Veranda

VERANDA is a forum for the very best in living well. Always gracious, and never pretentious, we keep readers abreast of the finest in design, decorating, luxury travel, and more, inspiring them with beauty and elegance. VERANDA is both an ideas showcase and a deeply pleasurable escape, a place where homes feel as good as they look.

Mood of the Moment

Veranda

Lessons in Time Travel

Editor’s Bookshelf • FIVE NEW DESIGN BOOKS WE’RE GIFTING THIS YEAR

OBJECTS & ARTIFACTS • For the aspiring grand master on your list, an impossibly chic art glass chess set by Jeffrey Andrews for Harvey’s on Beverly. Checkmate.

RINGING in the WEEKEND • Pop the Champagne: It’s our dressed-up, dusk-’til-dawn HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE for the ultimate celebration with friends. So drop your bag and freshen up, and we’ll see you downstairs. Cocktails are at six.

Magic IN Miniature • Collectors Bill Miller and Paul Landy spend more than 100 hours setting their Connecticut home aglow in a wonderland of rare and antique German ornaments.

CARVED in SPLENDOR • A ravishing new stone age unfolds as jewelry maisons seize on the ancient art of stone carving, turning out a spate of sculptural baubles and objets d’art.

The RICH ROAD to DAMASK • Named for the key trading hub of Damascus, the sumptuous Silk Road descendant reemerges in shiny new woven and printed tributes.

FLOWERS & GARDENS • A bucolic brown-and-white transferware pattern blooms to life in a centerpiece of roses, tulips, ranunculus, and seeded eucalyptus spilling over a vintage tureen.

Feast OF Florals • The good china as you’ve never seen it: Birmingham floral designer Buffy Hargett Miller reimagines the artistry of iconic serving patterns in four festive centerpieces.

12 TRIMS of CHRISTMAS • Floral maestro Mark Thompson unleashes wild winter bounty on New Orleans’s Hotel Peter & Paul with ideas from banister to bedroom, off-kilter garlands to a cure for the common fruit bowl.

WANDERLUST & JOURNEYS • The divine end of the road: Amid rice fields, waterfalls, shrines, and the jungles of central Bali, you find the luxury resort Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape.

STAR SOJOURNS • Age-dimpled beams, banana-leaf courtyards, vivid tilework: The year’s 16 BEST HOTELS and villas, manor houses and balés shine as ambassadors of their habitats from rowhouse-rich London to the rocky river banks of South Africa.

The RIDES of a LIFETIME • Can classic journeys of the past make sense in our modern world? Wide-eyed adventurer Tracey Minkin channels early explorers as she sets out by rail, river, and Land Cruiser, slipping between eras into a new golden age of travel.

Red-Hot Round Top • Alessandra Branca two-steps into the antiques mecca, outfitting a 1,300-square-foot bungalow for Texas guesting with Italian gusto.

ROUND TOP ROUNDUP • How to hit the wildly popular antiques fair like a pro

BLENDING—A — New Noir • Oenophile ADAM ERACE travels to Oregon’s pinot-rich Willamette valley for a master class in creating delicious alchemy.

Craft IN TRANSLATION • Patek Philippe flexes its mastery of rare handcraft in a dazzling homage to the Japanese tradition of stencil carving—a compelling reminder of art’s universal dialect.

ARCHITECTURE & DECORATION • In the first family’s living room at the Illinois governor’s mansion, a sepia edition of Joseph Dufour’s 1812 Les Monuments de Paris wood-block wallpaper offers a muted, contemporary take on 19th-century artistry.

For the PEOPLE by DESIGN • First Lady MK Pritzker and designer Michael S. Smith honor Illinois history with a thoughtful redecoration of the governor’s mansion for a powerful expression of how a house can be so...