After Lagani left, Condé Nast chairman S.I. Newhouse Jr., Townsend and editorial director Tom Wallace carefully studied the magazine's long-term viability. "With the unexpected departure of the publisher of the magazine, we decided to take a serious look and reevaluate the title," Townsend said in a statement. Interviewing potential Lagani replacements seemed to be less of a priority. According to a spokeswoman, "There were several people who expressed interest in the publisher job and there had been a few conversations." But after crunching the numbers, Townsend said: "We no longer believe it is a viable business investment for the company."

According to Publishers Information Bureau, ad pages through September fell by 1.4 percent, to 624. For the year, they grew 15 percent to 845 in 2006 compared with 2005. House & Garden carried more pages than corporate sibling Domino (463 pages) and Hearst Magazines' House Beautiful (495), but Elle Decor carried 811 pages through the third quarter and Architectural Digest, also a Condé Nast title, reported 1,146 pages through September. It is not yet known what will happen to the subscription list from House & Garden or what subscribers will receive in lieu of the title.

Meanwhile, the other shelter titles at Condé Nast will get more company love next year. A spokeswoman confirmed that Vogue Living would increase its frequency next year to two issues, publishing spring and fall editions. Also, Domino is rasing its rate base from 625,000 to 700,000 in February, and again to 750,000 in August. — Stephanie D. Smith

HEADING TO POLO: Departures is losing its associate articles editor, Matt Trainor, but it's not to another magazine. Starting Nov. 26, he'll be the editorial director of ralphlauren.com, a newly created title, the company confirmed. Both Trainor and a spokesman for Ralph Lauren were tight-lipped, but hinted at major changes ahead. Trainor was previously Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter's assistant and a senior editor at Cargo. — Irin Carmon

BACK TO BASE: Portfolio senior editor Brendan Vaughan is returning to Esquire to edit that magazine's 75th anniversary issue, a nine-month position. He left Esquire, where he was articles editor, in October 2006 to join the launch of the Condé Nast business title, and gave notice Monday. — I.C.