How do you identify home? Is your residence just a house or apartment, or is it a place you love, the center of your life? Interior designer and TV personality, Jeremiah Brent, takes on that subject in his new book, The Space that Keeps You: When Home Becomes a Love Story. Although he never mentions his last name, Brent’s husband, Nate Berkus, is mentioned throughout the book, and their shared journey to “home” is important.

Brent lived a lot of places growing up, and as an adult, but he usually had no problem picking up and moving on. When he and Nate bought their most recent apartment in New York City, Brent discovered the light and warmth of home. When he talked to Oprah about it, she said that should be the topic of his new book, finding home.

Using photos, scrapbook layouts, and photo album design, Brent talks with friends about the places they discovered and love, the homes they made. He spoke to Oprah about her home in Montecito. It was the ocean and trees, especially the trees, that called to her on that property.

I had several favorite stories. Roots and Vines is the story of a family home turned into a winery by the generation that grew up on their parents’ property in the Napa Valley. It’s a story of learning to love the land, and appreciate its gifts.

Andre is an art dealer who suddenly left New York and bought a rundown farm in Portugal, where he was raised. But, he loves it there, saying “The life here is just a different life. The days are longer. The evenings are closer and more intimate. Everything just feels more connected.”

One of my favorite accounts is by a Venetian Duke who is trying to maintain his family home and history. Gilberto, Gibi, inherited a family palazzo on the Grand Canal. When his father was a boy in the 1920s, the family of six lived there with eighty people working for them. But, no one can afford that lifestyle now, and palazzos have been sold. Gilberto is desperate to keep it in the family. In order to do that, he leased the Venetian palazzo to a hotel for 100 years. He and his family still live there, and during COVID, they were the only residents. But, it’s their home, and their heritage.

The Space That Keeps You is a fascinating book. If you have a space that is a home, comfortable and well-loved, you’re fortunate. This beautiful book isn’t about things or interior design. It’s about houses that became shelters and homes of the heart. Just lovely.

The Space That Keeps You: When Home Becomes a Love Story by Jeremiah Brent. Harvest/HarperCollins, 2023. ISBN 9780063206106 (hardcover), 256p.

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