Includes index

Growing up in the grand manner -- Queen of the Great Lakes -- Once upon a time -- Manor born, Texas bred -- How green is my Ireland

'Everything's grand' says decorator extraordinaire, Carleton Varney. After fifty years in the interior design business, Varney opens his archive and brings together his favourite large-scale luxury decorating projects, including an Irish country manor, a Victorian castle, a colonial mansion, a Southern plantation... along with two of his best-loved resorts--the Greenbrier in West Virginia and the "Queen of the Great Lakes", Michigan's Grand Hotel. On these pages, he also showcases his most recent private residential project--a 6000-square-foot Mediterranean-style home in San Antonio. In this book, Varney focuses our attention on all the elements of elegant design--crystal chandeliers, magnificent mantel pieces, and of course, color--and dispenses his time-honoured advice on how to achieve the look at home