Vive La France

Early last Friday, I wrote a blog post about a Parisian house, and I had intended to feature it on my website today.  But hours after writing that article, I was horrified to learn of the brutal and senseless terrorist attacks that took place in Paris.  In light of these events, I have chosen not feature that post today.  Rather, I want to express my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and my solidarity with the French people.

New Vintage Fabrics from Mary Jane McCarty

Some of you longtime readers might remember my post in which I featured the antique-textile pillows that were hand-crafted by Mary Jane McCarty.  Those who are in the know- or who shop at Bergdorf Goodman, where the pillows are sold- covet McCarty's handiwork both for its charm and its emphasis on antique and vintage fabrics.

Well, McCarty's love of antique textiles has blossomed once again.  McCarty recently introduced her New Vintage Collection, a fabric collection whose prints are based on the designer's trove of archival textiles.  Available to the trade and printed to order, the cotton fabrics, which were designed by McCarty, might be new, but their spirit evokes the past.  Patterns include indiennes, tropical motifs, and scenes of architectural ruins and even harems.  But the fabric that especially strikes my fancy is Ming Urn, whose urn-flanked windows I find so delightful.

While the fabrics are sold to the trade, McCarty's New Vintage pillows and custom-order lamp shades are available to all customers.  To see the entire range, or for information on ordering fabrics or accessories, please visit McCarty's website, where I think you'll find that McCarty's passion for antique textiles is infectious!

Ming Urn in Sepia

Columns in Indigo

Harem in Plum

Indiennes in Slate/Multi

Jungle Parrots in Teal

Tropic Leaves in Oxblood

Avignon Stripe in Coco

Nina Campbell at Greystone Mansion

Maison de Luxe, the Luxe Magazine-sponsored showhouse at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, is underway, and, as in years past, the list of participating designers is impressive.  One of those designers is the affable Nina Campbell, who was given Mr. Doheny's suite to decorate.  It was the Doheny family that built Greystone in the late 1920s, when family patriarch, Edward Doheny, Sr., granted his son the acreage on which to build the estate. 

In the current incarnation of Mr. Doheny's suite, Campbell has swathed the room in elegant shades of soft grey and sage green. Fabrics include those from Campbell's collection for Osborne & Little, while upholstered furniture is from O Henry House.  Lamps from Christopher Spitzmiller, furniture from Oomph, and potted tole flowers from Tommy Mitchell make appearances, as do pieces from Hollyhock, Therian, Dragonette, and Kristen Buckingham, to name but a few.  But the crowning jewel of the room just might be the oil portrait of Edward Doheny, Sr., which the Doheny family generously loaned to Campbell for use during this year's showhouse.

Maison de Luxe will remain open through November 22.  For more information, please visit the showhouse website.

Photographs courtesy of Nina Campbell

A Tradition of Collecting: Property from Cornelia Guest, Formerly the Collection of Winston & C.Z. Guest, Templeton

There is a lot of buzz about Stair Galleries' upcoming auction, A Tradition of Collecting: Property from Cornelia Guest, Formerly the Collection of Winston & C.Z. Guest, Templeton, which will take place on November 14.  Templeton, of course, was the Guest family's famed estate, located in Old Westbury, New York.  Having recently sold the estate, Cornelia is moving to Columbia County, New York, where she plans to build an animal rescue.  As many of us have experienced, a move often prompts a shedding of one's possessions, and that seems to be the case with Cornelia, who has consigned furniture, art, garden ornaments, and other decorative pieces to next week's sale at Stair Galleries, the venerable Hudson, New York auction house.  (Stair is also the auction house responsible for selling property from such notables as Brooke Astor, Albert Hadley, and Dominick Dunne.)

With my interest piqued by a number of the lots, I turned to my good friend, Christopher Spitzmiller, to gauge his thoughts on the auction.  Christopher is a longtime client of Stair and has furnished both of his homes from sales at the auction house.  He also had the privilege of spending a long-ago Thanksgiving at Templeton, a visit that made a lasting impression on him.  "As soon as you walked into the house, you saw that pair of elephant tusks and miles and miles of leopard-print carpet," remembers Christopher.  But for all of the home's rarefied décor (which included rooms with "layers and layers of one chintz,") Christopher says, "there was a comfortable feel to these sophisticated rooms.  There was an American sensibility to everything, including the Thanksgiving sweet potato and marshmallow casserole that was served to us in a silver tureen."  But as impressive as Templeton was, it is C.Z. Guest's gardening books that have greatly influenced Christopher.  "Her greatest legacy are her books, which are concise and to the point."

Although most of us never did have the opportunity to visit Templeton, we can now get a glimpse at what life was like there thanks to the Guest auction, which, to borrow Christopher's phrase, is "a remembrance of how magical Templeton was."  I got an armchair tour of the auction lots thanks to Christopher, who previewed the sale last week. (I have included photos of Christopher's tour in this post so that you, too, can get a sneak peek of the sale.)  So which lots caught Christopher's eye?  The gilt brackets, which Christopher believes are "quintessential C.Z. and Cornelia Guest," as well as a vermeil brush and compact set engraved with "C.Z." Also sparking his interest were the myriad garden ornaments and books, not to mention Guest's T. Anthony luggage.  It's this range of pieces that I believe makes this upcoming auction compelling, something with which Christopher concurs.  "Whether you're a gardener, a book collector, or a porcelain collector, there is something for everybody in this sale."

For more information on the sale, please visit Stair Galleries' website.

And a few of the lots that caught my eye:

Lot # 62
PAUL LELONG (1799-1846): STILL LIFE WITH FLOWER VASE; AND STILL LIFE WITH URN
Two gouache on paper, Flower Vase signed 'Lelong' lower right, Urn unsigned.
Both approx. 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (sheet), 8 x 10 1/2 in. (frame).
$800-1,200

Lot # 89
SET OF FOUR CONTINENETAL PORCELAIN VEGETABLE DISH COVERS
Each with relief basket-weave border, floral clusters and sliced lemon knop; one restored.
5 x 9 3/4 in. diam.
$100-200

Lot #113
LOUIS XVI STYLE GREEN-PAINTED HALL RACK
The arched top above a central mirrored panel flanked by brass coat hooks, above the D-shaped console (lacking top), flanked by umbrella stands.
7 x 42 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
$700-900

Lot #117
UPHOLSTERED BANQUETTE WITH A PAIR OF MATCHING PILLOWS
Upholstered in paisley fabric; with a loose rectangular cushion and bolster above the upholstered bench.
23 x 48 x 21 in.
$300-500

Lot # 235
GROUP OF FIVE PAINTED WOOD AND BAMBOO POLO MALLETS, USED BY WINSTON F. CHURCHILL GUEST
One with a painted label on the shaft; Gray's, Westbury, NY; two marked in the mallet head: J. Salter & Sons, Aldershot, England and each mallet numbered 50, 51 and 31, and stamped 'Made in England'.

Note: Winston F. C. Guest (1906-1982) an Anglo-American polo champion. Mr. Guest won the International Polo Cup in 1930, 1936, and 1939. His father was a British politician and the grandson of John Spencer-Churchill, the 7th Duke of Marlborough.

J. Salter & Sons are polo specialists, in Aldershot, England and manufactures and general sports outfitters. Established in 1884 by J. Salter, now owned by Sean Arnold Sporting Antiques.
$300-500



Photo of Cornelia Guest and lot photos used with permission from Stair Galleries.

An Ode to Argo

The latest addition to my design wish-list? That would be Soane's entire Argo collection, with which I'm obsessed.  Inspired by a 1940s French brass-rope table, the collection, which is made of brass and consists of lighting and furniture, looks like something that might have appealed to Billy Baldwin, who clearly understood the stylish advantages of brass accent pieces.  Just look at the photo of his chocolate brown living room below.  It wouldn't have had quite the same pizzazz without those brass bookshelves. 

Like the 1940s French piece that inspired it, the Argo collection has range, able to work its magic in contemporary and traditional interiors alike.  In a traditionally-decorated room, the aesthetic effect of an Argo cocktail table, for example, would be similar to what you see below in the photos of the Chinese wallpapered room and the blue-curtained room, where brass cocktail tables acted as modern interludes in otherwise classical spaces.  And finally, in the last interior photo, look at how the brass wall sconce is like a bright, shiny torch among an array of velvet-covered surfaces.  Now think about how much better the room would have looked with an Argo sconce or table lamp.

While the collection is available in a variety of metal finishes, it's the antiqued brass finish that I'm crazy about.  And what I really have my heart set on is the Argo desk, seen above, which comes with a leather-clad top.  I'm convinced that with the aid of that desk, I just might write my Magnum opus someday.

For more information on Soane and the Argo collection, please visit their website.

Fall Book Releases

With October slipping away, I realized that the only way to review the fall book releases in a timely fashion was to present them in one fell swoop.  So, without further ado....

Life/Style: Elegant Simplicity at Home by Tricia Foley (Rizzoli).

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I would find inspiration in Foley's book, which features the author's 18th-century Long Island farm house that has been decorated almost solely in atmospheric shades of white. After all, I'm an unabashed lover of color who treats white as a utilitarian hue. But leave it Foley to convince me that there is poetic beauty in a home awash almost solely in white. In Foley's hands, white breaths life into her home's interiors, creating a dreamy elegance that would otherwise be obscured by bold colors.

I might remain committed to color, but thanks to Foley, I now have great admiration for her compelling and inspiring point of view.     

A Day at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte by (Flammarion)

Ensconced in its elegant slipcase, this jewel of a book explores the history and the lore behind Vaux-le-Vicomte, the seventeenth-century French castle built by Nicolas Fouquet, finance minister to Louis XIV.  The book's text is concise yet informative, while archival anecdotes are woven throughout the book to add further interest.  But it's the book's enchanting photos that are the real draw here, giving readers a glimpse of Fouquet's magnificent creation.

And for those of you who enjoyed the book, Decadent Desserts: Recipes from Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, you should consider adding the newer book to your library, especially since it also contains a few recipes that are served at Vaux-le-Vicomte.

French Chic Living: Simple Ways to Make Your Home Beautiful by Florence de Dampierre (Rizzoli).

When this new book arrived on my doorstep, I knew not what to expect.  But what a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be.  Dampierre's latest book is a charming how-to guide on l'art de vivre.  As someone who finds pleasure and comfort in all things domestic, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the French way of keeping house, from freshening carpets with damp tea leaves to cleaning crystal decanters with a mixture of baking soda, water, and dried eggshells.  There are medicinal recipes in here as well as non-medicinal ones, including Rosehip Jelly and Kir Royale.  And those of you with green thumbs will find plenty of tips on gardening and flower-arranging, too.

This is a book you'll likely consult well into the future.

Palm Beach Chic by Jennifer Ash Rudick and Jessica Klewicki Glynn (photographer) (Vendome Press).

There might be a number of books about the Palm Beach lifestyle, but Palm Beach Chic is one of the most interesting books on the subject to have been published in recent years.  In her book, Rudick, who moved to Palm Beach as a child, profiles the homes of such Palm Beach stalwarts as Kathy and Billy Rayner, Terry Allen Kramer, and Pauline Pitt.  For a book of this nature, it's all about the photos of enviable houses, and Rudick has done a nice job of featuring a stylish mix of them.  Some are traditional, others are lavish, and a few are downright quirky.  But what I might have enjoyed even more were the historical tidbits about Palm Beach society that Rudick relayed throughout the book's text.  If you enjoy connecting the dots between the grandees of the past and present, then this book is especially for you.

Carrier and Company: Positively Chic Interiors by Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller (Vendome Press.)

After having seen numerous magazine articles profiling the design work of Carrier and Miller, I was pleased to be treated to a generous helping of it in this recently published monograph.  Simply put, the book was a pleasure to peruse.  The featured interiors are, yes, positively chic, but they also display a relaxed elegance, too.  In a Carrier and Company-designed interior, everything- furniture, fabric, art- appears to feel at ease in their surroundings.  This might be why I felt a sense of calm and contentment as I made my way through the book.

Something else that is positively chic?  The book's glossy red endpapers.

Mrs. Howard, Room by Room by Phoebe Howard (Stewart, Tabori and Chang).

Designer Phoebe Howard returns with Room by Room, her follow-up to her successful debut monograph, The Joy of Decorating.  Organized by rooms, the book is chock-full of Howard's tailored, well-mannered style.  There are libraries, living rooms, and dining rooms galore. It was the photos of a few Howard-decorated Manhattan apartments that was a real discovery for me.  Modern and slick, these apartments show that although her heart might lie in the traditional style, Howard seems comfortable in the contemporary idiom, too.

And last, but certainly not least...Mark Hampton On Decorating by Mark Hampton (Potter Style).  Hampton's masterpiece, which has thankfully been reissued by Potter Style, should be made required reading for anyone who works in the design field.  The book's text and illustrations sparkle thanks to the design legend's wit and charm, but it is his erudition and discerning taste that make this gem the next best thing to design school.