Kirk Reed Forrester

For Melissa Gerstle’s work in the Fall 2020 Kips Bay Decorators Showhouse, she created a Hollywood Regency feel for the pool and patio. Photo by Stephen Karlisch Q&A Flower: Tell me a little about your background. Melissa Gerstle: I grew up in the suburbs on Long Island and always had a deep appreciation of nature. I went to college to pursue environmental studies because I wanted to be a photojournalist for National Geographic.

The garden at Wethersfield in springtime with the Taconic Range in the background John Muir, the famous naturalist, once said, “Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” Philanthropist Chauncey D. Stillman could have said the same about a swath of Hudson Valley he fell in love with during a ride in the storied Millbrook Hunt.

Cooling temps mean the best books hot off the press. Here are a few standouts on homes, hosting, and the great outdoors S IS FOR STYLE (Photo by Francesco Lagnese) INTERIOR DESIGN S Is for Style: The Schumacher Book of Decoration (Rizzoli, 2020) takes readers on a deep dive into company’s archives, featuring iconic fabrics wielded by some of America’s best designers over the last century.