The Rockefeller Family Home: Kykuit (ISBN 0789202220)

Hudson Valley Treasure-Trove:
As early as the 17th century, Dutch New Yorkers built family compounds in the Hudson River Valley north of Manhattan. Completed in 1913 for Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, Kykuit (the names comes from the Dutch, "lookout")has been home to four generations of Rockefeller family members. Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Sites, Kykuit has only recently been open to the public. The Beaux Arts estate, built by architects Delano and Aldrich, with formal gardens designed by landscape architect William Welles Bosworth, is a treasure-trove of rare antiques, fine furnishings, and invaluable artworks, most notably, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's (the last family member to occupy the estate) unparalleled collection of 20th-century sculpture. Written by Nelson Rockefeller's daughter, Ann Rockefeller Roberts, and photographed by Mary Louise Pierson, his granddaughter, "Kykuit" provides intimate details of family life that breathe live into what might have been just another coffee-table book about the fabulously wealthy. "Kykuit" is a must-have for anyone interested in exceptional gardens, architecture and fine arts.

First Class, Rockefeller Style:
Perfection may not be attainable, but as a beautiful book and a model study of a landmark work of architecture and landscape architecture this volume sets a high standard indeed. The photography is superb, the book design elegant, the production sumptuous. The subject in fact might be somewhat overwhelmed by the presentation, were the subject merely the "Big House" at Kykuit itself. The building was somewhat of a compromise design, remodeled once, involving two architects and an interior designer (all first class, of course). It is not the architecture of the main building, if tasteful, that alone warrants this lavish production, but rather it is the ensemble--the magnificent gardens featuring an important collection of sculpture, the interior enriched by a collection of art and sensitive decor, the varied ancillary structures, including Japanese structures, and the intimate view of Rockefeller family life at Kykuit. The text is unpretentious but well crafted. One suspects that every detail has been carefully researched and considered for relevance to the general reader. The tone is apt. A very talented and skilled team has produced a well-neigh perfect work of art about an important work of art.

Rockefeller Crown Jewel:
This is a wonderful book on an amazing house. The history of the home is very interesting and the text highly informative. The Rockefeller's are synonomous with money, so you expect their estate to me magnificent, Kykuit does not disappoint, the images of the estate inside and out are very well turned out. The estate is amazing in that it is huge, but somehow warm, it's not bombastic like the Vanderbilt palaces, it is somehow more human. There is an understated elegance about the mansion, I mean understated by the lofty heights of the great American rich of course. This is a nice testement to an amazing home and an equally amazing family. In the true philanthropic tradition of John D. Rockefeller II, the house is in a trust for all to enjoy. I highly recommend this book to anyone with the least bit of interest in quenticential american success stories and what can be created with such great wealth.