February 2006

1716 LOCUST

And the winner is... After more than eighteen months of planning, designing, building, landscaping, and decorating, the latest Better Homes and Gardens® project house was ready for its final close-up. The idea-filled house and its surrounds had been photographed for four of our stories (the third one is in this issue on pages 113-120), it had been the star of its own cable network show, and it had been toured by more than 5,000 guests during various open houses and parties.

CUSTOMER SERVICE ON BHG.COM

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Celebrate Valentine's Day

HOME PLANS

Straight From the heart

Thaw winter's chill with hot pink Valentine's Day projects

Digging A New Life

Retired from the 9-to-5, Lee and Lyn May wanted to live more simply, closer to the land. Less house, more land was the way they wanted to go. The bench, planted in the meadow, invites communion with nature and each other.

BALANCING GLAMOUR WITH GRACE

A mom with a passion for antiques and romantic style weaves rough-and-tumble practicality into her California home.

MAKING IT BELLA

A love of elegant details and all things Venetian leads a Minneapolis couple to create a state-of-the-art kitchen enriched with style.

BLENDING SWEET AND SASSY

Interior designer Lori Graham's cozy guest room and bath marry modern verve with Victorian sentiment.

A Dozen Roses, 3 Bouquets

The Way to Someone's Heart

Enlist the help of homemade or prepared sauces to serve dinner in valentine colors. These three can take you from appetizer to dessert. Your loved one will be tickled pink!

Heart-Felt Comfort

X's and O's

Decorating Stick-to-itiveness

Pretty Prints by the Yard

COOL DOWN

Anna's Aprons

Sweet Scents

Just in time for Valentine's Day-- fabulous fragrances to bring out the flirt in you.

A STROLL IN THE TROPICS

A makeover divides a Florida front yard into a suite of rooms where the owners enjoy dining, relaxing, and hot-tubbing in leafy, flowery privacy.

Saving FOR YOUR grandkids

Start a financial legacy now by contributing to funds for your grandchild's future. Here's the guide to find your family's best strategy.

Joys of winter

'Tis the season when state parks become winter wonderlands of activities, classes, and weekend programs to entertain the whole family.

Better Homes and Gardens presents the BETTER HOME BETTER LIVING HOUSE

You toured its interior in our November issue-- now, come linger in the landscape.

Luxury gets a real life

From the street, Gretchen Ventura's house looks like so many others across America: a modest 1950s rambler, friendly and familiar, hardly cutting-edge.

A Fresh Spin on Vintage

Growing up in Yarmouth, Maine, gave Nicola Manganello-Oliver an appreciation for historic houses. One in particular, a century-old Greek Revival, intrigued her. "I walked by it every day as a kid," Nicola says. "I liked its tall, narrow shape. In my high school art class, we had to make a 3-D model of our favorite house, and this was the one I chose."

COLORFUL SHADE GARDEN

Book of life

For years, my grandfather kept a guest book in his home. After he died, we found the tattered red volume-- girded with a rubber band to keep the pages from falling out-- among magazines, letters, and other papers left on a table in his living room.