If you are looking for that holiday gift for someone who has everything, you might think about picking up a pond. Whether it’s hardly bigger than a puddle or large enough to swim in, people who have added ponds or waterfalls to their landscapes are passionate about the way a simple little (or big) water feature has changed their lives. They use words like “tranquility” and “peace” and “world away” to describe coming home and simply sitting beside some bubbling water.

Purple Hyacinth  -  David Sherwood, Sherwood’s Forest
“Purple Hyacinth have a great sweet fragrance. They are an early bloomer and excellent for indoor bloom forcing.”

‘Tis the season for creating holiday magic by adding sparkle and spice all through the house. But decking the halls often relies on holiday décor collections built over many years, and making sense of all the mismatched pieces and disparate elements can sometimes make this annual ritual a bit of an overwhelming task.

Italy is probably the longest peninsula in the world and certain the only one shaped like a boot. The heel of the boot forms another much smaller and thinner peninsula of its own called the Salento. It is the southernmost part of Puglia, bordered by the Ionian Sea to the east and the Adriatic Sea to the west.

Table setting provided by Byron Cade. China by Herend. Dinner and butter plates, fishscale gold. Dessert plates, Herend golden laurel. Sterling silver silverware by Lunt Eloquence. Stemware by Moser, Splendid and Royal.

French Country
Styling by Three French Hens

When two Frontenac homeowners added serious square footage to their estate, a crowded mudroom found new purpose as a handsome, centralized anteroom – both bar and Butler’s pantry – inspired by the rich feel of the old Westchester gentlemen’s clubs.

Decorator Garison Salinas of Garrison, Ltd. dubs the room denim-and-diamonds dapper. “The homeowners don’t entertain black tie or even coat and tie all the time, so they were interested in a bar that was elegant but also warm,” he says of a space suitable for lavish soirees and family get-togethers alike.