Just ordered Edna O'Brien's' "The Love Object" a collection of short stories Carolina Herrera referenced reading in a recent piece in the WSJ. I also loved the designer's stance on airport dressing - there is nothing worse than witnessing a traveller clad in Uggs and sweatpants. Read a review of the book here.
Oz Farm & The Pacific
A glimpse from a weekend well spent at Oz Farm in Mendocino, California. I slumbered in a yurt on the crest of a hill overlooking apple orchards. We rented out the property for a friend's 30th birthday which proved to adequately supply the perfect amount of mischief in the great outdoors, including a river crossing in the thick of night to explore The Domes and an afternoon shrimp boil with the Pacific Ocean front and center.
Off Duty
The best place to nourish whilst darting around Union Square in San Francisco is Café de la Presse. It's particularly lovely alone with a great read and coffee, as I was reminded Sunday morning. The restaurant is almost always lively and attracts an international flair, complete with a newsstand indoors with some of the best design and fashion publications for sale. Café de la Presse is a true Parisian tabac in the heart of San Francisco.
Antelope
A trip back to the archives.... Nicole Hanley Mellon's home in New York as featured in Vogue. Her home is flooded with an impressive collection of art, bright billowy light and the floor, covered in Stark's Antelope Carpet.
Totes
In love with these hand-painted straw bags by Lindroth Design. Mad about the diagonal canary yellow stripe, especially. The handle option includes a "Nassau" version, which is a dark leather - so chic. (The "Lyford" handle is depicted above). Amanda Lindroth is the designer behind several notable projects in the Bahamas, including The Dunmore Beach Hotel in Harbour Island. View her portfolio here. I'm ready for a vacation....and cocktail.
Just Lovely
Loved seeing Carolyne Roehm's Connecticut home featured on One King's Lane. I just love the shots of her breakfast room, the long marble counter and built-in cabinetry that house her collection of fine china. Her office, as depicted above, is where she keeps her collection of gardening catalogs, perhaps inspiration for the latest release of At Home in the Garden, her highly anticipated book I cannot wait to add to my collection.
Soane Britain
Stripes and citrus via Soane Britain. Also mildly obsessed with their rattan console.
Chef's Table at Long Meadow Ranch
Sunday was spent at Long Meadow Ranch's Farmstead Restaurant with Chef Timothy Mosblech for his Chef's Table Experience in St. Helena. The meal married the property's organic produce and grass-fed beef with wine pairings and an olive oil tasting. The afternoon began with a tour of the grounds which were lush with citrus trees, vegetables and rose bushes. We sampled unusual black beauty peppers, verbena and Mexican cucumbers whilst sipping wine. Out back, the property has a custom built smoker that was smoking ribs and pork shoulder which had me weak in the knees.
007 Meets the Swiss Mountains
On the release day of the new James Bond film, I thought it was only fitting to showcase the piece in the NYTimes that features Thomas Flohr’s home, a real life 007 hideaway in the Swiss mountains of St. Moritz. As the founder and chairman of VistaJet (subscription-based plane service that singlehandedly revolutionized the aviation industry), Thomas built the company from the ground up with visions of one day having a home that could be shared for generations to come.
The home, once a 1960s chalet, is now a seven-story hideaway, a labor of love, and one with no shortage of luxury and allure. The six-acre property is a stone's throw away from where Thomas grew up skiing. Thomas enlisted Ivana Porfiri, a Milan-based interior designer to transform the structure into a contemporary mountain retreat, one that is truly invigorated with a James Bond fortress feel. Read on, here.
Italian Gothic in New Orleans
Anyone that knows me well knows that New Orleans holds a special place in my heart. It is a city so deeply rooted in history and culture, and where my Grandmother Gertrude was raised and met my Grandfather, whom she married after three months of knowing each other.
I absolutely love Sara Ruffin Costello's garden district home as featured on One Kings Lane. The home, as Sara describes is "formal, yet informal" hence the ping pong table in the dining room that looks unexpectedly chic, or the exposed brick in the kitchen juxtaposed with a sleek Bulthaup island and lucite dining chairs. I particularly love the use of the green trellis inside, decorated with a bounty of magnolia branches and meyer lemons foraged from the back yard. The home exudes comfort and style without compromising the architectural integrity of the 1868 home. Dreamy.