Elegant rusticity meets unpretentious luxury in the work of this award-winning architecture firm. Howard Backen, principal of the architecture firm Backen, Gillam & Kroeger, is at the center of a popular movement in home design that emphasizes elegant simplicity and embraces the rustic charm of natural materials. This volume, the first on his work and that of the firm, is an artful exploration of this aesthetic, featuring farmhouses in the Napa Valley, hilltop homes, seaside retreats, and lakeside hideaways. Throughout the work, a sense of intimacy, warmth, and informality pervades.