The elegant chateaux, luxurious estates, and grand private residences built in France over the past centuries are spectacularly presented in this lavish volume. Covering more than forty properties scattered throughout France, from Brittany and Normandy to Aquitaine and Provence, this volume captures their diverse architecture, rich interiors, priceless furniture, painting, and sculpture collections, and fabulous gardens in all their glory.
These historic residences, often built over long periods of time, have been expanded and redecorated according to the whims of the day, scarred by revolution and war, and restored by the best-known architects and artists of their epochs. Together they represent a tangible record of the French lifestyle of the past and the present, as many of these houses are still in private hands. Some of the most famous and beloved houses of the French nation, as well as some that are impossible to visit, are included-Chateau-Lafite, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Hotel Lambert, Chateau d'Or, and Le Marais. "The Splendor of France" provides an important record of the grandeur of the French style and its contributions to the history of architecture and design through the centuries.