Wooden Houses ─ From log cabins to beach houses

Wooden houses range from rustic log cabins and timbered country cottages to traditional alpine chalets and elegant clapboard houses with shaded verandas. Wood has always played an invaluable part in construction, architecture and interior decoration and has long been valued for its practical benefits. Indoors, wood surrounds us in so many different ways. Structural elements such as beams and vaulted ceilings become features in their own right. Wood can be used as further embellishment in the form of beautiful panelling or carved and turned banisters and staircases, and in original furniture designs. Whether it is left in its natural state to show the variety of grains and depths of colours, or used as a bare canvas for paint techniques, wood is a beautiful and timeless resource.

Judith Miller has been collecting antiques since the 1960s, when she was studying at Edinburgh University. Since then she has extended and reinforced her knowledge of antiques through research in the UK and internationally. In 1979 she was a co-founder of the international bestseller Miller's Antiques Price Guide, of which she was publisher until 1990. Judith has since written more than 90 books on antiques and interiors that are held in high regard by collectors and dealers alike. Judith is a regular lecturer and contributor to newspapers and magazines, including the BBC's Homes & Antiques magazine. Her most recent television work includes: The House Detectives, The Antiques Trail, and The Martha Stewart Show. She lives in London.