An exuberant tribute to North America's architectural heritage, Rural Escapes explores how country homes have been built to reflect and enhance the natural features of the countryside. In four parts, it showcases 24 beautiful homes that embrace the history of the land and the peoples who live and have lived on it. Each is lavishly illustrated and sympathetically described by a team of acclaimed writers led by American country expert Bo Niles. The first part, Colonial Charm , is devoted to vintage homes, including houses in Early American, Colonial, and Shaker styles. Rustic Beauty ventures deep into the forests to discover log cabins, hunting lodges, and camps from Connecticut to Colorado. In New Frontier Spirit , innovative and unusual homes show that the pioneer instinct is alive and well; they include a Vermon barn of stilts, a tropical paradise in California, and a beach house on Long Island. Finally, Contemporary Inspiration looks at how materials such as glass and steel create houses that seem to mesh with their environment just as harmoniously as their traditonal predecessors.