Peter Marino: Ten Modern Houses Hardcover – 5 Jun. 2024

The perfect coffee table book for anyone who loves art or architecture!

I spend way too much money on Architecture and Design books, but it is one of my favorite addictions.So I was really looking forward to getting this book but have now sadly become very frustrated.First of all, you should know the book is huge.....nearly 20 inches square. It is also beautifully printed on very heavy paper with a thick, substantial cover giving the whole book a top-quality feel.I really wanted to love it, but with each page I turned I was increasingly disappointed.Each of the nine homes featured (not ten as the title suggests) might be an amazing high-end home. We will never know based on this book however because of the photos chosen to showcase each one.Every home has numerous exterior shots but few show the whole house. Many are close-ups of a wall section, a bit of stonework or a myriad of other details. There are surprisingly few interior pictures, and once again several are close-ups of the material used on the walls or floors There are only a few vignettes of a couple pieces of furniture in small groupings that seem better suited to a catalog.You cannot really get a sense of what living there might be like because there are virtually no pictures showing an entire living space.In total for the nine homes there was only one photo of a kitchen, and it was in a guest house. No bathroom pictures either other than one showcasing the stone used (but not the whole bathroom itself), and one showing a couple chairs in a grouping with a sink in the background. There are however lots of pictures showing off the incredible artwork that the homeowners have collected. That aspect is quite nice to see.But if you're looking to see vicariously what a top tier home might be like to live in, look elsewhere.The homes might be amazing, but based on what this giant book shows us, we will never really know.