…………..I had my bi-annual visit to my dentist on 59th off 5th in NYC, and stopped to look at the Bergdorf windows….me and a whole bunch of other people!…….If I had to describe them I’d say they were SILVER and SPARKLY…..Lots of small mirrors on everything including horses with wings and roosters…..They were very pretty and a lot of work went into creating them….My only criticism would be they became a little repetitive……I give them a B+
………………..”A story for you”……..This is a very early photo of my house that was published in a Connecticut newspaper. The house was for sale…….This is when the story gets interesting!………The house was built in 1906…..At that time silent movies were being made in CT. and on Long Island. California was in its’ infancy…..William Randolph Hearst lived in NYC with his then wife…..however….he was having an affair with the silent movie actress Marion Davies. This affair would last 34 years….She was making films in Ct. so Hearst built her this home to live in while she was making the movies….They named it….”IVYHURST”……I can only assume they changed the spelling of Hearst to Hurst intentionally……However…..the movie industry moved out west, and so did Davies…..and so did Hearst!……She never lived in the house, and once it was completed he put it up for sale……He built her the famous San Simeon Castle…….When I bought the house the chimney in the picture was covered in ivy which I had removed because it was doing damage to the structure of the chimney….There have been so many changes since those early days…..Firstly, the main road went down the center of the peninsula, and at the waters edge of the Long Island Sound it made a right……This road went to the house. The road was in front of the trees at the waters edge of the LI Sound. The entrance to the house was through the stone arches of the out doors porch, The porch ran along the whole front of the house behind those stone arches……Eventually, as the peninsular became developed and more roads were built the front entrance was changed, and it was made on the right side of the chimney where the three windows are surrounded in white…..The stone porch was also eventually removed along with the little balcony, and in its’ stead a closed sunroom was built. You will notice on the second floor to the left the outside small balcony off the main bedroom. When the stone porch was removed the little balcony went with it and the door was changed into a window for a symmetrical look. The small little room jutting out on the right on the second floor was enlarged to extend over the entire kitchen below which is now my office…….Over the years a few more structural changes were made. The tree lined road was destroyed along with the trees during an early hurricane, and the new driveway was built at the right that ended in a circle in front of the new entry that exists today…….Basically the shape and style of the house, “Dutch Board Colonial”, with its’ peaks and eyebrow window has stayed the same…..The house was changed from dark brown to all white….The previous owners modernized and enlarged the kitchen, but still kept its’ old world charm….Of course over the years heat was added to the house…..When I moved in I had wooden floors added through out the house where there weren’t any, and eventually I added the “gathering room” with the big stone fireplace at the far end of the house. I also changed all of the windows along the “front” of the house on the first floor facing the water to make it uniform…..I do wish that the trees in front had remained. They would have been huge, beautiful, mature trees by now!………Jac and I bought the house in 1992, so I’ve been living here for 31 years. Since we never decorated our previous house in Darien Ct we started from scratch decorating this house which truly became our home……..It was a labor of love.
………………..”San Simeon Castle”……..On one of Jac and my vacations to California…we traveled from LA to the Napa Valley with our friends….Patti and Laurance Taylor…..On the way up the Pacific Coast Highway Laurance organized a private tour of the San Simeon Castle which was built and owned by William Randolph Hearst Sr……Hearst was a communications Media Baron, and extremely wealthy…..The movie “Citizen Kane” starred Orson Welles, who also directed it. It was inspired by Hearst. The movie is considered the greatest picture of all time [debatable]……..Hearst was married three times, but had a 34 year relationship with the actress Marion Davies. The castle was a place they could be free to entertain and live…and entertain they did!!!!….The stories are legendary, and every actress and actor of worth at the time spent weekends at the castle…….We are standing at the outdoor pool where many a pool party took place!…You can only imagine what went on in this Roman setting….The castle, the grounds, the separate guest bungalows are incredible. At the time he lived there he also had a huge zoo with all kinds of wild animals….The indoor pool is supposed to be the finest in the world and it is magnificent. The two photos at the right show the “Great Room”, and the “Library”…….There is a secret staircase that we went down that Hearst used to spy on his guests!…..This is a stop well worth making if you are visiting the west coast with a trip up the PCH!!!!
…………………What’s your favorite Christmas candle????…….Over the years I have tried many brands of candles. I’m always looking for the perfect Christmas tree smell….BALSAM……Out of all that I have tried I seem to always come back to the RIGUAD Cypress candles from Paris. I have given many as gifts. They make a beautiful presentation with the dark forest green wax in the clear glass cylinder, the hand tied red satin bow, and the steel bottom and top makes it even more SPECIAL!!! [the bottom isn’t on all sizes]…….This was Jackie Kennedy’s favorite candle!……..Honestly, I’m not fond of cinnamon, apple pie or any other type of typical Christmas scents….Give me the wonderful smell of a Christmas tree and I’m HAPPY…………..I would love to hear what your favorites are!
………These photos were taken many many years after the photos of Donna and myself on Fire Island……………Once upon a time I went to a wedding…………It was the wedding of my friend Donna Karan and Stephen Weiss…….It was in September of 1983, and it was the HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR!!!! I mean sweltering, and incredibly humid. I remember the morning of the wedding I decided to give up the suit I was planning to wear in favor of white shorts and a blue dress shirt [sleeves rolled up] with a pink knit tie….Jac was wearing a pink cashmere knit tank short dress and matching shawl that Donna had picked out for her. It was Sept , and we had no idea it was going to be SOOO HOT! She was dying in that outfit while I was relatively cool……The ceremony was outdoors, but the reception was under a tent which made it even hotter!….So we drank!…and drank and drank! By the end of the evening we were feeling NO pain, and the heat didn’t bother us at all!!! The photo at the left is of me licking the wedding cake off my fingers, and on the right is the happy couple…..In the center is me sitting on Marc Balets lap! Marc was the art director on many of our AK ad campaigns and look books. Why I’m sitting on his lap I don’t recall, but I’m sure Marc will be amused to see it….I can only say we were very drunk and having a good time…..In the back to the right….the guy with his hand on his chin is Greg Mills. He worked for us at AK and he was a great friend. Sadly, Greg recently passed away……Marc just recently moved out of NYC after decades, and is now living in upstate Ct….a sort of neighbor…Stephen also passed away many years ago, a great loss…….It’s wonderful to have these photos to remember the GOOD TIMES!