Why do we embrace so much of European culture?  
Probably because so many of us come from Europe! Surely our fascination with Tudor and Georgian houses and anything that looks like a castle has its origins in our ancestral DNA.

I was born in Scotland and am a proud Scottish-American, and while I champion American culture and design with gusto, my home is substantially stocked with European antiques and sensibilities. I love copper rone pipes and the ivy covering my house, and the 18th-century Italian Rococo secretary that dominates my minuscule library. (I still dream of finding a fragment of a Caravaggio or a miniature Canaletto tucked into one of its multiple hidden compartments.) Co-existing beautifully in this little space are a games table and two American wing chairs, dressed in a buttery Kravet vinyl. And in my great room, a Biedermeier table, a Norwegian painted commode, and a French hutch are a seamless fit for my huge American Dacor Discovery self-cleaning convection ovens and six-burner dual-fuel range, along with a colossal Sub-Zero fridge.

How we live now, among a curated fusion of cultures, is simply exhilarating. Enjoy the cornucopia of European design and style ideas gathered in this special issue, and try them at home if you are so inclined!