Adrian's Monkey House

A few weeks ago, I was tickled to receive a comment from interior decorator Penny Bianchi on this post on Hollywood gown designer Adrian. It turns out she is the faithful keeper of the roof of Adrian's monkey house, which she uses to protect her prized French bantam chickens in the verdant hills of Montecito.

Penny's friend bought the Gilbert Adrian-Janet Gaynor estate and lucky for us, sent the roof over to Penny and not the scrap heap. My first thought was that perhaps it was by the hand of the divine Tony Duquette, who created such extraordinary decorations for Adrian's Beverly Hills showroom,

such as this pagoda structure.

I had to know, so I reached out to the fascinating and always helpful Hutton Wilkinson, who told me that more than likely it was Adrian himself who was responsible. In fact, Hutton told me, Adrian fashioned the chinoiserie awnings on his first shop on Olvera Street in Los Angeles which apparently are still there! (A free copy of Regency Redux to anyone who hops on down to Olvera and sends me some snaps!)

Click here for a virtual pastoral repast at the lovely Bianchi residence, courtesy of David Patrick Columbia.

And to complete the circle, wouldn't it be perfect if Penny found one of Adrian's hen-house dresses to call her own?