, and traditional with modern.  With original photography by Eric Piasecki, layered with practical takeaways, Home at Last is a tribute to the power of the American house.

Acclaimed architect Gil Schafer illustrates how he blends classical architecture, interior decoration, and landscape to create homes with a feeling of history. As a traditional architect, Gil Schafer specializes in building new "old" houses as well as renovating historic homes. His work takes the best of American historic and classical architecture—its detailed moldings and harmonious proportions—and updates it, retaining its character and detail while simultaneously reworking it to be more in tune with the way we live now—comfortable, practical, family-oriented. In his first book, Schafer covers the three essential cornerstones of creating a great traditional house: architecture, landscape, and decoration. He discusses the important interplay between the interior architecture and the fabrics, furniture, and wall treatments. In-depth profiles build on these essays, including Schafer’s own new "old" house in the Hudson Valley; the renovation of a historic home in Nashville designed by Charles Platt in 1915; and the restoration of a magnificent 1843 Greek Revival mansion in Charleston. Filled with hundreds of interior and detail shots, The Great American House is an invaluable resource for anyone who loves old houses and traditional design.