No matter what its size or location, everyone wants their house to become a warm and welcoming environment in which friends and family can gather. For Bunny Williams, one of the America's premier interior designers and John Rosselli, one of New York City's most respected antique dealers, this home is an eighteenth-century New England manor house. Once abandoned, yet clearly possessed of a gracious past, Williams and Rosselli reclaimed the house and gave it new life as their warm and loving home. As Williams says, "Buying a house is like falling in love, you don't notice the bad parts." In this magnificent book, she describes how they restored each room of this well-worn house and resurrected its abandoned gardens. In tracing this evolution, she and Rosselli touch on such topics as the architecture of the great American and English country houses as well as interior decor and the philosophy of mixing different design styles. "An Affair with a House" is more than just a design book, that provides a wealth of advice from two experts - it also addresses the subject of domesticity and casual entertaining. Included are simple decorating solutions and a discussion of such practical matters as adequately stocking the pantry and linen closet. They have even included a few of their favorite recipes made with homegrown vegetables and herbs.