Custom Home January-February 2011 Last Detail Shope Reno Whar…
Custom Home January-February 2011 Last Detail Shope Reno Wharton, South Norwalk, Conn. This round, sunlit library tower at one end of a Rhode Island house provides a restful sanctuary for reading, while also balancing out the building’s massing.
Jim Bartsch
CHDA 2012 Merit Award, Custom Detail Abramson Teiger, Culver C…
CHDA 2012 Merit Award, Custom Detail Abramson Teiger, Culver City, Calif. The wall of books in this Venice, Calif., house creates a visual balance with the view to the garden outside.
Jim Bartsch
Architect Trevor Abramson had the maple shelving recessed into t…
Architect Trevor Abramson had the maple shelving recessed into the wall so that it becomes a part of the room's architecture.
Jim Bartsch
The shelves add an element of color and texture that's partially…
The shelves add an element of color and texture that's partially visible from the street.
Durston Saylor
Custom Home, September-October 2007 On Site Duo Dickinson, Arc…
Custom Home, September-October 2007 On Site Duo Dickinson, Architect, Madison, Conn. Varnished cherry gleams in the library of this waterfront custom home in Riverside, Conn., with interior design by Raymond Forehand Associates.
Anice Hoachlander/Hoachlander Davis
RADA 2005 Merit Award, Architectural Detail Reader & Swart…
RADA 2005 Merit Award, Architectural Detail Reader & Swartz Architects, Winchester, Va. When renovating their own 1960’s tract house, the husband-and-wife principals at Reader & Swartz Architects exposed the existing studs, backed them with birch-veneer plywood panels, and inserted wood shelving to create an integrated book storage system.
Anice Hoachlander/Hoachlander Davis
The architects designed an alternating-tread staircase of oak an…
The architects designed an alternating-tread staircase of oak and maple that lets them reach the upper shelves.
Erik Kvalsvik
CHDA 2012 Merit Award, Architectural Interiors Muse Architects…
CHDA 2012 Merit Award, Architectural Interiors Muse Architects, Bethesda, Md. This Maryland country home’s formal circulation gallery leads to an equally elegant library.
Erik Kvalsvik
The wood-lined library feels light and airy, thanks to transom w…
The wood-lined library feels light and airy, thanks to transom windows, French doors, and a large bay.
Julia Heine
2011 RADA Merit Award, Architectural Detail McInturff Architec…
2011 RADA Merit Award, Architectural Detail McInturff Architects, Bethesda, Md. McInturff Architects designed custom modular shelving that works within the existing walls of this Washington, D.C., house. In the living room, the bookshelves also support an aluminum-framed box containing a gas fireplace and a flat-screen TV.
Julia Heine
The flexible shelving system allows the owners’ extensive book…
The flexible shelving system allows the owners’ extensive book collection to neatly spill over into other spaces, including the dining area.
Julia Heine
Steel, cherry, glass, and aluminum make up a basic but highly ad…
Steel, cherry, glass, and aluminum make up a basic but highly adaptable kit of parts.
Julia Heine
The shelves even make their way upstairs to a second-floor nook.
Courtesy McInturff Architects
The home’s first-floor plan shows the bookshelves’ multiple …
The home’s first-floor plan shows the bookshelves’ multiple locations.
Courtesy McInturff Architects
An axonometric view of the house’s first floor.
Paul Bardagjy
Custom Home, November-December 2004 Custom Touches Limbacher &…
Custom Home, November-December 2004 Custom Touches Limbacher & Godfrey Architects, Austin Cherry bookshelves play off the pine ceiling and concrete arches of this Texas library to create a rich mix of textures.
Harry Bates, Bates Masi + Architects
2006 RADA Grand Award, Custom, 3,500 Square Feet or Less Bates…
2006 RADA Grand Award, Custom, 3,500 Square Feet or Less Bates Masi + Architects, Sag Harbor, N.Y. At this 1,200-square-foot residence in East Hampton, N.Y., the second-floor circulation space doubles as a library.
Harry Bates, Bates Masi + Architects
An assembly of stock steel columns, arms, and brackets supports …
An assembly of stock steel columns, arms, and brackets supports many of the home’s key design elements, including the mahogany bookshelves.
Harry Bates, Bates Masi + Architects
A simple, open floor plan keeps the upstairs library within view…
A simple, open floor plan keeps the upstairs library within view from almost anywhere in the house.
Art Grice
Custom Home, January-February 2006 On Site Bernie Baker Archit…
Custom Home, January-February 2006 On Site Bernie Baker Architect, Bainbridge Island, Wash. A library tower with its own balcony stands sentinel at the entrance to this shingled house on Guemes Island, Wash.
Hoachlander Davis Photography
Custom Home, November-December 2004 Custom Touches Barnes Vanz…
Custom Home, November-December 2004 Custom Touches Barnes Vanze Architects, Washington, D.C. A mezzanine level adds more storage space for books in this Brazilian cherry-lined library—and it helps humanize the scale of the room’s 25-foot-high ceilings.
Modern culture makes much of the need to escape from the pressures of everyday life. Exotic vacations and sybaritic spas often are seen as antidotes to stress, and rightly so. But the brain needs to get away from its regular routine just as much as the body does, and that’s where a home library comes into play. For bookworm homeowners, a place to retreat into a good story serves as the biggest luxury of all.
Along with providing a cozy spot to read, a home library acts as a storage and display device. It also creates an opportunity to add color and texture to an interior, especially when integrated into a larger space. And it gives an architect a way to inject some of the client’s personality and character into the home. Furthermore, books are style-neutral. They work equally well at lending warmth to minimal, modern spaces and formal, traditional ones. No wonder people still treasure their physical tomes, despite the convenience of e-books. As Cicero said, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
Whether signed first editions or dog-eared paperbacks, favorite books deserve a well-designed place to rest their spines. Our slideshow of lovely libraries abounds with smart, sophisticated ideas for supplying the perfect space to get lost in a good book.
