What's In Their Library: Stephen Drucker

I'm really excited that House Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Stephen Drucker agreed to give us a peek into his enviable design library. Stephen is a very erudite man and his passion for design is infectious. Spending time with him is like attending a design history class- but one that is so interesting that you want to sit in the front row, absorb every word, and wish that it would never end. When I asked him to provide me with a list of his favorite design books, I knew we were in for a treat. Stephen's favorites include tomes on his beloved British design, but modernism and Hollywood kitsch make appearances as well. And when you read Stephen's remarks about each book, I think you'll also see that in addition to being a fountain of design knowledge, he is really a lot of fun.


Van Day Truex: The Man Who Defined Twentieth-Century Taste and Style by Adam Lewis. "If I could throw the ultimate dinner party of stylemakers then and now, I would seat Truex on my right."



New York Interior Design, 1935-1985, Vol. 1: Inventors of Traditionby Judith Gura. "This one book could be your entire decorating reference library. Personally I can never get enough of Ruby Ross Wood."



The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenterby Andrew Alpern. "Original floorplans of Manhattan's grand old apartment buildings. Could I really get by on Park Avenue with a 40-foot-long living room and four maid's rooms?"



The Englishman's Roomby Alvilde Lees-Milne. "Various English gentlemen, their portraits by the brilliant Derry Moore, and short essays about why they love their nothing-to-prove homes. Everything but the cup of tea."



Colefax and Fowler: The Best in Interior Decorationby Chester Jones. "I've read this 25-year-old book about 400 times. Somewhere in these pages, I'm convinced, is the secret ingredient of Englishness."



Form and Re-Form: A Practical Handbook of Modern Interiorsby Paul Frankl. "Paul Frankl's Machine Age prayerbook. Cork! Linoleum! Vitrolite! It's the future that never quite happened, and a masterpiece of book design."



Visionaire 37: The DV Memos. "These memos written by Her Highness to her staff will help you understand why everyone who worked for her couldn't stop talking about her for the next 40 years. Her eyes did not see the same thing as yours and mine."



Bill Blass: The Sothebys Catalogue. "Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn't tell me that their apartment was "inspired by" Bill Blass's Satyricon on Sutton Place. This catalogue of his effects will humble you quickly."



Hollywood Lifeby Gavin Lambert. "A true romp in the mud, about the great LA houses of the 1960s and 70s. It all seems slightly skanky now, as if everybody's living on the set of "Imitation of Life." Or "Boogie Nights." Dig that brown suede cover."