FEATURES

UPON THE PUBLICATION OF HER NEW BOOK, LUNA & LOLA, PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER PRISCILLA RATTAZZI RELISHES THE GOOD LIFE WITH HER HUSBAND, CHRIS WHITTLE, THREE CHILDREN AND THEIR DOGS AT HOME ON GEORGICA POND

Click on any photo for a larger view.

THE REAL DEAL (click photo for larger view)

"YOU CAN FEEL A SPIRITUAL ENERGY HERE— there's something completely magical about this place," Priscilla Rattazzi says, gazing out over the rolling lawn and its 100-year-old trees toward Georgica Pond and the Atlantic Ocean. She is sitting on one of the roomy porches at Briar Patch, the 11-acre property she escapes to with her husband, education pioneer Chris Whittle, children Maxi, Andrea and Sasha, plus their two dogs, Lola and Leo. Leo, a golden retriever puppy, is a recent addition to the family, who are still mourning the passing of Luna, their golden retriever of 13 years. Rattazzi, a photographer and writer, has just published Luna & Lola, a photographic memoir of the family's dogs that also subtly depicts the passage of time, concluding with a poignant essay by Whittle on what Luna meant to them.

HIGH STYLE (click photo for larger view)

When Rattazzi and Whittle first laid eyes on Briar Patch in 1989, it was a shingled mansion that was too formal for their liking, with too many rooms (20) and no porches. It didn't fit with their aesthetic and what was about to be their new life together. But the views from the classic East Hampton cottage, built in 1931 by architect Arthur C. Jackson for Dr. and Mrs. Shepard Krech, reminded Rattazzi of summers on the Mediterranean. The daughter of the late Susanna Agnelli—the first and only woman foreign minister of Italy, as well as a best-selling author—and niece of famed Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli, she wanted Briar Patch to be "my version of my Italian childhood by the sea."

PENSIVE MOMENT (click photo for larger view)

Today the 10,000-square-foot compound—still sprawling, but now inviting and cozy—centers on a great room, with a master suite at one end and children's rooms at the other, with photographs hanging on practically every available wall. The dining room can seat 18 comfortably, but more often than not it serves as Rattazzi's well-used office. Architect Peter Marino helped the couple convert the living spaces to a scale that suits them, including the warm and welcoming 3,500-square-foot guesthouse—and now there are porches everywhere. (Whittle has an affinity for architecture and worked closely with Marino on the project; a native of Tennessee, he swears that "life is lived on porches.")