This stunningly illustrated book features 40 vacation homes from around the world, reflecting a wide range of cultures, styles and ways of life, and perfectly capturing the essence of vacation living. From Sweden to South Africa, New York to Mexico and Provence to Lamu, Vacation Homes and Perfect Weekend Hideaways reveals the extraordinary variety of places to which people go to get away from it all. While some of the properties are highly sophisticated, others are 'shabby chic' or echo the local vernacular, their individuality a testament to each owner's unique sense of style. From a luxury spa in the wilds of the Colorado mountains to a stone cottage on the Yorkshire moors, and from an iron-roofed cabin in the African bush to a farmhouse in Provence, and including the homes of such celebrated designers as Jasper Conran, Liza Bruce, Carolyn Quartermaine and Ou Baholyodhin, this beautifully illustrated book features every type of vacation home imaginable. There is also a useful directory providing contact details of the featured designers and information on all the houses that are available to rent.Elegantly written by interiors expert Karen Howes, and illustrated throughout by today's top interiors photographers, Vacation Homes and Perfect Weekend Hideaways will appeal as much to the armchair traveller as to those wishing to do up their own home-away-from-home in the sun. Read Less