“Architecture is like sculpture,” says Christina Griffin, one of the 12 architects we profile in our cover story, Divine Design. We couldn’t agree more. Each of the 10 distinctive homes featured here, from the stately castle you see on the cover to a thoughtfully restored Victorian to a sleek contemporary, is a work of art. “These architects are truly inspirational; visionaries, environmentally sensitive, dedicated to their craft,” says writer Helene Epstein. “Divine Design was the only appropriate title.”
To celebrate the advent of a new season, we feature a Bedford garden designed specifically to bloom most beautifully in the spring. “Heaven on Earth” is how garden writer Tovah Martin describes it in “Return of the Natives.”
In this issue, we are also introducing two new departments. In Art of the Deal, writer Jill Brooke explores the fascinating world of high-stakes auctions, where a Mark Rothko painting just sold for nearly $87 million, a 76-carat diamond for $21.5 million, and a table found during a routine household appraisal project netted more than $2 million. “While many of us moan and groan about the deflated real estate values of our homes, it turns out that what’s inside our houses may have more value than we realize,” Brooke says.
Westchester Magazine Features Editor Laurie Yarnell wrote an amusing essay about suburbia’s new status symbol—generators—in Punch List, our second new department. After three “storms of the century” hit Westchester in rapid succession, alternate power sources are definitely the topic of the day. Still on the fence about what type of generator you need? Check out our handy chart. Solutions writer Barbara Solomon Josselsohn details everything you need to know to power up.
Click here for our Web exclusives and expanded offerings of stories in this issue—and our Facebook page for up-to-the-minute details on home-related events and activities.
Happy spring!
