Somehow, ‘tis the season once again. ‘Twas months ago that we started working on our holiday issue. In fact, we photographed the homes featured on these pages in 2021, which seems like a lifetime ago. 

Every year, we face the same Yuletide cover conundrum: How do we communicate sincere holiday wishes without resorting to some trite, used-a-million-times snippet of a Christmas carol? You might think this would be easier than it is. 

We gathered at our conference room table and rolled up our sleeves. We whiteboarded all conceivable possibilities. We sent out for sandwiches and worked until the wee hours of the silent night, taking turns power napping on the office couch. With barely optimistic resolve, we combed through the lyrics of probably every holiday-themed song, meticulously cross-
referencing with our in-house archive of past issues, hoping to uncover that perfect nugget.

Some titles were easily ruled out. You’ll never be greeted at the newsstand or your mailbox with PH&G proclaiming, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” at least not on my watch. 2015 was a year of Comfort and Joy. Home for the Holidays? Been there in 2014. Making Spirits Bright? That’s so 2017. Merry and Bright? Done that, 2017 and 2019, and I’d guess probably a dozen more times in our publication’s 43-year history.

And then, hark! Like a Christmas miracle, an idea came to us. What if we let the cover image do all the work? Choose a photo so cozy, so inviting that what we want to say doesn’t even need to be said? We looked at each other with our eyes all aglow. It’s crazy enough, it just might work.

And here we are. We hope that our cover—and all of the pages that follow—conveys all the warmth and spirit that “home” represents to you. Although it’s been said many times, many ways, we here at Cities West Media do wish you all of our best, now, and for the new year to come.

John Roark
Editor in Chief