Readers get an exclusive look inside area homes that exemplify the diversity of Savannah's decorative arts community.

There is no question that Savannah packs a visual punch.

Hardly a week passes that romantic images of the city don't crop up on cable television decorating and design programs. It has been written about, filmed, photographed and documented as frequently as a flamboyant Hollywood starlet. The two have much in common. In Susan Sully's book, "Savannah Style: Mystery and Manner," Sully explores the city's grandest ladies of all - her architectural queens who exude an air of splendor and the taste of their owners.

Sully's well-researched introduction captures the city's diverse history concisely but not without glossing over significant events.

She seemingly left no stones unturned, correctly identifying Savannah's Anglophile penchant, which she parallels to, gasp, Charleston.

By phone from her Charleston home, she uses the phrase "over the top" a lot - and not without reason. Many of the book's 20 homes represent decor and furnishings that mirror old Savannah's passion for excess, opulence and elegance.



The spacious porch of Alvin Neely's Baldwin House is the perfect vantage point for a uniquely Savannah view

But in a city known not only for its lavish decorative arts but also its Southern graciousness, how does one choose 20 homeowners to write about? "The process starts with about 100 houses to narrow the list to the 20 that are in the book," Sully explains "All were wonderful and all of them reflected Savannah style. But I have three criteria: Is it archetypical, that is, does the house say something about the city? Is it intense? Is it photogenic? "I like things that have a personal quality, not decorated by a designer but a house that really reflects the owner's style," Sully said. But, as in life, apparent beauty isn't always treated so kindly by the camera.

"Some houses look great but don't photograph well. I shoot my own test shots and then I know whether a house will work or not.

"And (book publisher) Rizzoli was very hands off. I'm really surprised at what they let me get away with."

With a similar book about Charleston to her credit, Sully is no newcomer to writing about architecture and decorative arts.

She graduated from Yale University where she was torn between studying literature and art history.

"A professor influenced my decision and I earned a degree in art history, with an emphasis on architectural history," Sully said, marrying what she thought would be the best of both worlds.

Then, suffering what she terms a "10-year bout of writer's block," she worked in New York City galleries and consulted with arts groups to help develop their strategic plans.

"But I wanted to move back to the South - to become a writer - but I didn't know what I was going to write about," she explains. "When I moved to Charleston, with its great architecture and charm, it rejuvenated those old passions."

Despite modern day comparisons of the two Southern jewels, Sully finds each has unique character defined not by style, but by the times in which the two cities flourished.

Sully feels the time periods during which each city experienced its greatest periods of wealth dictated their style.

"Charleston's greatest period was between 1780 and 1830. It shows in the city's very staid Federal and Georgian style architecture - elegant but very restrained," Sully said, mapping out her theory.



Elegant moldings drape the ceilings and walls of the high-style Greek Revival Knapp House

"Savannah's grandest period was after the Civil War, when Charleston had no money. In the 1880s the city's architectural jewels, its Regency and Greek Revival homes, came into being. They can be very restrained, but can also go way over the top in flamboyant style."

Ultimately, Sully sees the two cities in a kind of sibling rivalry.

"In many ways, Charleston is like the older sister," Sully says. "Restrained, elegant - and Savannah is the beautiful little sister who married, she was wealthy and showy."

Sully worked with several Savannahians versed in local decorative arts and architecture, but crucial to her final selections for the book was a relationship she struck up with local real estate company owner Celia Dunn, who was introduced to Sully by a mutual friend in Charleston.

"(Sully) is so perceptive and such a good writer," Dunn says. "It was interesting how she selected the houses she chose - they weren't all the grandest."

Still, Dunn sees the book as a real plus - not only for the homeowners who had their houses featured in such grand style, but also for the city - which gets added attention with every book sold.

"The book gives people an idea of what's available in Savannah, " Dunn explains, "and they get to see the lovely interiors they wouldn't usually see." Dunn has her favorite in the book - the 1881 Italianate home of Audrey and Richard Platt on Hall Street.

"I love the big side garden and the huge oak tree," Dunn says.

Lavish style and well-manicured gardens may be some people's idea of showy, but Sully has her own definition. She prefers a house that's a bit frayed like the Knapp house - her favorite house in the book.

"I love decadence, decadence that's not about excess but is about decay. And nothing speaks more about the South than a house with peeling paint and falling plaster," she said.

True to form, Steven Brooks' photographs of the house don't try to hide its exposed plaster lathe or faded paint. Instead, you come away with a sense of splendor, of elegance and aged grace.

But Sully doesn't ignore the diversity of Savannah style.



A Hoosier cabinet serves as an impromptu bar at the Tybee Island cottage of Michael and Erin DeLoach

"Many people who lived in the big houses downtown had getaways - a place like Michael DeLoach's beach house. Those places would be relaxed, informal and reflect the owner's style," Sully points out. "Or, the summer and weekend retreat may be in the country, like the Lebanon Plantation.

"It was originally very simple - the kind of place the owner would go to sleep on the sleeping porch on an iron bed covered in an African-American-made quilt. With add-ons, though, it has become much grander - with more embellishments."

At first glance, "Savannah Style," may give the impression that all Savannahians live in these monuments, gilt gold frames that grandly encircle their occupants.

Look closer: Sully didn't ignore the evolution among Savannah residents.

"That's why I included Ann Osteen's home on River Street. It reflects her style and influence as an artist," Sully points out.

The restored former warehouse and its personalized design was on the cutting edge of what is just now becoming known as Savannah's "alternate use" movement - adapting structures intended for one use into homes that are uniquely personal.