By Anne Stillman O’Leary
Photography by Andrew Welman
Although the rustic style has been popular for over 100 years, in her book, Rustic Revisited, Ann Stillman O’Leary shows how the approach to this style has recently evolved. O’Leary presents examples of the best rustic designs in mountain homes across North America, demonstrating the variations in regional rustic constructions.
In her book, O’Leary defines rustic as “a design that celebrates the honesty of all-natural, local materials and brings them to new heights,” and she provides a complete yet concise history of this natural style, which is rooted in pre-history but truly developed in the 19th-century. More recently, modern touches have begun to influence rustic homes. O’Leary illustrates how stone, wood, bark, burl, branches, twigs, and iron are used in the home and describes the areas where they are most commonly incorporated. Thirty homes showcase the versatility of these materials and nuances of the rustic style. The book also addresses modern rustic furniture, lighting, metalwork, wall decor, and textiles.
Rustic Revisited is easy to peruse—large, color photographs dominate the pages, and the text is informative but not overwhelming. O’Leary also features rustic artisans throughout and suggests sources for the aspiring rustic homeowner.
208 pages/Watson-Guptill Publications.
Reviewed by Megann Daw
