Tony Duquette's Dawnridge: The Visual History of a Home’s Transformation

I purchased this as a gift for my daughter, I used to own a copy of this book signed by the author, Hutton Wilkinson, along with an endearing note from him that I treasured. I loaned it to a very special friend who shares my love for beautiful interiors and I miss looking at his note from time to time inside the cover. A once in a life time addition to my collection of design books.Hutton’s message to me was about our shared southern heritage, and friendship! Imagine my delight and awe when I opened my package from the seller with a note that this book was signed by the author! Inscribed to Caroline in 2018, proclaiming her,his new best friend…I was at once thrilled and jealous! Thank you to this seller for this gift of delight,…perfect condition,even better than the one I loaned years ago to my dear friend! The content is a wonderful insight from conception of Tony Duquette and Beagle’s home,Dawnridge. I am drinking chai and revisiting with this wonderful gift of a book.

More is more takes in a whole new meaning in this book. If you’re into neutrals and minimalism, then this book is not for you. The cover is beyond gorgeous with its picture of Phoenix Rising. The interiors featured are all rich and welcoming. I took away one star from my rating as there were a lot of older photos of people that I neither know nor care about, but this was still a lovely addition to my very large library.

Each of Hutton Wilkinson’s four volumes on Tony Duquette, his mentor and eventual business partner, has its focus on Duquette, the genius. Yet behind each book is the voice of another genius, Wilkinson himself. With this, his most recent book, Tony Duquette’s Dawnridge, Hutton vividly captures the creative spirit and personalities of Tony and Beegle Duquette, my treasured friends of forty years, not only with his colorful story-telling, but also with remarkable photos of the house, garden and glamorous memorabilia of Tony and Beegle’s lives. If ever a biography is to ring true, its pages must breathe credibility for subject as well as author. Although Hutton is a first-rate novelist (The Walk to Elsie’s with M. Flynn Kuhnert, for example, and more recently the imaginative Gaspar Brown Mysteries), he does not spin tales or invent fantasy settings for The Dawnridge of Tony Duquette.So many books do not have this quality of personalization; here the insistent focus on the inhabitants of Dawnridge that make the compound come alive,is true to both subject and author.If only Tony and Beegle could read this tribute to themselves and to Dawnridge, the private paradise they created, they would be as moved as I by the beauty, the narrative and the photographs of this fourth volume – of what I shall now call The Tony Duquette Quartet.

Great book! Many photos as well as text has been used in other books by same author. But this is loaded with updated and new photographs ~ and concentrating on the Duquette’s main estate, Dawnridge. It’s a fascinating portrait of people, houses, gardens, parties, entertaining etc over decades. Luckily for the Duquette’s Dawnridge has been in the very capable hands.Since I bought the two other books from the author years ago for a few dollars ~ I recently sold both for $700. Let’s see how this $22 investment will do. Regardless I don’t think I would ever sell this one!

This is a case where Wilkinson refined what he learned from Duquette and in many ways has surpassed him. He has done a magnificent job restoring Dawnridge and the new house Wilkinson built for himself and his wife is truly superb looking. The only house that disappointed me was the adjacent guest house, Casa Del Conde. Inside, too many of the rooms have an Ikea/Restoration Hardware - faux Country French look - too much white, nondescript furniture and accents. Some of the fabric looks cheap. I think he may have run out of money and time to do a first rate job or didn't want to waste money and effort on lush finishes guests might damage. One reviewer griped about the photography. Almost all art books today are, unfortunately, printed in China - so they are not going to match the quality of those printed in Italy. The photography in this book is above average, as is the binding. Some of the reproductions of old photo's aren't top notch, due to age and the condition of the source material. Most of the 2018 pictures are quite impressive. This volume is well worth your money and Amazon offers it at a substantial discount.

For years I heard of Duquette's home and gardens; seeing them was one of the few items on my bucket list. This book is almost better than seeing it "live" because I can revisit again and again, and study the work of this brilliant man.So often beautiful books never have quite enough photos to satisfy. Not this one; it has full page after full page of photos that are works of art themselves. You get the small details, the enchanting architectural views and reveals, the fabrics, textures and opulence, and even a few peeks into the house when it is the setting for party.I sat down and enjoyed the photos, page by page, start to finish. What an experience! Now I look forward to reading this book and learning more about the singular artist, Tony Duquette.I now will definitely purchase the other books about Duquette by the very talented Hutton Wilkinson, and look forward to understanding their artistic alchemy. Thank goodness for Mr. Wilkinson's preservation and sharing of this amazing work.

I’m delighted with this book, I’ve not actually read the text yet! After seeing some of the house in Netflix’s Rachid, I became a bit obsessed about finding out more! Lots of great pictures. I have already recommended it to two friends, one a n award winning designer who hasn’t got this book!

A perfect showcase for designer Tony Duquette’s extraordinary creativity. I found so many inspiring ideas for using ordinary materials to create one-of-a-kind effects.

Tuve conocimiento de este libro cuando vi la serie Ratched de Netflix, es una de las casas que sale en la serie y esta increíble.

We bought this book having seen Dawnridge in Ratched. Such a beautiful house & good to read about it’s history too.