Trompe Foolery

Lady Diana Cooper by Derry Moore

After seeing Lady West's yachting cap homage to the great Diana Cooper here, yours truly just had to show off and remark on the Rex Whistler painted decoration behind her which I had seen before and included in Regency Redux.

Duff and Diana Cooper's London flat decorated by Sibyl Colefax, 1937

Well, Ms. Know-it-all was a little hasty - as Toby Worthington kindly pointed out, the trompe l'oeil trophies in the Derry Moore portrait were done by Martin Battersby in the 1950s for the Coopers' French chateau in Chantilly and later relocated to London.

Battersby was a one-time assistant to the hyper-competitive Cecil Beaton who was no doubt peeved that Diana, a close friend, didn't consult him instead.

One example of Beaton's cut-throat tendencies was when fellow designer Oliver Messel asked Beaton his opinion on the considerable fee Messel was proposing for designing the sets of Caesar and Cleopatra, Beaton told him it was fine and then submitted his own estimate at a much reduced rate. Meow!

Another view of the Battersby trophies - AND the Regency sofa which also featured in the 1937 Colefax scheme

Battersby photographed by Angus McBean in 1960

I was mortified by my misappropriation of the facts on several counts - not least of all that I didn't give credit to one of my heroes of interior design history. He didn't just give us magnificently conceived and realized decorative schemes...

such as this one for Lady Kenmare at La Fiorentina in St Jean Cap Ferrat (later purchased by advertising dymano Mary Wells Lawrence ), but two of my favorite books The Decorative Twenties and The Decorative Thirties, without which no design library is complete. That I do know.

Battersby's jazzy hall decorated with blue and silver paper and textiles of his own design

Carolands House Visit, Part II: The Buatta Touch

The Ladies Lounge - the curtains reminded me of those made for Evangeline Bruce by John Fowler, an early mentor to Buatta

Many times the only difference between "good" and "great" is a small detail, but what a difference it makes. While touring the storybook Chateau Carolands, I found my attention constantly drawn to the beautifully finished soft furnishings dreamed up by the Maestro of Passementerie, Mario Buatta.

The Men's Lounge

Students of curtains, take note of the generous length of the panels that puddle most attractively on the floor - lining and interlining are key to achieving this look.....

A favorite Buatta chintz in the Loggia

Taffeta Festoons - is there anything more swoon-inducing?

a symphony of blue and yellow - cording, buttons, and tassels finish the seat cushions in the dining room

The Johnsons, the owners of Carolands, love to play cards - who needs real cards when you can have needlepoint ones which very conveniently leave hands free for highballs

Carolands House Visit: Part I

Forget Three Men and a Baby - it's all about Three Women and a Chateau.* The chateau in question is Carolands, a magnificent 98 room, 65,000 square foot Beaux-Arts residence commissioned by Harriett Pullman Carolan, heiress to the luxury railroad car fortune.

A bird's eye view of the atrium, said to be the largest interior space in the country

I had the enormous pleasure of a private tour of the house which is located in the tony town of Hillsborough, just outside of San Francisco, kindly given by estate manager Meg Starr.

Conceived by Harriett to be the grandest residence of San Francisco's bon ton, it was lavished with nothing but the best: from the top residential architect in France, Ernest Sanson, and the highly acclaimed landspace designer, Achille Duchêne, down to the finishing touches of firegilt hardware and parquet de Versailles floors.

The dining room and one of its Champagne fountains

Carolands cost Harriett not only most of her fortune, but her social aspirations as well. She had hoped for the chateau to be completed in time to entertain royalty attending the Pan-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, but it was not to be. Two years later, Harriett cut her losses and was back on the East Coast.

The Library

For decades the house stood empty until another fearless lady took on the chateau. Countess Lillian Remillard Dandini, whose brick company attracted the attention of a dashing Italian count "of no account," purchased a house worthy of her new title.

The Loggia - one of my favorites

The Countess was very generous with Carolands and opened it up for all manner of causes. But a house this big can swallow one up, and at the end of her life, much of her resources had been exhausted leaving her reduced to living in a small corner of the house.

The Ballroom: Meg said when the sun sets, the melon walls become infused with a rosy glow

The house went in and out of a few owners' hands, and became more and more derelict as time passed. Because of Hillsborough's town edict that all buildings must be residential, it couldn't be converted to another purpose and it was but a whisker away from the wrecking ball. Finally in 1998, the current owners, Charles and Dr. Ann Johnson, not only rescued "the last of the great homes" but restored it exquisitely AND, in a move that Harriett would have approved, engaged the BEST interior decorator, Mario Buatta.

Details from a circular room Harriett bought lock, stock and barrel and shipped over from France; the masterfully carved plasterwork depicts the four seasons

And like the Countess, the Johnsons often share the house for worthy causes. It is their intention that Carolands be preserved in perpetuity.

The extensive service rooms included a silver polishing room, a flower-cutting room, a pastry room, a fruit and vegetable room, and the laundry which houses this floor to ceiling dryer for sheets - talk about a place for everything and everything in its place!

*Three Women and a Chateau, the documentary about the house's history, is fascinating and has now gone to the top of my list as THE hostess gift to give. Click here to purchase. There is also a very thorough book on Carolands including original plans and correspondance relating to the house.

http://carolands.org/

Photo credits: all photos taken by EEE except: top courtesy of Luna Films, and #2 by Eric Luse for the San Francisco Chronicle

STAY TUNED FOR PART II: Mr. Buatta's Passementerie

Of Old Houses

There's nothing like an historic house to make the pulse quicken. That said, perhaps a medical advisory should accompany the lavishly illustrated Restoring A House in the City by Ingrid Abramovitch.

In her new book, Abramovitch discusses the joys and tribulations of renovating and decorating townhouses and brownstones - all the while dazzling us with an inside peek at 21 different residences, including those of Julianne Moore, Robert Duffy (Marc Jacob's business partner), and the above Greek Revival house in my very own neighborhood.* Get ready to experience major real estate envy.

If you're in New York, you're in luck - Ingrid is making a sweep of the city, signing copies and divulging behind-the-scenes details you can only get in person:

Thursday, November 5th, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum - Lecture and slideshow, followed by book signing
2 East 91st Street
New York, NY
Info: 212-535-2526
Email: info@friends-ues.org
Web: events.cooperhewitt.org

Click here to visit Ingrid's blog and here for her full schedule of appearances.

*Picture Gallery Red by Farrow and Ball. Another bold choice from designer Ellen Hamilton whose room at this summer's Hamptons Designer's Showhouse bowled me over. Ben Baxt was the architect who oversaw the project.
The oak banister and staircase newels, all original to the house, were "taken apart and put back together," says Baxt.

San Francisco Treats

I have returned from my West Coast adventure with some pretty heavy-duty exciting things to share with you.

In the meantime, while I pull it all together, enjoy this photo of the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel majestically situated atop San Francisco's posh Nob Hill.

Friends recommended I check out this Tiki Bar whose interior dates back to 1945 and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Simulated rainstorms? Check. A lagoon in the center of the room complete with a band performing on a barge? Check. Killer Mai Tais served in ceramic coconut shells? Check.

Better yet, go yourself and give this Pan-Pacific snapshot of history your support as the rumor mill says it's in danger of closing.