Steven Brooke, an internationally acclaimed architectural photographer, was awarded the Rome Prize in 1991 and is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and the Albright Institute in Jerusalem. He received the National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects and two Graham Foundation grants. Brooke is the author of Seaside, published by Pelican, and Views of Rome. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Brooke lives in Miami with his wife, architect Suzanne Martinson, and their son, Miles.

Laura Cerwinske, a native of Miami, was the founding editor of Florida Home & Garden magazine and writes articles on garden design for numerous magazines including Garden Design, Southern Accents, and Veranda. She is the author of The Book of the Rose and A Passion for Roses, as well as a long list of books on architecture and design. This is her first book with Pelican. She describes her own garden-a wooded acre of exaggerated botany-as a subtropical Giverny.