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a new timber frame and stone barn situated to take advantage of the summer sun on a lovely, rambling property in New England; a new residence and outbuildings on a 6,000-acre hunting preserve in Georgia, inspired by the historic 1920s and 1930s hunting plantation houses in the region; and Schafer’s own, deeply personal, newly renovated and surprisingly modern house located just a few feet from the Atlantic Ocean in coastal Maine. In Schafer’s hands, the stories of these houses are irresistibly approachable. He guides the reader through each of the design decisions, sharing anecdotes about the process and fascinating historical background and contextual influences of the settings. Readers will find themselves wandering the pages just as they might wander the rooms, absorbing every detail and every anecdote. Ultimately, the homes featured in A PLACE TO CALL HOME are more than just beautiful buildings in beautiful places. In each of them, Schafer has created a dialogue between past and present, a personalized world that people can inhabit gracefully, in sync with their own notions of home. Because, as Schafer writes in the book, he designs houses “not for an architect’s ego, but [for] the beauty of life, the joys of family, and, not least, a heartfelt celebration of place.” Fig.3. New residence on the Navesink River, New Jersey Fig. 4. Library, Fifth Avenue apartment — 21 —