Savannah Style: Mystery and Manners Book

Savannah, its mercurial history and enigmatic charms are evocative of nothing less than paradox. Home to cotton barons, literary giants (such as Flannery O'Connor and Conrad Aiken), antique dealers, and preservationists, it has helped define Southern elegance, manners, and style for the last three centuries.

From the slightly faded grandeur of the Second Empire baroque Thomas Levy House, with its sumptuous collection of antique maps, prints, books, and other curiosities, to the phantasmal, Proustian décor of the grandiose and elegiac Knapp House interiors, all of the 20 houses featured in this book express a sensitivity to the city's sanguine and frayed eclecticism. Quite often a serene or verdant exterior-designed in a Georgian, Federal, or neoclassical style by John Ash, Isaiah Davenport, William Jay, or Amos Scudder-will relinquish its polite composure or symmetrical façade to an ingenious play of interior whimsy and light-hearted frippery. Opulent plantation manors, town houses renovated by artists, and summer cottages evincing a warmth, tasteful calculation, and measured spontaneity are featured in detail in both word and image. The foreword by John Berendt acts not only as an informative addendum to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil but also as an excellent introduction to Savannah.

Author Biography: Susan Sully has written numerous magazines articles on Southern interiors and lifestyles. She is the author of Charleston Style and Fish Soup, both published by Rizzoli, as well as the recently published Late Bloomer's Guide to Success at any Age.

Steven Brooke is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and winner of the AIA National Institute Honor Award for Photography. His books include Views of Rome and Views of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, both published by Rizzoli, as well as Seaside, Gardens of Florida, and The Majesty of Natchez.

John Berendt is the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.