Circumstantial Evidence: The Dominick Dunne Sale

On November 20, Stair Galleries will offer over 250 lots from the Connecticut and NYC residences of the late High Society Crime Chronicler Dominick Dunne. 

Here are my picks of the sale:

Lot #5: Various style coffee table books, many with signed inscriptions.  This is just one offering of several inscribed books from Mr. Dunne's library.  Buying a bulk lot at auction is a great way to stock up on gifts - and you can be sure your friend doesn't already have a book signed by John Galliano with a dedication to DD

Lot #118: Fifteen assorted throw pillows. Don't worry - I promise not to bring you a pillow as a hostess gift.  I only want this lot for the wonderfully witty Brigid Berlin  needlepoint pillows.  For those who can't resist a royal provenance, a pair of Bedouin pillows given by Queen Noor are also in the lot.  $75 - $125

Lot #165: Two Staffordshire Whippets: I love the idea of having dogs, and this pair are super elegant and don't shed.  $100 - $200.

Lot #69: A Japanned cabinet on stand which came from Dunne's former wife Lenny Griffin Dunne.  No television storage here - the inside is fitted with an arrangement of similarly decorated drawers.   $800 - $1200.

Lot #77: A Chinoiserie mirror from Billy Haines.  Dunne was friends with Haines and bought it directly from him for his Beverly Hills house.  $300 - 500.

Click here to view the sale yourself.

The Kluge House Sale: A Decorating Master Class

The entrance hall - the wide-angled lens makes it look much larger in scale than reality; even the ceiling is faux-finished

When Sotheby's announced that they were holding their first on-site house sale in over twenty years (in the US), it was clear that this was going to be an Event. And is it ever.

Ideally Albemarle would be purchased by the National Trust and turned into a historical house museum of its time: the 1980s.

Patricia Kluge's gowns through the decades parade down the gallery

The house was designed from roof line to brocade bolster by David Easton for one of America's richest men, John Kluge, in the mid-1980s, the absolute height of go-go decadence and opulence. Just as with the vast Vanderbilt cottages of Newport, the estate has become a white elephant of sorts, and even though the house itself is suprisingly small, to update its air-conditioning system and maintain its grounds is a committment of millions.

Even the guns are the best of the best, engraved with John and Patricia's initials, and in their own Asprey cabinet,
estimate $330,00 to $500,000

Perhaps one of the things that dates the house the most is all the painted faux-finishes. From the marbleized columns to the antiqued ceilings, absolutely no surface was left unadorned.

The trompe l'oeil silk curtain panel wallpaper in the hallway and stairwell is a lot to take in, BUT on the other hand the space needed something that strong to balance out all the painted decoration.

The Salon - the fanlight of the Palladian doorway is mercury glass - a classic David Easton touch

All in all, the rooms are done beautifully and Easton ably created intimate, cozy rooms with museum-level furnishings.

The Dining Room - We all wished we had been able to see it by candlelight

A corner of the media room off of the entrance
The Chinese Verre Eglomise Panel in 18th century Rococo frame is a gem - Peter Lang, Sotheby's expert extraordinaire who did a commendable job cataloguing the furniture, pointed out an inscription in Chinese characters in the upper lefthand corner which are visible only because the mercury has worn away, translating to "Property of"

Serche Roche, eat your heart out - the grisaille painted masterbath had a pair of mid 18th century palm frond tables. Interestingly they bear a label from a 1935 Arts of France exhibition so perhaps they did directly inspire their 20th century counterparts, estimate $20 - $30,000

The lively carving of this dressing-room giltwood table gracefully exemplifies the naturalistic Rococo style

I had the huge good fortune to see the house with a group of design talents: architects James Carter, Richard Dragisic of Fairfax and Sammons, EEE reader favorite Gil Schafer, and designers Bill Brockschmidt and Courtney Coleman who met while working in Easton's office.

Courtney and Bill liked the library very much and thought David did an excellent job of making a potentially dark room bright and lively, although we all might have chosen a different cocktail table

Albemarle was the cornerstone of a historic house death march weekend and hearing the expert opinions of this crew was a fabulous experience. Bill and Courtney pointed out several classic Easton touches...

A bulls-eye window over the sink in a dressing room bath can be covered with a retractable mirror; a lot of the bathroom hardware was oversized in an Edwardian country house way

A major pet peeve - faux old books incorporated into side tables - Bill and Courtney have sworn they will never use them

Several pieces of Easton-designed furniture are included in the sale. Courtney rightfully pointed out how "designer-designed" furniture is underappreciated.

This pair of bookcase in the master bedroom, an homage to Colefax and Fowler no doubt, are a good investment to my mind.

A Giverny moment - this stunning view is seen from the master bedroom

After reading an essay in the sales catalogue by celebrated landscape designer (of whom I had never heard) George Carter, I couldn't wait to see the grounds. All the major rooms are arranged at the back of the house which faces onto a steeply terraced hill.

From every window, a blockbuster view of a dramatic fountain or somesuch greets the eye. However, it seems a very formal, articificial use of the outdoors - instead of embracing the bucolic rolling hills in the front (which there is hardly any view of from inside), the gardens have become something to look at from indoors. "Perhaps the Kluges didn't like to go outside?" one of my companions mused. The fabulous display of succulents by the pool reinforced that. "I'm not sure I'd want to roam around in my bathsuit near all those cacti," someone else said.

And if forced to choose just one item out of so many glories?
It would be this set of nine Chinese paintings in their original 18th century English papier mache frames from Stoneleigh Abbey, $80 - $120,000, pictured below in situ....

Easton cleverly designed the fillet bordering the walls after the pictures' frames

But I did come away with an Albemarle souvenir, or rather several. After Janet's recommendation, we repaired to the Kluge winery up the road and I came away with several Albemarle bottles of rosé....

If you can't make it down to Virginia, click here for the virtual house tour courtesy of Sotheby's, or if you're longing for more David Easton, pre-order his book Timeless Elegance here.

Auction Spotlight: Jayne Wrightsman's London Duplex

You can imagine my heart skipped a beat when I first heard about this upcoming sale. "Simmer down," my in-the-know friend told me. "It's not the Important Stuff." As I'm not in the market for a BVRB III lacquer commode or Marie Antoinette's letter opener, this information did nothing to dampen my anticipation.

Don't miss the 18th century dog bed in front of the fireplace

For as you all know, Jayne - whom most of us have already fetishized for her exquisite eye - worked with the illustrious decorating firm Jansen, who in its day was pretty much synonymous with "impeccable taste". The collaboration of these powerhouse aesthetes is unquestionably one that deserves to be studied and one that yields many lessons and ideas, from furniture plans to passementerie.
Like an ormolu-mounted Blue John urn brimming with peacock feathers, a look that could be replicated albeit with a more humble receptacle...

While the house itself has been emptied and the contents warehoused stateside, these lovely photographs by Fritz von der Schulenberg give us a peek into the Jayne-Jansen magic.


And for my china-smitten friends....

If we were invited over chez Jayne to fete some visiting dignitary, Meissen "Fliegender Hund", lot 195 $20-30,000, might enliven our place setting for dinner...
with less is so much more Sevres white and gilt porcelain for dessert, lot 199, $2 - 3,000

But for an intimate ladies lunch with just you, Jayne and Jackie,
your coq au vin might be served on these charming Dior plates, lot 202 $1,500-2000

Click here to browse Sotheby's e-catalogue or purchase the print version to see more delectable interior images.

Auction Spotlight: Robert Kime

Ever since I saw his handiwork for the Prince of Wales at Clarence House in WoI, designer Robert Kime has been on my radar in a big way. The only problem - no sign! Perhaps Mr. Kime's clients are very private or maybe he isn't interested in courting publicity - but whatever the reason may be, there have been few further glimpses into Kime style...


...until last week, when the Christie's sales catalogue An English Look: Robert Kime, Piers von Westenholz, David Bedale and James Graham-Stewart landed on my desk. The other names are all antiques dealers, and browsing through the catalogue it is obvious that it is a single owner sale (whose identity is not revealed) with interior decoration by Kime.


For others also intrigued by Kime, here are a few of the rooms illustrated followed by my fantasy shopping list....






and a few things that caught my eye:

I am a textile fool! and Mr. Kime's liberal dosing of fabrics and "stuffs" worked in all manner of ways from all corners of the world and periods of history sends my heart into flutters. Above is one of a pair of cushions made of Queen Anne Wool Applique, lot 60, estimate £1,200 - £1,800

Halfsies, anyone?
lot 5, A PAIR OF SUSANI-UPHOLSTERED OTTOMAN STOOLS OF LARGE SIZE
BY ROBERT KIME, MODERN, £3,000 - £5,000

Doesn't this make you think of a platinum screen siren dressed in a satin bias-cut gown?
Lot 92, A CHINESE BLACK-LACQUER LOW TABLE
18TH-19TH CENTURY £500 - £800

Speaking to my inner wasp.
One of the top lots of the sale: lot 100, WILLIAM NEDHAM (BRITISH, FL.1823-1849)
A Mastiff, a Pomeranian, a Newfoundland and a Spaniel by a dark brown and a gray hunter in the grounds of Clopton House, Warwickshire
signed and dated 'W. NEDHAM/1838' (lower right)
oil on canvas, 54 x 93 in.
£60,000 - £80,000

a bit of fantasy for the garden

lot 325, A FRENCH ART NOUVEAU WROUGHT-IRON HEXAGONAL GAZEBO, CIRCA 1910
153 in. (389 cm.) high, £1,000 - £1,500

lot 383, TWO REGENCY STYLE OAK COLONADE BENCHES OF LARGE SIZE
BY SOANE BRITAIN, MODERN, £3,000 - £5,000


Click here to see the entire e-catalogue.

All photos courtesy of Christie's. Interior shots by Tessa Traeger.

Villa Fontanelle: Versace's chateau de Guermantes

I must admit that when the Sotheby's sales catalogue of the contents of Gianni Versace's Lake Como house arrived last week, I didn't tear it open. In fact, it took a good few days to get around to it and even then I approached it with reluctance.

Much to my surprise and delight, instead of being assaulted by brash clear colors and over-the-top gilt and gilt-mounted furniture suites, my eyes took in a restrained - although very high style - villa that was right up my alley (although maybe not so many nudes).

Built by Lord Charles Currie who was so enamoured by Italy that he took up Italian citizenship, the house is in the neoclassical style but as seen through the prism of an English mi'lord. Versace set out to furnish it sympathetically with Empire period and inspired pieces.

Two Views of the Salon

My interest was further piqued by the introduction - unsigned but presumably by Donatella - which notes that Gianni called it "a Proust house", one full of memories, sensations, and feelings, which of course made me think of Madeleine Castaing who even kept of photo of the author in her library . Who knows - perhaps she sold Versace some of his Napoleon III pieces?!

The Library

A Landing - a Rex Whistler-esque moment of whimsy

Amusing. Either that little boy is two feet tall or the mustachioed painter has giantism.


The Dining Room

Smashing. The dining table below is loosely based on a table in the bedroom of Caroline Murat, the Queen of Naples, in the Elysee Palace, and now in the Trianon (estimate: $8,900 - 14,800)

Another dining room....

Gianni's Bedroom

I think I like the wall-covering - what do you think?


A Guest Bedroom

The painting on the wall could inspire some home projects...

To die for. Truly an earthly paradise. Especially since George Clooney is probably nearby.