If you love books you’ve probably read your fair share of recent articles and blog posts on “beach reads”: page turners and light, breezy novels. Well, I’m here to offer my recommendation for a different type of summer read: a beautiful book of photos you can flip through while eating cold cereal and fresh fruit for breakfast or sitting on the front porch watching your kids run through the sprinkler.
The book I’m talking about is Old Home Love by Andy and Candis Meredith (Gibbs Smith, 2017). I haven’t seen their show on HGTV, so I’m simply going to tell you about the book. I hope my review will show you whether this is your perfect beach read.
Old Home Love is a substantial hardcover with a beautiful cover and marbled endpapers. The introduction isn’t particularly well written and starts off unclear who is speaking, but if you skip past it you’ll get into the houses. The book features exterior and interior photos of approximately twenty historic houses that have been or are in process of being restored. The authors have a real affection for the 1800s and a zeal to save every old home they come across. If you feel that they have too great a sense of superiority over those who don’t see the beauty in old homes (as one Goodreads reviewer put it), you can always enjoy the photos and skip the text (which is minimal).
Living in a historic home has never been a particular dream of mine — and I certainly have no ambitions to restore or renovate a house — but I’m currently living in a rented 150 year old farmhouse and find myself daydreaming about what type of house I’d like to own, how I would update the house I’m living in, and what furniture I would keep if I had the opportunity. I find myself drawn to red brick century homes, with two storeys and big front porches. On the other hand, I have no interest in ornate antique furniture or period wallpaper.
Looking through Old Home Love was eye-opening because it showed me meticulously restored old homes finished and furnished in a way that spoke to me. Subway tile, persian rugs, stained glass, exposed brick, local art, midcentury furniture — these features that I admire are all found in the stunning photographs in this book. Of course I didn’t resonate with the style of every house in the book, but I found enough ideas I loved to keep me turning the pages.
If you’re looking for inspiration for your current or future home or simply enjoy looking at pictures of old houses — Victorian, Arts and Craft, Midcentury, and more — you could do worse than spent a summer afternoon with Old Home Love.
Sounds like a charming book. I know people who would love it.
My summer reading is a series of old-fashioned cozy mysteries by Josephine Tey. I’m on the fourth one and enjoying them very much.
Nice choice for summer reading!
This review reminds me of the many hours we spent clipping things from decorating magazines. Pre-Pinterest days!