Part memoir, part decorating book, this is the story of how acclaimed interior designer Thom Filicia renovated a fixer-upper in the Finger Lakes and turned it into a modern American home.

Star designer Thom Filicia wasn’t looking for another escape from his busy city life. But when visiting beautiful Skaneateles Lake, New York, where he had vacationed as a child, he fell madly in love with a fixer-upper. Two years and one careful, respectful, and impassioned renovation later, it has become the house of his dreams—one that profoundly speaks to his happy memories of lazy days spent on the lake or in the small town as a child.

Part memoir, part decorating book, American Beauty is the story of this house, and an inspirational resource that imparts Thom’s extensive wisdom on creating rooms that feel modern yet meaningful and classic.