Charlotte and Bunny do Edith proud

Since I started this series of posts on The Mount, I've been so excited to share the photos of the Drawing Room and Dining Room, which were decorated in 2002 by Charlotte Moss and Bunny Williams, respectively. These are the only fully decorated rooms in the house currently and while it's wonderful to be able to focus on the walls, floors and ceilings of the empty rooms (and this house does NOT disappoint in that regard!) it's also fun to see fully decorated rooms. And making it even more of a treat is to be able to see Charlotte and Bunny's work in person. Being from the hinterlands of Massachusetts, this is a rare treat!

Here is the Drawing Room as decorated by Charlotte Moss. Well, first let me say that I nearly swooned. And I rarely say things like that! Second, let me say how sad I am that my photographs of this room are not better. It's a relatively dark room, with windows only the back, which look out on the veranda, under a large awning. So, natural light being limited, my photos are a little grainy and do not do the room justice! First off, what can one say about that ceiling? Like God's own wedding cake. Consistent with EW's views that decorative detail match the room - the drawing room is the most formal, largest and the only room that boasts an elaborate treatment on the ceiling. The floor is terrazzo, under a rug, which was likely an Aubusson from France.
Here is an image showing the condition of the plasterwork before the restoration began, plus how the roses look now.

This room is so warm and inviting - I just wanted to have a seat and take it all in. That sofa looked so comfy! But, I figured all manner of bells and whistles would go off, so I just looked longingly...

The original tapestries (Brussels, 1710) were auctioned off in 1935. They have been recreated for the home. Charlotte Moss has donated the furnishings to the Edith Wharton Organization.

Moving along, we are now in the dining room - as decorated by Bunny Williams. This room, being on the corner, benefited from a much brighter light and was much easier to photograph! What I love about Bunny's design were the contemporary touches of modern art and a hand painted sisal carpet. She is quoted in the program book saying "Edith was a modern lady who never lost her traditional roots".


Another view...
Here is a photo of EW's own decor circa 1905. Bunny certainly took her cues from Edith's work here. Look closely under the table and you will see the cushion on the floor for EW's beloved dog. Bunny includes a cushion by the table (top pic) in homage.
A closeup of the table. Note the name on the place tag.
I just adored this mirror!
The plaster work, designed by Ogden Codman, was in the style of Grinling Gibbons, an 17th century English wood carver. The ornamentation in the room includes fish, birds and nuts - fitting for a dining room.
Simple, elegant and unfussy - these window treatments are extraordinary!
I don't know for sure, but my guess is that Bunny also donated the room decor to The Mount as well, as it's been there since 2002.

The Edith Wharton Organization, which manages The Mount, was facing foreclosure just a year ago. A bank restructuring and much needed donations has kept the doors open, but money is still needed to continue operations and much needed improvements. Please consider making a donation to this treasure of American Arts and Architecture.

Click here to read all my Edith Wharton posts.

Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Charlotte and Bunny do Edith proud

Since I started this series of posts on The Mount, I've been so excited to share the photos of the Drawing Room and Dining Room, which were decorated in 2002 by Charlotte Moss and Bunny Williams, respectively. These are the only fully decorated rooms in the house currently and while it's wonderful to be able to focus on the walls, floors and ceilings of the empty rooms (and this house does NOT disappoint in that regard!) it's also fun to see fully decorated rooms. And making it even more of a treat is to be able to see Charlotte and Bunny's work in person. Being from the hinterlands of Massachusetts, this is a rare treat!

Here is the Drawing Room as decorated by Charlotte Moss. Well, first let me say that I nearly swooned. And I rarely say things like that! Second, let me say how sad I am that my photographs of this room are not better. It's a relatively dark room, with windows only the back, which look out on the veranda, under a large awning. So, natural light being limited, my photos are a little grainy and do not do the room justice! First off, what can one say about that ceiling? Like God's own wedding cake. Consistent with EW's views that decorative detail match the room - the drawing room is the most formal, largest and the only room that boasts an elaborate treatment on the ceiling. The floor is terrazzo, under a rug, which was likely an Aubusson from France.
Here is an image showing the condition of the plasterwork before the restoration began, plus how the roses look now.

This room is so warm and inviting - I just wanted to have a seat and take it all in. That sofa looked so comfy! But, I figured all manner of bells and whistles would go off, so I just looked longingly...

The original tapestries (Brussels, 1710) were auctioned off in 1935. They have been recreated for the home. Charlotte Moss has donated the furnishings to the Edith Wharton Organization.

Moving along, we are now in the dining room - as decorated by Bunny Williams. This room, being on the corner, benefited from a much brighter light and was much easier to photograph! What I love about Bunny's design were the contemporary touches of modern art and a hand painted sisal carpet. She is quoted in the program book saying "Edith was a modern lady who never lost her traditional roots".


Another view...
Here is a photo of EW's own decor circa 1905. Bunny certainly took her cues from Edith's work here. Look closely under the table and you will see the cushion on the floor for EW's beloved dog. Bunny includes a cushion by the table (top pic) in homage.
A closeup of the table. Note the name on the place tag.
I just adored this mirror!
The plaster work, designed by Ogden Codman, was in the style of Grinling Gibbons, an 17th century English wood carver. The ornamentation in the room includes fish, birds and nuts - fitting for a dining room.
Simple, elegant and unfussy - these window treatments are extraordinary!
I don't know for sure, but my guess is that Bunny also donated the room decor to The Mount as well, as it's been there since 2002.

The Edith Wharton Organization, which manages The Mount, was facing foreclosure just a year ago. A bank restructuring and much needed donations has kept the doors open, but money is still needed to continue operations and much needed improvements. Please consider making a donation to this treasure of American Arts and Architecture.

Click here to read all my Edith Wharton posts.

Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Travel Tuesday: Dining in the Berkshires

I've been posting about my trip over the weekend to the Berkshires and any good trip includes good food, of course! I wanted to share some of the delicious locations and foods we ate over the weekend.

The first evening we were there, we ate at Alta Restaurant & Wine Bar right in Lenox Center. By the way - don't blink or you'll miss the center. It's very tiny! I wanted to take photos of the restaurant, but didn't want to disturb other diners, so have to be satisfied with the images on their website. It was raining that evening (of course, it's been raining a lot here recently!), and the covered porch seating was delightful! The food was quite tasty, including a goat cheese and walnut salad, grilled steak and fries. My friend had the duck and reported that it was quite nice. We ordered wine by the glass and even so, we were shown the bottle and offered a taste prior to making the commitment. A nice touch.


On Friday, we visited Edith Wharton's home and enjoyed a lovely luncheon on the back veranda under a striped awning, overlooking the gardens. I had the delicious tarragon chicken salad on a ciabatta roll with a side of carrot salad and iced coffee while my friend Rob had quiche and lemonade. Tasty! By the way, take note of the herringbone pattern of the brick floor - loved it!

The big draw of Lenox and the Berkshires is, of course, Tanglewood! We attended concerts on Friday and Saturday night, dining on the lawn along with thousands of others. Some folks really went all out - including silver candelabra, flowers and lots of food! This image shows the break between the Shed and the lawn seats. At $16, the lawn is a great deal!

I would highly suggest the use of the classic little red wagon as both mode of transporting picnic baskets, chairs and food. Plus, it made for an excellent dinner table! For our picnic al fresco, I borrowed a red mini-check tablecloth and napkins from my mother, which I made for her several years ago and did a little shopping at The Christmas Tree shops for some inexpensive dishes, glassware and utensils. I spent less than $20 for the baskets, melamine lobster plates, plastic tumblers (stemmed glasses are too likely to spill!), silverware and a candle under glass. It made everything so easy (and light!). We dined on baguettes, different cheeses and crackers, apples and wine. Yum! What is it about eating outdoors that makes everything seem so tasty!
Here was the table of one of our neighbors. It got a lot of attention from photographers. I loved the sunflowers in a vase. Later in the evening, they had a couple of candles going.
The last day we went out for brunch and found ourselves at the Haven Cafe & Bakery. It's a casual place, bustling with patrons and servers.

I forgot to photograph our food prior to eating it, but as you can tell, it was tasty! I had croissant french toast with scrambled eggs (which were cold, unfortunately) and Rob had eggs benedict and hash browns. Even with the cold eggs, yum!
I really enjoyed the casual ambiance and simple decor of the restarant. The floor is gorgeous and the chairs were quite beautiful and of higher quality than one normally gets in such a restaurant.How cute is this chandelier?!?
And the busy order area. Everything looked so delicious!
I hope you enjoyed my dining tour of the Berkshires for this Travel Tuesday post!

And please enjoy all the wonderful posts over at Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday!

Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Travel Tuesday: Dining in the Berkshires

I've been posting about my trip over the weekend to the Berkshires and any good trip includes good food, of course! I wanted to share some of the delicious locations and foods we ate over the weekend.

The first evening we were there, we ate at Alta Restaurant & Wine Bar right in Lenox Center. By the way - don't blink or you'll miss the center. It's very tiny! I wanted to take photos of the restaurant, but didn't want to disturb other diners, so have to be satisfied with the images on their website. It was raining that evening (of course, it's been raining a lot here recently!), and the covered porch seating was delightful! The food was quite tasty, including a goat cheese and walnut salad, grilled steak and fries. My friend had the duck and reported that it was quite nice. We ordered wine by the glass and even so, we were shown the bottle and offered a taste prior to making the commitment. A nice touch.


On Friday, we visited Edith Wharton's home and enjoyed a lovely luncheon on the back veranda under a striped awning, overlooking the gardens. I had the delicious tarragon chicken salad on a ciabatta roll with a side of carrot salad and iced coffee while my friend Rob had quiche and lemonade. Tasty! By the way, take note of the herringbone pattern of the brick floor - loved it!

The big draw of Lenox and the Berkshires is, of course, Tanglewood! We attended concerts on Friday and Saturday night, dining on the lawn along with thousands of others. Some folks really went all out - including silver candelabra, flowers and lots of food! This image shows the break between the Shed and the lawn seats. At $16, the lawn is a great deal!

I would highly suggest the use of the classic little red wagon as both mode of transporting picnic baskets, chairs and food. Plus, it made for an excellent dinner table! For our picnic al fresco, I borrowed a red mini-check tablecloth and napkins from my mother, which I made for her several years ago and did a little shopping at The Christmas Tree shops for some inexpensive dishes, glassware and utensils. I spent less than $20 for the baskets, melamine lobster plates, plastic tumblers (stemmed glasses are too likely to spill!), silverware and a candle under glass. It made everything so easy (and light!). We dined on baguettes, different cheeses and crackers, apples and wine. Yum! What is it about eating outdoors that makes everything seem so tasty!
Here was the table of one of our neighbors. It got a lot of attention from photographers. I loved the sunflowers in a vase. Later in the evening, they had a couple of candles going.
The last day we went out for brunch and found ourselves at the Haven Cafe & Bakery. It's a casual place, bustling with patrons and servers.

I forgot to photograph our food prior to eating it, but as you can tell, it was tasty! I had croissant french toast with scrambled eggs (which were cold, unfortunately) and Rob had eggs benedict and hash browns. Even with the cold eggs, yum!
I really enjoyed the casual ambiance and simple decor of the restarant. The floor is gorgeous and the chairs were quite beautiful and of higher quality than one normally gets in such a restaurant.How cute is this chandelier?!?
And the busy order area. Everything looked so delicious!
I hope you enjoyed my dining tour of the Berkshires for this Travel Tuesday post!

And please enjoy all the wonderful posts over at Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday!

Subscribe to ::Surroundings::