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Life in a French Country House: Entertaining for All Seasons
French tastemaker Cordelia de Castellane presents her inspirations and secrets to exquisite at-home entertaining and decor, organized according to the four seasons.
As France’s most prominent host and the artistic director of Dior Home and Baby Dior, Cordelia de Castellane is a leading ambassador of the Gallic lifestyle. Simply put, Cordelia is to French entertaining what Inès de la Fressange is to French style. Drawing from her illustrious career, family life, and lively social circle, she invites readers into her welcoming world of stylish hospitality with this new volume.
Organized according to the seasons of the year—winter, spring, summer, and fall—the chapters uncover Cordelia’s tips and inspirations for living and entertaining à la française. With individual sections dedicated to seasonal tableware, recipes, interior design, flower arranging, and more, readers will delight in learning how to re-create chic French style for special events and everyday occasions alike. Accompanying personal archival photos, exclusive images of vibrant table settings and decor at Cordelia’s gorgeous private residence in the French countryside brim with effortless flair. Complete with informative captions and texts, this book is a must-have guide on how to bring French joie de vivre to your home.
As France’s most prominent host and the artistic director of Dior Home and Baby Dior, Cordelia de Castellane is a leading ambassador of the Gallic lifestyle. Simply put, Cordelia is to French entertaining what Inès de la Fressange is to French style. Drawing from her illustrious career, family life, and lively social circle, she invites readers into her welcoming world of stylish hospitality with this new volume.
Organized according to the seasons of the year—winter, spring, summer, and fall—the chapters uncover Cordelia’s tips and inspirations for living and entertaining à la française. With individual sections dedicated to seasonal tableware, recipes, interior design, flower arranging, and more, readers will delight in learning how to re-create chic French style for special events and everyday occasions alike. Accompanying personal archival photos, exclusive images of vibrant table settings and decor at Cordelia’s gorgeous private residence in the French countryside brim with effortless flair. Complete with informative captions and texts, this book is a must-have guide on how to bring French joie de vivre to your home.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 12, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 1, 2024
STUNNING photographs, little to no substance. This type of book usually doesn’t have much meat, but truly, there was barely any text about the (again, gorgeous!) photographs or the author’s process of designing or styling. She has so much creative experience that I would have liked to hear more about, so that was a bit of a let-down. She also weirdly had quite a few pages with text and photographs about all the famous people she is linked to and why her family/childhood led her to become a designer…and then not much about *actually* being a designer. Anyway, some strange choices were made, but obviously the text is meant to be supplementary to the amazing photos. So if you want what is essentially a gorgeous Pinterest board for your coffee table, this is it!
March 5, 2026
The feeling for this book can be described as grandiose gatherings, carpe diem at all times. There’s no want or waste as nature take holds and unfolds throughout the seasons.
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What did I like about this read?
Cordelia states that: Each transformation leads to a new ambience, and she adapts to its soul with great respect. From the decoration of the house to the menus set by the rhythm of the garden vegetables and floral bouquets, I experience it all according to the season. She never forces anything. Indoors, everything evolves; she fills the rooms with pots of promising plants, decorates the tables differently, and changes up the cushions and throws. The beauty of what Mother Nature gives us surpasses all imagination, linked as it is to a world of ideas. Cordelia is truly inspired by the seasons; she lives for them.
I especially like that she seeks advice from her many gardening friends, as well as other English gardeners, such as the Willow Crossley (The Seedling), a newsletter to be found on substack.com, from whom she is still learning a lot on Instagram. I make particular mention of this because I am a free subscriber to Crossley’s newsletter, which is most informative.
“If we want it to look pretty in spring, it all depends on our efforts in October. Cordelia doesn’t miss a weekend during this period. She plans everything. Post-it notes are intentionally scatter the ground so she can adjust the flowers by the season and color (for coherence). This is when she plants her tulips, which come from the Netherlands, and many other seeds and bulbs either in the vegetable garden or in pots that she can cultivate in the greenhouse. She trims hedges and gives them a neat line for the winter. When the plants get too big, she splits them, leaving her with a feeling that Christmas has come early, knowing that in the spring she’ll have two of each plant. Planting is completed by February, and Cordelia can’t wait to see the results of her laborious work.
Gardening reconciles her—as someone who only wanted to live up in the air—with the earth. Putting her hands in the soil brings a certain comfort…that no words can describe.
This is such a lovely book published by Rizzoli, as it tells us it is a coffee table book, indeed, to stimulate and titillate our buds of wonder. To the reader, all is within this book to feast upon, gathering ideas, recipes, and guidance on how to live and entertain stylishly through the seasons. A grandiose book filled with beautiful images of generations of family. Cordelia lives for her four children and her extended family, those who have come before and those who have come during.
`````````````````````````
What did I like about this read?
Cordelia states that: Each transformation leads to a new ambience, and she adapts to its soul with great respect. From the decoration of the house to the menus set by the rhythm of the garden vegetables and floral bouquets, I experience it all according to the season. She never forces anything. Indoors, everything evolves; she fills the rooms with pots of promising plants, decorates the tables differently, and changes up the cushions and throws. The beauty of what Mother Nature gives us surpasses all imagination, linked as it is to a world of ideas. Cordelia is truly inspired by the seasons; she lives for them.
I especially like that she seeks advice from her many gardening friends, as well as other English gardeners, such as the Willow Crossley (The Seedling), a newsletter to be found on substack.com, from whom she is still learning a lot on Instagram. I make particular mention of this because I am a free subscriber to Crossley’s newsletter, which is most informative.
“If we want it to look pretty in spring, it all depends on our efforts in October. Cordelia doesn’t miss a weekend during this period. She plans everything. Post-it notes are intentionally scatter the ground so she can adjust the flowers by the season and color (for coherence). This is when she plants her tulips, which come from the Netherlands, and many other seeds and bulbs either in the vegetable garden or in pots that she can cultivate in the greenhouse. She trims hedges and gives them a neat line for the winter. When the plants get too big, she splits them, leaving her with a feeling that Christmas has come early, knowing that in the spring she’ll have two of each plant. Planting is completed by February, and Cordelia can’t wait to see the results of her laborious work.
Gardening reconciles her—as someone who only wanted to live up in the air—with the earth. Putting her hands in the soil brings a certain comfort…that no words can describe.
This is such a lovely book published by Rizzoli, as it tells us it is a coffee table book, indeed, to stimulate and titillate our buds of wonder. To the reader, all is within this book to feast upon, gathering ideas, recipes, and guidance on how to live and entertain stylishly through the seasons. A grandiose book filled with beautiful images of generations of family. Cordelia lives for her four children and her extended family, those who have come before and those who have come during.
December 30, 2021
An extended Vogue lifestyle article. Gorgeous photos but no real substance. Interesting book layout.
August 3, 2022
Very pleasant to browse through--very little text in relation to photos. She seems like a French-country Martha Stewart.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews