The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of California

By Joan Tapper

When you think of the American Southwest, it isn't the towns that initially come to mind. Rather, it's the incredible landscape: carved-out chasms, towering red rocks, and dramatic desert expanses. But you shouldn't miss the beautiful old towns--the clusters of adobe houses around Spanish-style plazas and the rows of Victorian miners' cottages that still cling to precipitous hillsides. Many of these communities started as remote outposts, then flourished in a burst of riches, only to fade again.

Today the Southwest is a region of energetic growth and multicultural vitality, and its quaint towns are enjoying renewed attention as their rich history, striking settings, and distinctive architecture attract Americans touring their homeland's picturesque byways as well as visitors from around the world.

Nik Wheeler's stunning photography and Joan Tapper's perceptive commentaries celebrate the beauty and heritage of thirty special communities in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and western Colorado. They range from tiny villages of a few hundred people to towns of as much as 40,000, but most are the kind of place where a chance conversation still opens doors: Bisbee, Spring City, Truchas, Tubac, Tombstone, Cimarron, Silverton, Ouray, Winnemucca, Moab, Sedona, and so many more.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0500514682
• ISBN13: 9780500514689
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 3.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 10.6" x 12.3"

Customer Reviews

The Natural Beauty of California - outside the metro areas

California is beyond just San Francisco and Los Angeles - there are plenty of beautiful coastal and central towns in the state that are plentiful in physical beauty. This picture books gives a view into other locations in California that reflect the geographic splendor for natives and visitors alike. California shares the choice destination distinction with Hawaii as one of the most desired places in the US to be in. This book shows you why.

The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of California

Was a gift for my husband and he was thrilled. We both loved the photography and reminisced as we had visited alot of the places in it. Can't wait to return. This is a great book for those who think that California is just freeways and clogged cities without charm and visible beauty.

A photographic journey of small-town California

A book worthy a beautiful state! Images of glitzy LA or cosmopolitan SF frequently overshadow the many other destinations featured in this book. Of course being an overview, the towns listed here are given as cursory highlights without much depth. Nonetheless, the book tantalizes like a plate of appetizers. The diner will have to follow up with his own entree should he want to savor a particular site.

Beautiful..Unique..

Great coffee table book. Very unique and beautiful images, a great showcase of pictures throughout California. It also has a great index to all the finest hotels and restaurants..

Beautiful book

I purchased this book as a "thank you" gift for a friend in Germany who had visited many of the Coastal towns of California during a vacation long ago. He loved the book and marveled at all the places he remembered from time spent in "The Golden State". Plus, pictures of towns that he hadn't visited were so interesting to him that I'm sure they'll give him ideas for any upcoming visits he may be planning. The photographs are beautiful and the commentaries interesting. While it doesn't highlight the rugged beauty of places such as Yosemite or the California Coast, it serves to reinforce the down-to-earth beauty that can be found in simple, every day towns.