I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I know I'm eagerly awaiting my November issue of Elle Decor as it features an article (Cool, Calm and Collected) on my favorite DC designer, Darryl Carter. Hopefully the issue comes soon! Darryl lives in a beautiful limestone Beaux Arts townhouse in my favorite local neighborhood, Kalorama, and I just can't wait to see it!
"Who is to say what is good taste and what is bad? I don't know what taste is. It's like a fog....you can see it and feel it, but you can never touch it."
Truer words were never spoken. Above, the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hilton hotel recently redone ala Haines by Michael Smith. The Haines designed 'hostess chairs' are seen here in an orange tufted fabric. I love the mural by Nancy Lorenz entitled "Studies of Water".
The living room of Betsy Bloomingdale in Bel Air, California, decorated by Haines, seen here in 1959. I love his mix of antiques with modern furnishings. Thats the way to live that never goes out of style!
Read more about the end of the struggle online :
Marie Antoinette loved to perform. Before becoming the Dauphine of France back home in Austria, she actually took comedic acting classes to perfect the French language.
In 1777 she asked her architect, Richard Mique to take inspiration from the auditorium at the Chateau de Choisy (built for her predecessor of the Petit Trianon, Madame de Pompadour) and build her a simple theater on the grounds of her little estate.
The theater was completed in 1779 but the Queen stopped acting here after the death of her child in 1780 and remained in the audience.
The entrance features a classic pediment, sculpted by DeDeschamps, supported by 2 ionic columns. I love the little randomly placed window here!
The entrance is a very small vestibule, covered in blue silk, with a white sculpted doorway into the theater.
As this was a private space not meant to impress the public (and France was hemorrhaging money at the time), the decorations are all of paper mache and painted to look like finer materials.
Looks like the real thing though!
The theater lies right behind the very formal part of the garden near the French Pavilion
and acts as a transition into the English Gardens
Directly across from the entrance to the theater is the English garden arbour.
Another folly built on the grounds of the Petit Trianon for Marie Antoinette by Richard Mique & Hubert Robert is the Temple of Love.
This temple sits on the opposite side of the house as the older French Pavilion and houses a statue of cupid.
It overlooks a small stream that runs up to the Petit Trianon.
Inspired by antiquity, the columns sport Corinthian caps.....
and a coffered dome.
It sits out in the English landscape. Here it is viewed from the side of the house.
The temple rests on a small island reached by a small bridge. I loved that the side of the bridge acted as a planter for wildflowers.
The Petit Trianon, finally making its' debut as seen from the Temple of Love.
Marie Antoinette had the Temple of Love built within view of her bed in her bedroom - can it be any more poetic than that? Do we think she had Count Fersen in mind or her husband, Louis XVI?
On the grounds of the Petit Trianon was another charming little pavilion. The Belvedere was built for Marie Antoinette by her architect Richard Mique and the painter Hubert Robert as a highlight in her English style garden.
Built on a hill on an artificial island, the Belvedere is circled by a terrace with charming sphinx standing guard. It has a commanding view of the English gardens with the Petit Trianon resting nearby, hidden by trees.
The interior is painted with murals and flooded with light all day long.
What a charming room to have lunch in!
The decoration continues up to the ceiling.
As you can see the Belevedere is a private place as its' small size demands. 
Set as a folly in a 'natural' landscape, the building acts as a human foil.
We admittedly spent a good 30 minutes here just relaxing in the sun before continuing our tour of the estate. Hope you enjoyed this folly as much as we did!
While at the bookthing this past weekend, I picked up a copy of House & Garden magazine from March of 1993. Hard to believe this was 16 years ago now and a lot of the magazine, especially the ads, are incredibly dated. However, one article that withstood the test of time is about William Sofield and Thomas O'Brien.
The article features examples of their work from both of their own homes, office and gallery. The gallery wall (seen at the top of the post) could easily be in a magazine today.
I loved this image from the Aero gallery.
This is the living room of Sofield. Interesting side note -he's quite handy and restored the plaster ceiling himself!
A tablescape by Sofield. The cheval glass was designed by Ogden Codman for the Breakers mansion in Newport, RI.
The spare and symmetrical treatment of the fireplace will never go out of style.
The only space which is a bit dated but none the less cozy is the guest bedroom of O'Brien.
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