Hacienda Style

Karen Witynski & Joe P. Carr
Gibbs Smith Publisher,
Hardcover $39.95

Hacienda Style heralds the grandeur of Mexico's colonial haciendas and reveals the innovations sparking their revived roles and new interpretations. With a vast architectural heritage spanning four centuries, Mexican haciendas express a rugged romantic beauty whose arcaded silhouettes, rich colors, and natural textures are an ever-increasing influence for architects and designers worldwide.

Having opened the doors to Mexico's restored country estates in their 1999 book, The New Hacienda, authors Witynski and Carr invite you in for a closer view of the design details that create the essence of hacienda style. Their extensive travels brim with exotic locations: the henequen haciendas and colonial homes of Yucatan and Campeche, the sugar estates of Morelos, and the chocolate haciendas of Tabasco.

Whether one is restoring a colonial home or adding antique ornament to a new hacienda-style home, the integration of old-world architectural elements provides hacienda character both inside and out.

Carved-stone columns and elegant arches frame views to lush tropical gardens and glistening pools; colonial doors and spindled window grilles stand guard against towering, deep red walls. Generously proportioned salas are resplendent with colorful yellow ocher walls, decorative stencils, artful treasures and colonial antiques.

A magnificent photographic tour, Hacienda Style invites you to step inside the expanse of cool tiled rooms, breezy portales, and soothing water gardens to experience the grace of hacienda living.