Queen Elizabeth

By Lynn Byrne.  The whole equestrian thing has caught my attention.   What with  reading the fascinating book, Elizabeth the Queen, by Sally Bedell Smith (the Queen is an accomplished rider and breeder), and obsessively watching Downton Abbey, I am ready to learn to ride, preferably on someone’s large country estate.  With staff.  And black tie dinners. I would be a lovely, witty house guest, promise.

Seems I am not alone in my day dreams.

Fabric company Duralee’s Highland Court division  just introduced a new “life style” trimmings line, called Sarasota Spring, designed to evoke the  ”country life.”  The images they sent along in an email  fit my mood perfectly.

So if you want to capture some of that “landed gentry” feel in your own estate, you know just where to turn.  Seriously, it is not always easy to find a “masculine” trim, and these fit the bill.  They would look great in a library, gentleman’s bedroom or office.

Fox hunting anyone?

Mary from Downton Abbey.

The Queen riding sidesaddle, circa 1963

Photo credits: 1. Elizabeth, the Queen  2.-5. Duralee 6. Downton Abbey 7. Daily Mail  8. via Design Chic 9.Clarks’ ad 10.. unknown

By Lynn Byrne.  I LOVED the town house featured in the New York Times’s   home section last Thursday.  Trend-wise, it fits right into the whole  “undecorated” look, touted by Dwell Studio founder, Christiane Lemieux.  Plus, the design firm Nightwood used paint and vintage finds so effectively, that I headed right over to their website to see what else they were up to.

I have to share my favorites.  

• In the photo above, the bottom mirror is old, but the designers made the top mirror and faked age with paint.  The ladder is  a perfect way to draw attention to the high ceilings.
• When found, the coffee table  originally had a laminate top that the designers swapped out for marble.  Smart.  I also like how each stool underneath the coffee table is upholstered in a different fabric.

• Clever how a vintage bar cart was converted into a desk.

• That pattern on the wall is not light shining through a window. It’s simply painted to look that way.  So cool.

• Take a peek  at this kitchen.  Ya, it’s tiny, but I am drooling over that sink and the juxtaposition of the modern, angular art.  Digging the copper pendant and forest green wall color too.

• More compelling art, objects and furniture, but that black band on the fireplace is genius. 

• In additional to decorating, Nightwood also has a shop in Brooklyn where they sell repurposed vintage finds, art and objects and custom pieces. Check out how they revamped this dresser. 

• Super cute upholstery on these interesting circle chairs. 

• This desk lamp is an example of one of their custom pieces. 

• Geometric art currently available at the store. 

Be sure to click over both to their website and to the NYTime’s article to see more.  Locals can visit their shop in Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn.

Photo credits: First 4 pictures from the NYTimes.  Reminder from the Nightwood website.

By Lynn Byrne.  After this week’s revelations about my house, there can be no doubt that I am obsessed with wallpaper.

So there should be no surprise that my favorite booth at this year’s Winter Antiques Show is the one held by Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz.  It is filled with gorgeous wallpaper–most of which looked like papers that are illustrated in her book  Wallpaper.  How fun to see them in person.

That is why I go to shows like the Winter Antiques Show.  I like to see the best of the best.  Goodness knows I can’t afford to buy anything!

For example, the heart of the country girl in me quickened when I saw this pie safe.  I have always wanted one and this was perfect, except for one detail.  It costs $38,000!

Still, having seen it, I will better recognize the best that I can afford.  I will be scouting oversized  letters and numbers at the flea markets too–that 2 cents sign is super cute.

Sometimes I feel like I have stumbled on what must have inspired the works of other designers.  Don’t these c.1950 stoneware vases by Royal Copenhagen just scream Jonathan Adler?

Plus, there’s always the possibility that you will get the ultimate in design-obsessed thrills.  At this show, dealer Liz O’Brien has a slipper chair by Billy Baldwin in the exact upholstery shown on the cover of his collectible book Billy Baldwin Decorates.  Yep, seeing that is how people like me get their jollies.

And, once I let myself go and forget about price tags, there are endless charming objects and vignettes. Here are just a few.

Lighthouse made from seashells--it was sold.

This urn might work at Downton Abbey.

Cool chandi. c.1948

More country charm.

The show runs though Sunday, January 29 and it is located at the Park Avenue Armory at 67 street, in NYC.

I see blankets popping up all over the place as everyone’s fresh new topper.  

New blanket offerings from Schoolhouse Electric

Dwell Studio's latest collaboration with Pendleton

Vintage (1974) blanket cape

But, of course, the Pendleton and Hudson Bay variety have a rich history.

HUDSON BAY COMPANY

The Hudson Bay Company actually preceded Pendleton by more than 100 years.  Hudson Bay has manufactured blankets since 1779 and are known best for its striped blankets in indigo, yellow, red and green as seen in the first photo above, although they do come in other colors.

Native Americans prized the blankets for their ability to hold warmth even when wet and because they were easier to sew than animal skins.  They traded beaver pelts, moccasins, buffalo skins and other trade goods for them. Yep, Indian trade blankets were not made by Indians, they were made for them.

"Pioneer at Fort Garry 1861", oil on canvas by Adam Sherriff Scott assisted by E.T. Adney, 1925. Detail from mural installed in the Winnipeg Hudson's Bay Company store depicting aboriginals, Métis and settlers wearing blankets and engaged in trade.

Hudson Bay Blankets in other colors.

 The short vertical lines seen on the traditional capote shown below, made from a Hudson Bay blanket, are known as “points” and the number of lines denote the size of the blanket.

In 1890, because other companies (including Pendleton) were making similar blankets, Hudson Bay began to label its blankets.  The labels are how most collectors date the age of the blanket.

If you ever spy an unlabeled, round corner blanket, scoop it up.  It could date before 1890.*  Click here for more information on collecting these blankets.  Here is an example of the Hudson Bay label used between 1934-1940. 

PENDLETON WOOLEN MILLS

Pendleton’s earliest roots began when Thomas Kay travelled across the country in 1863.  Kay landed in Oregon and began working in the woolen mills.  But, it wasn’t until 1909 when Kay’s grandsons, Clarence, Roy and Chauncey Bishop, moved the business to Pendleton, Oregon and took over an idle woolen mill located there, that the company Pendleton Woolen Mills was born.  The company still operates a mill in Pendleton and continues to be run by the Bishop family.  It handles all aspects of production from sourcing the wool to the actual weaving of the blankets.

With fabled Indian chief Geronimo as its first celebrity customer,  it is Pendleton Woolen Mills that developed the brightly hued Native American blanket designs.   The company took particular care to learn about the native mythologies and design preferences of its Native American customers.

Chief Joseph, Nez Perce, with a Pendleton Blanket.

That tradition continues today.  Each year Pendleton Woolen Mills, issues a “Legendary Collectible Blanket” that they design in close consultation with Native Americans.  The blankets are intended to be “heirlooms for tomorrow” and each bears a suede patch telling the blanket’s story.  Click here to see the series.  I particularly like the blanket issued in 2010.  Known as as the Lakota Way of  Life, it is intended to represent the Buffalo Nation.

Pendleton expanded into clothing, first for men in 1924, and then for women in 1949.  Fun fact: The Beach Boys were originally know as the “Pendletones.”  Even after they changed their name, they continued to wear Pendleton wool shirts on album covers throughout the 1960s.

The Beach Boys in Pendleton wool shirts.

The company’s first design for women was known as the 49er jacket.  An immediate hit, it was the “must have” jacket throughout the 1950s.  Lucille Ball wore one in a famous episode of  ”I Love Lucy”  called “The Camping Trip” in 1953.  Pendleton still offers them. 

If you are interested in collecting Pendleton vintage blankets, they, like the Hudson Bay blankets, are often dated by their labels.  Click here for more information.

I picked up my vintage Pendleton blanket on Ebay for around $60.  It is warm and cozy and not at all itchy.  I bought it because I liked the colors.  It can’t be that old—the label on my blanket bears the woolmark logo, which was designed in 1964.  

So get snuggly everyone.  Whether I have inspired you to start a collection, or you decide to buy new, wearing a blanket, or accessorizing your home with one is right on trend. 

*When researching this post, I came up with several different dates and makers of the round cornered blanket, ranging from 1890 to 1909.  All sources agreed, however, that a round corner could indicate age.

Photo credits: 1. Marion House Book  2. From Me To You tumblr  3. Schoolhouse Electric  4. UrbanOutfitters.com  5. Dwellstudio  6. Design Sponge  7. Linda in Wonderland  8. Urban Outfitters  9. Pendleton for Opening Ceremony  10. Pendleton Fall/Winter 2011  11. J.Crew  12. Couture Allure  13. pointblanket.com  14.-15. Wikipedia  16. Pendleton via National Musuem of the American Indian, Newservice  17. Pendleton  18. LA Times  19. Sailing Over A Cardboard Sea  20. LA Times  21. Barry Friedman’s Indian Blanket page

By Lynn Byrne.  First, thanks so much to the lovely Emily A. Clark for featuring my  home on her blog, here and here.  I am overwhelmed.  Thanks to all of you who made such sweet comments and tweets.  I truly appreciate it.

Now, for the dirty little secret about my house.  While we rebuilt it, we did not restore it.  Yes, on the outside, especially from the front, it looks much like the original home.

But absolutely nothing in the rebuild is the same as what the house looked like when we bought it, before the fire.  To catch a glimpse of what we were dealing with even before the fire (and to see a bit of the construction process), click here.

Inside, there was no period detail to save or recreate, except for the in-laid floor decoration.  It was all stripped out in terrible “remuddles” over the years. And while we installed an inlaid floor pattern during the rebuild, even that went in differently than how it was installed in the original house.

So when building my home, I didn’t recreate what was there before.  Rather, I imagined what could have been there when the house was built and created those details for the new house.

Here are my top 5 tips for making new construction look old.

1. STUDY UP

I did a lot of research but there are two books I think are a must have, whether you are adding on to an older home, or starting fresh and hope to build new with character.

• The first is A Field Guide to American Houses, by Virginia & Lee McAlester.  This book, with its many photos, will help you pinpoint your home’s architectural style.  It even has line sketches of exterior detail that you can incorporate in your construction plans to help make your home’s exterior look authentic.

• The second book, The Elements of Style, edited by Stephen Calloway and Elizabeth Cromley, is truly a bible.  Billed on the cover as a “practical encyclopedia of interior architectural details from 1485 to the present,” it will help you answer all of the myriad questions that come up in construction.  How to use it effectively?  Identify your house from the Field Guide and then head to the appropriate chapter in Elements.

• So, for example, I have a small vestibule just inside my front door (which, of course, did not exist in the old house).  When it came time to select flooring, my choice was easy.  Elements said that hall floors in homes originally built when mine was built usually were tiled with decorative encaustic tile laid in a geometric pattern.  Bam!  Guess what I installed.

2. PAY ATTENTION TO THE LIGHTING

• If you are trying to make your new construction look old, please, please please stay far away from recessed can light fixtures.  Nothing screams “new construction” more.  Now, I will admit, when I barred this type of lighting in my house, my architect and builder thought I was crazy, especially in the kitchen.  But I was paying them so I prevailed.  And everyone agrees that it made all the difference.  Check out my solution for the kitchen lighting.
• Following from there, choose light fixtures based on the architectural style of you house.  We all know it: lighting has a huge impact on atmosphere.  In some cases, I sprung for the real deal: in my dining room, the chandelier is a period antique.
• Often, however, I ordered new fixtures from companies that specialize in architectural lighting like Rejuvenation and Brass Light Gallery.
• Another tip, I made these new fixtures unique by purchasing period, antique shades on eBay.  These can be had very inexpensively.  You need only pay attention to the shade fitter size, and both Rejuv. and Brass Light will tell you what size each fixture requires.  Here is a close-up of one of the wall sconces in my front parlor: the shades are Victorian, the metal fixture is new.

3. LOOK TO HISTORIC HOUSES FOR INSPIRATION

Yep, I have said that before (just this week even).  I practice what I preach.  My husband’s office was inspired by the study in Teddy Roosevelt’s famed Shingle Victorian located in Long Island’s Oyster Bay (Larry is a big TR fan).  No it is not a replica, but it does have the same feel.  No animal heads ’cause the decorator (ahem) is not into taxidermy, but I did include the fish as an homage to my hub’s other favorite hobby.

4. WHILE I AM ALL FOR THE “MIX”, INCLUDING A FEW ANTIQUES FROM THE TIME PERIOD YOU ARE TRYING TO EVOKE GOES A LONG WAY

That is why I chose a Victorian period hall tree for my entry way.  You get the message from the get go.

5. LET WALL COLOR OR WALLPAPER HELP SET THE MOOD

Color is so subjective.  Still, I think that choosing wall colors from your favorite paint company’s historical palette, does make a difference in how a space feels.  So does wallpaper based on historical designs.  I have a love affair with Farrow & Ball but I also used historical colors from Ben Moore and Sherwin Williams.  All of my wallpapers are newly made but  the designs are from the turn of the last century.  (I am happy to share sources, in response to comments.)

Check out a favorite room in my house: the powder room.  The wainscot is a Victorian wall treatment known as lincrusta that I glazed (sourcing this required a bit of digging).  Above that is a wallpaper named Honeybee from America’s first woman interior designer.  No, its not by Elsie de Wolfe, but rather by a woman named Candace Wheeler.  She worked with Louis Comfort Tiffany.  I promise a future post on her.

I hope you find these tips helpful.  HAPPY BUILDING!

Photo of Roosevelt’s study from  NYPL Digital Gallery.  Room shots by Ellen McDermott.

By Lynn Byrne. Ya, that is how things looked just as we started rebuilding our home. If you have read my “About” section, you know my house burnt down.

Prior to the fire, it was a c.1900 shingle style Victorian and something of a local landmark. It was built by the surveyor of our town Pelham, John Fairchild. A carriage stepping stone, bearing his initial, still rests at the end of our front walk. Here is what my house looked like c.1915.

We did our best to do the old home justice when we rebuilt it. I am thrilled (and honored) to tell you that Emily A. Clark is giving a tour of my new, “old” house, on her blog today. Emily will be doing two posts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

I hope you click over to see it. Here is a link to the first post. I will update later with a link to the second one when it goes live.

And please come back tomorrow. I will have a little secret to share. Plus I will show a few more pictures of my house to illustrate my top 5 tips for making your new house or addition look old.

UPDATE: Click here for part 2 of Emily’s tour.

By Lynn Byrne.  

The water view elevation of Vizcaya shown in the first photo is centered on the stone Baroque-style barge created as a folly and to serve as a breakwater. I showed you a glimpse of the barge in my post on the inside of Vizcaya. 

Originally, the barge was planted, as  you can see from this photo from 1934. 

There are a number of garden follies on the grounds, including the charming lattice tea house, located nearby the barge. 

Perhaps the most elaborate folly, is the structure known as the Casino. The wedding ceremony that I attended was located right in front of it, in an area called the Mound. Everything was lit by candles except for some garden lighting for the structure. It was gorgeous, but hard to catch with my point and shoot camera.  

Look how elaborate the ceiling is in the Casino. Remember this is a garden structure!  

Leading up to the Casino are these steps. Pretty at night too.   

Adding to the fantasy feeling of the grounds of Vizcaya, are the young women posing in formal wear around the property. Vizcaya is a very popular setting for photo shoots of girls celebrating their quinceanera, or 15th birthday.  

Of course Vizcaya has a swimming pool. It’s Florida, after all. The pool is tucked around the side of the building and part of it is covered. Homeowner James Deering is said to have only swam in it once, with his cigarette lit! 

Take in these pretty shots I snapped as I walked around. 

Obviously I think this place is well worth a visit if you are ever in Miami.

Except for the vintage photos which are from Visions of  Vizcaya, all photos by me. 

Detail from the barge folly at Villa Vizcaya

By Lynn Byrne. When homeowner James Deering first saw his newly completed masterpiece mansion back in 1916, he arrived on Christmas Day in a Venetian gondola. Miniature canons fired a salute. Friends, dressed in Italian peasant costumes, danced to Italian music. The gondola poles are still there today. Between two of them you catch a glimpse of the barge folly.

More on the phenomenal grounds at Vizcaya in another post. There is just so much to see at Vizcaya, that I am going to focus on the inside today.

James Deering got his fortune from farm machinery and was Vice President of the International Harvester Company. His father had a house in Coconut Grove, Florida that James visited often. Around 1910, Deering began his plan to build his own home.

That is how the mega rich spent their time around the turn of the last century–amassing large collections of European art work and creating mansions to house it all.

Think Frick, Morgan and Vanderbilt. Vizcaya in some ways is quite like the Vanderbilt’s Biltmore. Both include a grand house, large formal gardens adjacent to a woodland, and an adjoining village for staff and other support services.

Similar to the Frick collection, Elsie de Wolfe also played a role. Though not nearly as extensive as her part in creating Henry Frick’s collection, Elsie’s finger in Vizcaya is significant. She recommended its chief designer, Paul Chalfin, after turning down the job for herself.

Chalfin went on to spearhead the entire project. He selected the architect, F. Burrall Hoffman Jr., and the garden designer, Diego Suarez. It was the first time anything of its scale was built in tropical Miami. During construction, Chalfin wrote to a friend that Vizcaya was as “imposing as the Palazzo Pitti…if you can imagine the Palazzo Pitti standing on a lagoon in Africa.”*

Chalfin used European and local craftsmen to build the place. Local materials like coral rock are incorporated into the construction. Here is the front entry façade and a close up of the coral rock. So pretty in pink with the green moss growing inside crevices.

I like to visit historic homes (Vizcaya is a National Historic Landmark) for several reasons.

• It is fun to get a peek inside the lives of of the rich and famous. Just as good as reality TV, actually.
• I enjoy being wowed by the architecture, furnishings and gardens.
• And, perhaps, most of all, these homes typically provide a host of design inspiration.

On with the house tour.

Here is the front entry hall. Readers might recall that I first saw Vizcaya at night when we attended a wedding. That marble floor is gorgeous, but oh so very slippery. I was worried I would take a header in my high heels.

Vizcaya is organized around a large center courtyard with a loggia surrounding the courtyard and rooms opening off of that. Back in Deering’s day, the courtyard was open to the elements. Today it is covered with a roof that looks similar to one you would find in a green house. Behind that blue and gold awning is the entrance hall.

The wedding I attended was held primarily outside, but the initial gathering spot was the tea room. A few shots of that will give you a sense of the grandeur of Vizcaya.

Gorgeous stained glass doors led out to the terrace where we had champagne and cocktails. Here is a detail shot of the doors, showing one of Deering’s symbols for Vizcaya, the sea horse. A galleon is the other. Both are sprinkled around the house.

Here is a shot of the east loggia, which leads out to the main view of the water. Note the large galleon hanging from the ceiling. Back in Deering’s day white wicker chairs were set up here to take in the breezes and view.

Off of the tea room is the butler’s pantry. Deering placed the butler’s pantry and dining room on the first floor and the kitchen on the second. He did not want his guests to smell cooking odors when they dined formally. Food was transported downstairs via a dumb waiter. I liked Deering’s Quimper collection.

The dining room features a 16th century tapestry from Tournai. Ok cool, but I was drawn to the appliqué detail on the drapes and the carved ceiling with its sea horse and snake motifs (serpents are trending as a design motif right now).

Another incredibly elaborate room is the music room. The ceiling and canvas panels came from a palace in Milan. Vizcaya is unusual in that much of the art collection came first and the house was built to showcase it.

Upstairs, my favorite room is the breakfast room, where Deering took most of his meals. Large murals of water scenes are painted on each wall.

That screen in the corner in the last photo is incredible! While Deering’s villa has a European sensibility both indoors and out, he also incorporated local Miami elements. Check it.

The kitchen is next door to the breakfast room. Deering employed a French chef and a pastry chef.

Right outside of the breakfast room, I spotted this large birdcage. Deering owned a number of pet monkeys and birds.

Another of my favorite rooms is this bedroom, known as the “Cathay” guest room. Cathay is a poetic term for China and this room had a number of Chinoiserie elements.

Deering’s bedroom and bath also are interesting. Look how small his bed is. Hardly unusual for its time, but it seems so tiny by today’s standards, especially for a titan of industry. I love the Empire styling, especially the coronet on his bed, and the tented ceiling in his bathroom. Thomas Jayne names Deering’s Vizcaya bathroom as one of the finest rooms in America in his book of the same name.

Thirteen staff members lived in Vizcaya while numerous others lived in the village. Here is a cool shot of the spiral staircase that leads to the staff quarters.

I also like what I found at the bottom.

It is so hard to imagine living a life of such opulence. Deering only spent 4 months a year in Vizcaya, although he maintained a full staff year round to care for it all. Just wait until you see the gardens…

Photo credits: First photo, Mr. Michael Henry Adams Style and Taste blog. Front facade, coral rock, entry hall and second breakfast room photo, Architect Design. Full room shot of the dining room, east loggia, music room, second shot of Deering’s bedroom and bathroom from Great Houses of Florida by Beth Dunlp and Johanna Lombard, photography by Steven Brooke. Full room shot of the breakfast room by Bill Sumner from Visions of Vizcaya. Remainder of the photos by me.

* Chalfin quote from Visions of Vizcaya. I gathered my information for this post from the audio tour of the house, the museum’s Visions of Vizcaya and Great Houses of Florida.

By Lynn Byrne.  I remember that I promised a great post on Vizcaya this week and it will happen.  Just not right this second.

Unfortunately I got tangled up in a web redesign morass.  Seems getting this blog over to WordPress.org from WordPress.com, with a smart new design, is not so easy.  Yes lovely survey responders, I am getting rid of the three column format when I relaunch with a new design.  But after working on the redesign for over 2 months, I am back to square one.  Don’t ask.  I can’t bear to tell you why.

If any of you know a good WordPress designer, I sorely need one.  Please leave me a comment.  At least at this point, I have a very good idea of what I want this little blog to look like.

Thanks everybody for you patience.  I will be back to posting, tumbling and pinning soon.  xo.

UPDATE EVERYBODY!  I am pleased to say that my redesign is back on track.   I am sure it will take a few more weeks, but I am really excited about it. 

Photo credits: 1. Josef Stuefer via Digital Photography School  2. The Crafty Cupboard blog

By Lynn Byrne.

• What: Colorful reclaimed barnwood planks in a baby’s nursery. 
• Where: Jewel’s Texas ranch, dubbed “Homestead Hip” by In Style.
• Why: Nursery environments are often “soft.” It is unusual to see such a rustic wall treatment. Plus, yet another star has decorated in a country manner. The fuzzy animal head trophies, modern rocking horse and lamp keep it fresh.
  
• Even more unexpected: you can get a similar look with wallpaper! The Piet Hein Eek Scrapwood wallpaper can be run vertically or horizontally. Photo via Curated.

• Sidenote: The felt taxidermy are from Roost. Pop Deluxe carries them but they are currently out of stock.

**************

I think country decorating is trending, with a whole new look. Click here and here to read more.

In this periodic series, I will show you just what I mean. A thousand words, so to speak.