East Hampton - This summer, art, garden and photography enthusiasts from around the world will partake in the beauty that is LongHouse Reserve with the release of Jack Lenor Larsen's "LongHouse" by Molly Chappellet, an expansive and beautiful new hardcover book published by Chronicle Books. The book, which will surely become a collector's piece, features 220 intimate and spectacular color photographs by Chappellet. They cross every season and celebrate the East Hampton home and garden that are the living embodiment of textile luminary Larsen's personal and artistic philosophies.

In addition to the work of his friend Chappellet, Larsen's lifelong friend and LongHouse Reserve Honorary Board Member, Edward Albee, provides his insight for the Foreward while the Afterward completes the book with thoughts from the esteemed Frances H. Cabot. The book also includes a detailed image index containing useful horticultural information. A special edition of the book featuring an exquisite cover designed by Larsen features hand-made, hand-dyed and hand-folded paper from Japan. This special edition will be available exclusively at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton for $75 beginning July 15 or through their website at www.longhouse.org. All proceeds for the $75 books sold through LongHouse will solely benefit the LongHouse Reserve. The national release of the trade edition is currently available for pre-order through Chronicle Books www.chroniclebooks.com and Amazon for $50 and will be released this fall

This special edition will be available exclusively at LongHouse Reserve for $75 beginning July 15, or through the. All proceeds for the $75 books sold through LongHouse will solely benefit the LongHouse Reserve.

Unveiled in the photography captured by Chappellet, is a journey through the 16-acre East Hampton property that, with each new page, reveals the splendor, detail and tranquility of the one-of-a-kind landscape. Breathtaking sculpture, ceramics and artwork from some of the world's most renowned artists and artisans such as Willem de Kooning, Takashi Soga and Dale Chihuly, are found intermingling with the lotus, daffodils and cryptomerias making them one with nature. Lauded as one of America's greatest garden and landscape treasures, internationally acclaimed textile designer Larsen opened LongHouse Reserve to the public in 1992. Since that time LongHouse Reserve has fulfilled his vision for inviting art and garden enthusiasts from around the world to experience his view of art in nature.

"Molly Chappellet's new book, Jack Lenor Larsen's LongHouse, is not just expansively splendid - there are half a hundred double-page photographs of great beauty and a cover of mulberry fiber fold-dyed in sumi ink - I believe it is one of this year's best garden books," says Jack Lenor Larsen, founder of LongHouse Reserve. "It records a highly personal, very practical lifestyle of living with art and affordable beauty, every day. Within these pages lies a down-to-earth modus of how to create personal digs by saving money, bypassing convention, and treating living spaces just as an artist pares a subject to its essence. How does the author/photographer achieve this so personally? Not easily nor quickly, editing to the irreducible, the thousands of photographs and conversations made over a decade. But, if this sybaritic volume opens our eyes to new values and a rare easy logic, the experience will be the purest pleasure."

Chappellet's more than 20 year friendship with Larsen played a pivotal role in the visual artistry of the book. Annual visits to LongHouse inspired her to create a book that is not only a reflection of her understanding and appreciation of LongHouse Reserve but a true artistic interpretation of her relationship with Jack and his view of LongHouse. She first began photographing LongHouse almost 10 years ago. She chose from thousands of images reflecting the beauty of the changing of seasons; the pristine perfection of snow in the gardens or the first blush of spring as it wakes it up. The book beautifully incorporates the work of the permanent and changing exhibitions of hand crafted and ethnographic pieces that are such an integral part of LongHouse.

"At Jack Larsen's LongHouse magnificent gardens grow, stimulating activities abound and remarkable sculptures come and go," says Chappellet. "The artist/owner can't stop creating arresting plantings for new areas of interest. Impossible to effectively chronicle, I chose instead to capture the spirit of this significant place. My hope is our book will inspire visits in order to learn firsthand the magic of LongHouse."

Finding inspiration in 7th century Shinto shrine at Ise in Japan, Larsen decided to build the house on the property in 1986. LongHouse was designed by architect Charles Forberg and built by Joe Tufariello. It is impossible to visit LongHouse without feeling the deep influence of Japan and of Jack's many visits to Asia which have influenced so much of his design work and LongHouse itself. LongHouse contains 13,000 square feet with 18 spaces on four levels. The gardens present the designed landscape as an art form in its own right. The photographs capture these subtle yet dramatic flourishes.

About Molly Chappellet
Finding inspiration in 7th century Shinto shrine at Ise in Japan, Larsen decided to build the house on the property in 1986. LongHouse was designed by architect Charles Forberg and built by Joe Tufariello. It is impossible to visit LongHouse without feeling the deep influence of Japan and of Larsen's many visits to Asia which have influenced so much of his design work and LongHouse itself. LongHouse contains 13,000 square feet with 18 spaces on four levels. The gardens present the designed landscape as an art form in its own right. The photographs capture these subtle yet dramatic flourishes.

Based in Napa Valley, Chappellet is an accomplished photographer, designer, landscape gardener, chef and entertainer. In 1967, she co-founded Chappellet Winery with her husband Donn and is the author of three books "A Vineyard Garden," the James Beard Award-winning book sharing her ideas from the earth for entertaining, gardening and life; "The Romance of California Vineyards," co-authored with her daughter Carissa Chappellet featuring breathtaking photographs of the Napa Valley; and "Gardens of the Wine Country," co-authored with Richard Tracy which takes readers on an exclusive tour of the Napa Valley's most spectacular gardens, and "Into the Earth: A Wine Cave Renaissance," co-authored with Daniel D'Agostini's who's extraordinary journey takes you into subterranean California ,where some of the world's greatest wines are crafted and stored.

About LongHouse Reserve
Through its gallery, arboretum, sculpture gardens and education programs, LongHouse Reserve brings together art and nature, aesthetics and spirit, with a strong conviction that the arts are central to living wholly and creatively. LongHouse Reserve is a not-for-profit museum that encompasses nearly 16 acres. Each year the LongHouse Reserve presents major exhibitions in both the pavilion and the gardens. Currently, there are more than 60 sculptures for the gardens including works of glass by Dale Chihuly, ceramics by Toshiko Takaezu, and bronzes by Miguel Barceló, Peter Voulkos, Benglis and Willem de Kooning. Works by Alfonso Ossorio, Claus Bury, Yoko Ono, Pavel Opocensky, and Takashi Soga are also on view, while the installation of a "Fly's Eye Dome" designed by Buckminster Fuller and a site-specific Sol Lewitt add interesting scale and dimension.

For more information go to www.longhouse.org.