Designer

…………….During the fall and winter months we used to hang out in the Green Room on Sunday mornings. I would start a fire in the fireplace, and we would have our coffee, tea, toast and jam while reading the Sunday Times. During the frosty evenings we would sometimes play backgammon on the game table. I would take the top off, store it in the living room, and there it was a beautifully appointed backgammon table. The fireplace would go on, and I would bring out the Port. We both loved Port!….We would play and drink into the wee hours of the morning…It great fun and a big competition!….The eighteenth century golden leather chair, the side table, the ceramic bulldog on the floor and the “hunting scene” painting were all chosen during Burt , John and my antiques excursion for HG. The game table, the two tapestry chairs in goldenrod and burnt orange, plus the bouille lamp were also gotten on our hunt to fill the room. The bouille lamp wasn’t electrified, and still has candles which we always lit. Burt had said I could have the lamp electrified, but it would bring down the value of its’ original state, so I left it as is. Another thing Jac and I loved was very old BRASS pieces, and over the years we collected a lot of it. The lantern with the red bow hangs from the ceiling in the corner near the game table. There are at least four other lanterns in the room….Some are small and sit on the desk. The lantern on the extremely HEAVY stand sits next to the fireplace. There was a woman, can’t remember her name, who used to deal in 16th, 17th and 18th Dutch and English brass. Incredible things. She had everything imaginable, and was very knowing. She had everything from huge chandeliers to wall sconces, of which we bought a pair, and they are on the wall on either side of a painting above the fireplace….We also purchased candle sticks of all shapes and sizes,  stands and lanterns, the trivet, and tea pot, and brass boxes. We even bought a large wooden gun box with amazing brass details that we use as an end table on a stand. We have a few brass containers in the shape of fruit. It was a wonderland of brass. She had a lovely store in Southport Ct, but eventually gave it up and concentrated on antique shows. I don’t even know how many pieces we bought from her…..More Christmas and birthday presents!!!….Jac and I were not jewelry people, but we loved beautiful artisan antique things…….things with history…..Bamboo blinds add to the coziness of the room. We eventually found wonderful area rugs for under the game table and the tea table. The glass shelves are filled with photos, books and lots of things we love…….The hunt and discovery is part of the joy of collecting.

…………………The shelves in the Green room, above the banquet, are filled with photos and more things we have collected….Right now I have decorated them with glass hand blown ornaments and pine cones for Christmas……One of my passions and sources of inspiration are antique boxes…..Most of them are English tea caddies made of intricate inlayed woods or TORTOISE.. I have to say I did go crazy for them, and many times Jac had to once again pull me away!…..but she was just as bad, because she bought quite a few for me as presents. When in doubt get me a box!!!!! Some of my absolute favorites are the GREEN TORTOISE boxes. There was a lovely woman, now retired, who had the most beautiful shop in New Canaan on the main street. It was a corner shop and she had the most magnificent antiques. She carried only the finest things. Her shop was like a drug for me!!!! On one of our trips to her shop she said, “Louis I have some wonderful tortoise boxes that just came in” She took us into the back room and there were eight boxes that just arrived from England…..three were green!  They were extremely expensive, and Jac said no, and this time she meant it. I did pick up a beautiful box, but it wasn’t green. Since then, which was many years ago, the price of green tortoise has become astronomical! It’s very rare and of course it has been illegal for many years to kill tortoise for their shells.. I always regretted not getting another box or two…….but now it’s a different story….What am I going to do with all of these things!!!? Who will get them??? My nephews and nieces don’t really appreciate, nor do they understand the value, both financial and the sentiment of the things we have collected in our life time. I realize that I don’t truly own all of these things. I’m only the caretaker of them for their next owners…..whoever they may be.

…………………….I have found choosing paintings for a room is totally random. There is no great plan as to what will work or look good with the other….If you like it…somehow it all harmonizes….Starting at the left is a painting of an Egret. The artist is John Carrol Doyle. That is one of his books of his work below the painting. He was a Charleston, born and raised, gentleman. We were fortunate to meet him in his gallery before his untimely death at the age of 71. We own five of his paintings……..The landscape second to the left we bought at a local antique gallery. We thought it would look great above the fireplace in the Green Room, and it was just the right size. Jac always pointed out that she though Maggie, our Westie, was in the painting. At the bottom, just right of the center, is a white fluffy mass on the rocks….that Jac said was Maggie, and so it is…….The Whippet dog was a Christmas present from Jac. It is painted by a very well know English painter of the 19th century…..she’s very regal….Below the Whippet is a hunting scene, also painted by a very famous English artist circa 1870….I got that when I was putting the room together for the HG Magazine shoot….Below that are the “Three Row Boats” painted by my friend Steve Kuzma. He also painted the “Wind in the Pines” painting hanging in my living room……..The strawberries in the basket Jac and I picked up at an antique gallery. We just liked it…..The marble obliques I bought in Florence, Italy, and had them shipped home. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but they found a place. For me that’s what collecting is about………..Everything eventually finds a home.

……………….The “GREEN ROOM” is called such because the walls are covered in DARK GREEN VELVET………..When I first bought the house the room was typical knotty pine…..not exactly my taste… Since it was the first room you walked into, after entering the front door, I wanted something a little cozier. I first painted the walls forest green, but I still saw all the veins and knots in the wood and it wasn’t the look I wanted….so I asked my decorator friend, Burt Wayne, if I could cover the walls in velvet, and he said yes…great! I ordered the velvet from one of my resources, and Burt arranged the work to be done. I also had portieres [drapes] made for each doorway and the window in the same green velvet, and they hang from gold leaf carved wooden rods with pineapple finals. The backdrop of the room  was ready……What do I fill it with. Burt and I decided on the banquet, and had it covered with the jacquard tapestry forest leaf pattern. The bronze wall sconces with green silk shades came next……..Then it happened!!!….I got a call from Anna Wintour’s office….In 1984 she had become the editor of House & Garden, which she renamed “HG”. They wanted to come and photograph my home!!!!!???? I didn’t have much furniture…what to do…what to say??? I called Burt Wayne, and he said no problem we will fill the house with furniture in one day???? He came over to look at the rooms and we decided which rooms we should concentrate on. My master bedroom, the sunporch and the Green room were the most complete so we would work on those. He said they will only photograph three or four rooms at the most. So off we went to NYC, Burt, John and I. We went to several antique stores and we selected tables, chairs, lamps….everything we would need to fill a room….from objects of art to pillows for the banquet and books for the shelves!!! All of this was ordered on spec, meaning we would look at it in the house and select what I wanted to buy….if anything!…. On a specific day trucks from the different stores arrived with everything we selected. We began to stage the rooms. I already had the silver tray table in the Green Room. Jac and I had purchased it on one of our excursions. The rooms looked good, though they were a paired down version of what they are today. The photographer, Roberto Gili did an incredible job of shooting and lighting the rooms to make them look beautiful. I had ordered dozens of roses from a discount store called “ROSA ROSA” and filled the sunporch with them. Burt was right, they shot the three rooms [they really didn’t have much choice since they were the only rooms ready!], the sunporch, the master bedroom and the Green Room. The rest of the photos were done outside in the gardens and the water scape….It was the beginning of August and the gardens were lush. After the shoot everything had to be returned…..sort of like Cinderella’s golden carriage turning back into a pumpkin……However, there were pieces I did fall in love with and decided to keep. It was funny, because I probably wouldn’t have picked them on my own, but Burt and John knew what would look good in the room. So today when I look at the desk that turns into a backgammon table when the top is removed, and the two tapestry chairs flanking it, the golden yellow chair, the books and tapestry pillows and many other things I kept…..I remember John, Burt and I scurrying around NYC in a whirl picking all sorts of things to be sent to the house. I had no idea this could even be done, but that’s why they were master decorators and knew the ins and outs of the business.

……………….The Green Room is a fun room to decorate for Christmas……..Red bows are on everything….all hand tied of course….LOL…..The “stocking bags” are hung by the fireplace…with all kinds of goodies in them…..The antique Brass tea kettle sits upon a brass sliding privet. The brass sconces are 18th century Dutch, and not only add beauty to the room but they add history…..The small wooden, hand painted Santa, milk maid, jester and musicians hang from the hooks of the tie backs holding the velvet drapes in place. We got then on a trip we had taken many years ago. I find now that this room has become a walk through…..and I have to remind myself to sit….look around….and remember the good times spent here.