Architectural Digest: Autobiography of a Magazine 1920-2010

I worked with Paige for many years photographing and writing about gardens, and personally found her anecdotes the most fascinating aspect of her life. Her philosophy regarding garden features was generally 'exclusivity, private ownership and a unique wow factor.' Some of our 'firsts' included the first underwater garden, owned by the late treasure hunter, Bert Kilbride in the British Virgin Islands, the first travel feature about remote Campbell Island, in the Sub-antarctic - home to 70,000 nesting pairs of Royal albatross and unique wildflowers known as 'megaherbs,' the first magazine feature of a garden in the snow (my own) and the beautiful Scottish garden of murder-mystery writer, Anne Perry who shunned publicity, but relented because she was so proud of her garden. It was always an adventure working with Paige.

I was the Art Director of Architectural Digest from 1978 to 1985, the years when it became so successful House & Garden changed it's format to copy it—and my layouts. In Paige Rense's new book, the bedroom shown on page 250 is from my former home in Los Angeles. It was taken for a magazine called California Interiors, which did not get past the prototype stage. I worked with Paige for ten years, and she always had great instinct; but maybe her memory is fading.I wrote a novel, INSIDE, about an editor and art director at an interior design magazine. It's a work of fiction, but if you're interested in magazines and interior design, you might enjoy it. It's available on this website.

It is interesting to see how design has evolved through the years, and to realize that good design is sometimes ageless. It would have been nice to see more of the early stuff from the twenties, thirties, and forties.

Disappointing.I have been an avid reader of the magazine for nearly 20 yrs and hoped this book will pick the many gems from all these years.Poor selection with poor picture quality.