The design of the Tuscan house has remained virtually unchanged since the Middle Ages, when landowners built country retreats drawing on the natural resources of the region. Indeed, it is these materials that give the Tuscan house its unique character: stone and marble; hard woods, like chestnut, oak, and elm; terracotta and brick; and water, used in ponds, fountains, and pools. These elements are captured here in exquisite detail: thick stone interior walls; terracotta-tiled roofs and floors; sienna-hued stucco finishes and luminous frescoes; exposed wood beams and scrubbed oak dining tables; and sunny courtyard gardens with the all-important water feature, whether an ancient well or an exquisite pool. In this glorious collection of color images, Simon McBride artfully evokes the magic and pleasures of Tuscan living. Simon McBride has been photographing interiors and gardens for over two decades, working regularly for House & Garden and Architectural Digest.

In her inimitable warm and evocative tone, Frances Mayes helps readers develop an eye for authentic Tuscan style, with advice on how to: Choose a Tuscan colour palette for the home, from earthy apricot tones to invigorating shades of antique blue; Cultivate a Tuscan garden, adding fountains, vine-covered pergolas, and terracotta urns among the herbs and flowers.. Make prime finds at their local antique markets - and to truly bring Tuscany home, shipping advice and market days for several Tuscan towns are included. Set an imaginative Tuscan table using majolica and vintage linens; Enjoy the abundant flavours and easy simplicity of the Tuscan kitchen, with details on everything from olive oil and vin santo to pici and gnocchi, plus special, homegrown menus and recipes.

Breaks Tuscan architecture and interior design into four components: stone, wood, earth, and water, and discusses each, presenting approximately two hundred color photos.

Dazzling beautiful, this new hardcover book is a tour de force of the latest European-inspired homes designed by Bassenian/Lagoni Architects of Newport Beach, California's premier residential architecture firm. Here the reader will discover ruggedly handsome exteriors reminiscent of the hill towns of Tuscany and richly appointed interiors that echo the great rooms of Andalusia--all with very modern floor plans and amenities. This milestone book will serve as a valuable resource for anyone seeking ideas for a home design, landscaping, interiors and furnishings in the Old World Style.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The beloved memoir of self-discovery set against the spectacular Tuscan countryside that inspired the major motion picture starring Diane Lane—now in a twentieth-anniversary edition featuring a new afterword “This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it’s so delicious, read it first yourself.”—USA Today For more Frances Mayes, including a tour of her now iconic Cortona home, Bramasole, watch PBS’s Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special! More than twenty years ago, Frances Mayes—widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer—introduced readers to a wondrous new world when she bought and restored an abandoned Tuscan villa called Bramasole. Under the Tuscan Sun inspired generations to embark on their own journeys—whether that be flying to a foreign country in search of themselves, savoring one of the book’s dozens of delicious seasonal recipes, or simply being transported by Mayes’s signature evocative, sensory language. Now with a new afterword from Frances Mayes, the twentieth-anniversary edition of Under the Tuscan Sun revisits the book’s most popular characters.

Newly retired and looking for more than a vacation, John and Nancy Petralia intrepidly pack a few suitcases and head to the "perfect" Italian city for a year. Within days their dream becomes a nightmare. After residing in two Italian cities, negotiating the roads and health care, discovering art, friends, food and customs, the Petralias learn more than they anticipate -- about Italy, themselves, what it means to be American, and what's important in life.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Looking for the keys to a vibrant, joyful, vital life? Lifestyle pioneer Debbie Travis has found them in the Tuscan hills. And in her lively, inspiring way, she shares how to bring all that healthful magic home in Joy, a glorious book infused with the warmth and colour of life at the Villa Reniella, the thirteenth-century farmhouse retreat to which she welcomes guests from around the world. For more than ten years, Debbie Travis has watched the guests who come to her Tuscan retreats transform over the course of a single week of talking, walking, and eating together, until even the most driven and stressed-out feel so much better about themselves. When it's time to leave, they tell her it's the simple priorities of Tuscan life—the way the village locals, from young to old, take time for each other every day—that hit them in their hearts, and they pepper her with questions about how to retain what they've experienced when they get home. In Joy, Debbie offers the answers she gives them to all of us, capturing the essentials of the Tuscan lifestyle in a series of ten engaging and practical lessons—on everything from how to get a good night's sleep, to how to find community and rediscover purpose, to how to eat and drink like an Italian—designed to make our lives sweeter and healthier. Delightfully down-to-earth, Debbie draws on her own life experience, the example of her Tuscan neighbours, whose fabled longevity springs from the wisdom she captures in her lessons, and the expertise of her long-time friend and colleague, nutritional therapist Jacky Brown. Whether you wish to hit the reset button, start a new endeavour, regain your confidence, turn a page in your relationship, make changes to your worklife or your community, or simply reboot your vitality, these lessons will help guide you to a life filled with joy.