Cottages in the Sun: Bungalows of Venice, California
by: Margaret Bach, Melba Levick (Photographer)

Hardcover. NY, Rizzoli, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, More than a century ago, when Abbot Kinney built his Venice-of-America with its network of canals and fanciful buildings, cultural aspirations were high. Over the years, this aura of fantasy and imaginative possibility endured as integral to the zeitgeist of the place. Today, this spirit of innovation and creativity is richly expressed in the vintage bungalows and cottages that have been embraced and brought back to life by homeowners more in love with place than size. Stalwart survivors of the ebb and flow of the area's fortunes over a century, these small homes channel the creative spirit of the place and provide a welcome counterpoint to oversize houses. Color, landscape, treasured collections, personal narrative, contemporary overlays and additions, art and craft, and inventive design--all combine in various ways to produce domestic environments with unique and deeply personal points of view.