Rowdy Meadow: House-Land-Art

The house … serves as a magnificent showcase for an important collection of design, from the Arts and Crafts era through today. - Architectural Digest

Welcome to Rowdy Meadow, a visionary house that is a complete work of art, from its architecture, interior design, furnishings, and collection of contemporary art to its landscape architecture and private sculpture park. Inspired by Czech Cubism, it is unlike any other house, anywhere. Designed and decorated by Peter Pennoyer Architects in Hunting Valley, Ohio, it is a structure of tremendous complexity made to feel simple and calm by Pennoyer’s mastery of the language of this style - a short-lived movement notable for its use of prismatic forms.

Inside, Anne Walker guides the reader through the house, room by room, showcasing furnishings spanning the Arts and Crafts era through Art Deco, with pieces by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Josef Hoffmann, Dagobert Peche, Eileen Gray, and Gio Ponti, fine art by Walton Ford, James Lee Byars, and others, as well as bespoke installations so expertly woven into the design that they virtually become part of the fabric of the house. She discusses the Reed Hilderbrand-designed landscape and sculpture park - with works by Anish Kapoor and Andy Goldsworthy - spread throughout the 146-acre property. Illustrated with photographs taken throughout the seasons by Eric Piasecki that capture Rowdy Meadow’s unique detailing, imagination, and energy, as well as with renderings and drawings, the book itself is an extraordinary achievement.