Breakfast in a Bird Cage

Lately, I've been dreaming of a breakfast room decorated to resemble the inside of a beautiful bird cage. Never mind that I don't have a breakfast room in my apartment, but it's a nice fantasy nonetheless. What brought on this notion is the photo, above, that shows a wallpaper border of birds, ribbons, and bird cages. Would you believe that this border dates to the late eighteenth century? Part of the collection of the V&A, this border is believed to be of British origin and was possibly intended for use in a music room.  (Brunschwig & Fils used to carry a reproduction of this border in their wallpaper collection, but I don't know if it has since been discontinued.)

For some reason, birds and breakfast rooms seem to go hand in hand, perhaps because birds' cheery songs often mark the dawn of each day.  One of the loveliest rooms in Atlanta is the Goodrum House's octagonal breakfast room, painted by artist Athos Menaboni to resemble a bird cage. You can see a photo of it below.  Wouldn't you love to take your morning Wheaties in such a pretty room?  Then there is the very elegant breakfast room at the late Marjorie Merriweather Post's estate, Hillwood, that reminds me of a gilded cage, one in which I wouldn't mind being trapped.

On the other hand, if birds seem too animated for early morning repasts, you could always festoon your breakfast room with painted flowers and trellis, another pleasant way to greet each day.  Although I doubt that I would take my breakfast room to such extremes, I do find designer David Barrett's morning glory room to be one of the most exuberantly decorated rooms in my recent memory. (See it towards the bottom of this post.)  I don't know if the vines were real or not, but I like to think that they were.  After all, that's part of the fantasy of such a fantastical room.

The bird cage breakfast room, painted by Athos Menaboni, at the Goodrum House, Atlanta. The house is currently undergoing a major restoration, one which should return the house to its former glory.

The Breakfast Room at Hillwood, the Washington D.C. estate of the late Marjorie Merriweather Post. Although the room is meant to evoke a winter garden, the domed ceiling makes it feel a little like a bird cage.

The book from which I found this photo only identifies it as a thirteenth-century Gothic room that had been decorated with Chinese paper.  An internet search for more info led me to Architect Design, who identified the house as Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire, England.

I have admired the Duc de Talleyrand's dining room for years. I think it's so chic. Rather than painted or papered bird decoration, the birds here were porcelain.

The drawing room at Palazzo Colonna, Rome. Chinese paper covered the walls, while lattice and flowers were painted onto the ceiling.  That ceiling would look marvelous crowning a breakfast room, I think.

Allyn Cox painted this decorative bird-cage panel for the New York library of Mrs. James C. Rogerson. The panel served to protect the library's rare books from dust.

David Barrett created this dining pavilion in 1971. A morning glory strewn canopied bed-frame was placed over a small dining table. The fern print table skirt fabric was by Quadrille.

Although this trellis and butterfly mural appeared in the entrance hall of Maurice Moore-Betty's New York home, a similar mural would look great in a breakfast room, too. Moore-Betty, by the way, was a prominent cooking school teacher who taught out of his home.

A Tribute to Richard Nelson

A few weeks ago, I learned of the recent death of designer Richard Nelson. Based in Newport, Rhode Island, Richard was a man of great style and immense charm. Having started his career with Sister Parish (even assisting her during the Kennedy White House redecoration,) Richard eventually moved to Newport where he set up his interior design business and became a much sought-after designer. He also became a fixture on the social scene there, making many friends who remained close to him until the very end.

Although I never met Richard in person (and that is something which I greatly regret,) we had an email friendship over the past few years, touching base from time to time and discussing design.  And the fact that we had two mutual acquaintances, both of whom had attended Attingham with Richard, made the friendship that much more personal.

I wrote about Richard a few years ago when I covered a late 1960s Christmas party that Richard had hosted, one which was featured in an issue of House & Garden. (You can see a few photos from that article, including one of Richard, above.) The details of the party impressed me as few people host such elaborate parties anymore.  In fact, when speaking with Richard in anticipation of that post, he mentioned that while he lived in New York as a young man, he hosted guests at his home four to five nights a week!  I can only imagine that this exuberant style of entertaining held him in good stead upon his move to Newport.

Over the years, Richard's work was featured in numerous publications including Architectural Digest.  In 1998, the Colonial-era Newport house in which he lived with his partner was featured in British House & Garden.  I am showing that article's photos below as I think Richard's house is a testament to the warmth and personality that traditional interiors do have when decorated well.  I admire that Richard stayed true to the house's period and architectural style rather than attempt to turn it into something that it wasn't.

I know that a number of Richard's friends read my blog, and to them, I extend my deepest sympathy. Richard was a decorator of the old-school and a bon vivant to boot, and they just don't make them like Richard anymore.

Nelson house photos from British House & Garden, January 1998, Keith Scott Morton photographer.

Walking in Jonathan Preece's Winter Wonderland

I know that many of you, like me, are always enchanted by the vignettes and table settings created by Jonathan Preece, Creative Director and Special Projects Designer at Bunny Williams Inc.  Through the years, Jonathan has conjured up fantastical Thanksgiving and Sukot tables for clients not to mention magical holiday vignettes.  This year is no different, with Jonathan turning Treillage, Bunny and John Rosselli's delightful shop in New York, into a winter wonderland.

What makes Jonathan's creations so special, and what might also be one of the secrets to their success, is that a great deal of research goes into his work.  History, literature, and traditional art forms frequently figure into these tableaux, and this year is no different.  For the Treillage windows, Bunny requested that Jonathan include snowflakes.  From that kernel of inspiration came Jonathan's clever idea to use magnificent quilled paper snowflakes that were hung throughout the store.  Quilling, as Jonathan informed me, is a traditional paper craft in which strips of paper are tightly coiled around a quill in order to shape them, with each strip then being attached to one another to create a work of paper art.  (I doubt that I'm adequately explaining the process, so click here to read the Wikipedia entry.)  Jonathan eventually found a woman in Idaho who was a fourth generation quiller and commissioned her to make these magical snowflakes that, thankfully, are for sale at Treillage.

Also taking a cue from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Jonathan designed a snowy scene reminiscent of that in Narnia that the children encounter upon stepping out of the wardrobe.  Even the lamp post that figures into the story makes an appearance at Treillage.  There is also a Pied India Blue Peacock in one of the windows, although I can't say whether the peacock was a character in Lewis' novel or not; it's been ages since I read the book and my memory of it is a little fuzzy.

Those of you who live in New York have probably seen Treillage's Winter Wonderland this season, but for those of you who have not had the opportunity to do so, I'm including numerous photos to give you a sense of Jonathan's handiwork.  I hope it's a nice respite from that last minute shopping that many of you are doing today!

All photos courtesy of Jonathan Preece

Will Merrill and His Mountain House

I'm so happy- actually, thrilled- that my dear friend Will Merrill's Blowing Rock, North Carolina home not only appears inside the February 2013 issue of House Beautiful, but it made the cover, too!

Will has been a close friend to me for a number of years now, and what never ceases to impress me is his enthusiasm and love of design.  His excitement over the latest design book or an antique store find is infectious, so much so that I usually want to buy the same book or a similar piece of furniture based on Will's endorsement alone.  All of Will's treasures have found a lovely home in Blowing Rock, and what struck me about his home upon seeing it for the first time was how sophisticated it was for a mountain house, and yet, it's completely comfortable with its rustic setting.

When Will bought the 1970s-era home, it was in rather sad shape with avocado colored wall to wall carpet and sliding glass doors.  By adding poplar bark siding to the exterior and salvaged wood floors inside, he transformed the house into a rustic gem.  The bonus to the house is his amazing back porch which acts like an outdoor living room, one that Will can use for most of the year.

I'm including a few photos here, but there are many more in the February issue.  I do hope that you'll read the article because I think that you'll find the house to be charming.

Above, a guest room with usually seen in the city leopard print carpet and a Coromandel screen.

A back porch vignette with poplar bark siding as a backdrop.

The stairwell leading downstairs has a knotty branch stair rail while the walls are covered in tramp art mirrors.

Another guest bedroom in which framed botanical specimens are hung floor to ceiling.


All images used with express permission of House Beautiful.  February 2013 issue, Simon Watson photographer.

At Last

I've never been a big fan of frogs, a feeling that I believe stems from the fact that they're slimy.  Or at least, they look slimy.  I've never touched one because, as we were all led to believe when we were young, doing so would give you warts.

There are a few frogs that I do like, though.  Kermit seems awfully sweet.  And one of my favorite restaurants is La Grenouille, named for the French word for frog.  Now that I think of it, I've never had the frog legs at La Grenouille before.

I would consider sending Dempsey & Carroll's Cocktail Frog Invitation to guests because who wouldn't like a convivial frog?

If I had a little boy, I would use Scalamandre's Calabassas County fabric in his room because it's cute and youthful...and I'm old-fashioned enough that I think that childrens' rooms should look youthful, not hip.

But there is one frog that I have coveted for years.  I've spied him, or rather one of his relatives, before in some pretty swell homes like those of Tony Duquette and Valentino.  And finally, after all of these years, I can call him mine:

He'll look much happier with a little plant inside of him, perhaps a Christmas cactus (remember those?) in honor of the season.  Now this is a frog that I'll happily take, warts and all.

Image at top: Frogs by Picasso, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tapestries and An Exciting Auction

It's been a busy week, but I didn't want to leave for the weekend without mentioning an exciting upcoming auction. Arader Galleries will be hosting an auction on December 5 that will include such lots as rare maps, atlases, globes, and Audubons. But what I think many of you will be interested in are the pair of exquisite Gobelin tapestries once owned by the great tastemaker, Carlos de Beisteigui, and installed at his Palazzo Labia. If you visit the auction's online catalogue, you can see photos of the tapestries and read more about their provenances. (You can also see one of the tapestries in situ in one of my previous blog posts; click here to read it.)

Tapestries have long been coveted by tastemakers, including the Duchess of Montesquieu-Fezensac (at top), Robert David Lion Gardiner (below), and Harold K. Vanderbilt (at bottom). In each of these Slim Aarons' photos, the tapestries almost upstage the stylish subjects...and that's not an easy thing to do.

For more information on the Arader Galleries/Guernsey's auction, please click here.

All photos from A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life and Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time.

Cozy Groupings

I love this time of year.  It's as if the chilly weather gives us permission to stay home in the evening, forgoing social engagements for the comfort and coziness of our homes.  Comfort food, warming libations, wool throws (no snuggies please), and engaging books are the ingredients for a winter evening well-spent.  And I know that others feel the same way, too.  Take this 1935 issue of House & Garden in which the pleasures of cozy are touted through "groups that suggest some pleasant interludes in winter evenings."

There is the "Reading Group", above, with its reproduction Duncan Phyfe table and comfortable chair upholstered in green and white striped cotton.  My ideal reading group would be accompanied by a fireplace, and that too was shown in this article, below, in the "Nightcap" grouping which included preparations for mulled wine prepared over the fire.  But really, you could enjoy any hot beverage like Swiss Strawberry Tea, a Tom and Jerry, or a Caudle Cup, each drink's preparation detailed in this same issue.  (Whatever happened to Hot Buttered Rum?)

There is the "Card Group", appropriate for an era when many civilized people played bridge and such.  I don't play cards nor do many of my friends.  A shame, really.  But I do know if my friends and I did play cards, the cards would be accompanied by cocktails and food.  Not a lot of food, just a few nibbles.  And then there is my favorite grouping of all, "And So To Bed".  This is where I do most of my reading considering that I don't have a fireplace to cozy up next to.  The bedroom seen here included Amodec furniture made of maple and a candlewick bedspread, very popular at that time.  I would forgo the candlewick spread for a satin quilt, but that's just me.  I have visions of Hollywood grandeur running through my head.

And so, after all of this, I'm off to bed!

As I mentioned, I don't play cards, but if I did,

I would serve Mamie's Tuscan Wafers which have a little more zing than the original Cheese Wafers but are just as good. The perfect snack for a game of cards, especially with drinks served in glassware like this:

High Ball glasses by James Mont, available through BG Galleries

To create my Nightcap group, I would first need some kind of electric fireplace.

This is the best looking one I have found. Not bad, but do you know of any that actually look kind of chic?

At the end of the day, though, my favorite cold weather retreat is my bed, especially if I ever take the plunge and buy one of Leontine Linen's satin quilts and bed jackets.

Both would help to ward off chills while reading juicy books like these:

American Lady: The Life of Susan Mary Alsop by Caroline de Margerie

and

Inventing Elsa Maxwell: How an Irrepressible Nobody Conquered High Society, Hollywood, the Press, and the World by Sam Staggs