Visiting Dumbarton Oaks, Georgetown

This past weekend offered beautiful fall weather, perfect for our Mid-Atlantic ICAA tour of Dumbarton Oaks arranged by landscape architect and boardmember Jennifer Horn.

Dumbarton Oaks has been owned by Harvard University since the early 1940s and hosts a number of their graduate programs on campus.  Sections of the famous gardens are open to the public and their renowned museum has a separate entrance on 32nd street NW.

Although much changed and constantly evolving, the gardens are the the work of famous landscape designer Beatrix Farrand, seen in the portrait above.

Unfortunately the house is undergoing some renovation work (roof and some structure being replaced) so scaffolding covered the neo-Georgian facade. You can see photos of the house at my earlier post from 2009 HERE.

The library is housed in the wing seen above designed by Thomas Waterman -a really spectacular period room in which one can study the antique landscape books in an elegant setting.

This grotto is only one of the many charming spots to be found throughout the gardens. The modern balustrade is very plain-jane compared to others found throughout the property but I suppose it meets code (most ugly railings do).

One of the best parts of attending the ICAA tours (everyone is welcome btw!) is that you get an opportunity to see many behind the scenes areas not open to the general public.

I had never seen most of the campus before and was thrilled with many of the original structures like the green house above, where plants are still grown for the gardens. The brick structure in the center was originally designed to be the library until someone came to their senses and realized antique books and water don't mix!

Washington is enjoying a spectacular fall this year which doesn't often happen. So often I feel we move directly from summer into winter.

 Many of the older structures such as the garage above have been wonderfully preserved on the exterior while the interiors have been unfortunately gutted and rebuilt in an institutional manner. Don't even ask about some of the modern buildings I'm not showing here and other work done on campus by architectural firm Robert Venturi - the less said there the better ( # inappropriate, # generic, # ugly ).

Many of us architects marveled at the lovely back door above - nicer than the front doors on many houses! Also notice the intricate brick paving patterns designed by Farrand.

The use of ornate brick and stone walls throughout the hilly, terraced gardens is one of my favorite aspects.

 While these are special details, they are to be found throughout the entire property.

Above is one of the many railing designs by Farrand - this may not meet modern day codes but is none-the-less pleasing to the eye.

Even the simple wooden garden bench above has lovely details; notice the scrolled bracket to the sides.

Inside the museum there are more wonderful treasures to check out. I particularly like the antique byzantine mosaics which are built into the flooring. The rather strange addition by Phillip Johnson, celebrating its 50th birthday, is growing on me and is a great example of marrying a modern addition to a classical structure (Robert Venturi take note!). Please join the ICAA on our next adventures and be sure to check out Dumbarton Oaks while in Washington, you won't be disappointed!

Hines & Company at the new DC Design Center

Last week I attended an event at Hines & Company in the new nearly finished Washington Design Center. I'm happy to report the new design center is a HUGE improvement on the old one (which isn't saying much), spacious and light filled.

The Design Center officially opens in about a week on November 12, 2014, but many of the showrooms are already open for business. Walking into most of these showrooms just make you want to redo your entire house with so much eye candy, which is always a problem!

 I'm dying to find a place for this Zoffany Wallpaper called 'Trade Routes'.

Lighting is one of my many passions ( see all of my previous posts on my favorite antique lighting store, Artisan) and the selection at Hines ranges from the contemporary to the classic.

My favorite lamp was this rock crystal column from Vaughan. It bridges the line between classic and contemporary with a luxe material; it would look great with a gilded and/or black shade.

I always love paisley fabrics, particularly natural linen, and this Fonthill fabric by Stark checked all of the boxes, named Amelie.  Thanks for inviting me Hines & Company and thanks for all of the inspiration too!

Window shopping: Artisan lamp

I hadn't been to my favorite shop, Artisan Lamp Co, in quite awhile so window-shopped the other night. As it turns out thats the best time of day to check out a lighting store!

The store is enormous and they have a larger inventory on their newly revamped website as well as on 1stdibs. They've been carrying a larger number of vintage 'modern' fixtures since they sell well.

 The owner loves to mix up the front window and it changes a few times per week. I especially liked this interesting lamp above.

 And an empire style boulette style lamp is always useful!

What do you think about window shopping? Beats shopping online!

Happy Halloween!

Do you decorate for Halloween? I've never been interested in the holiday other than the candy (and I don't even have much of a sweet tooth!) but I do enjoy seeing how people have fun decorating their houses. This house above in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington (recently renovated by BarnesVanze Architects) got into the spirit with this spooky ghost in the vestibule.

Georgetown is particularly spooky over Halloween with many houses decorating their front yards. Trick or treating in Georgetown is INSANE. I loved this corrugated plastic BOO! along O street in the East Village. Don't forget to brush your teeth!

Couch vs. sofa - a dialogue

I was thrilled to have lunch recently with one of my favorite bloggers, The Blue Remembered Hills, while he was traveling through DC. As so often happens when bloggers meet for the first time we began chatting at once like old friends and eventually the topic naturally veered towards design.

Both of us have 'pet peeves' with wordage, his being the incorrect use of the word couch instead of sofa (mine is the incorrect use of home vs. house). Above you see the famous couch of Madame Recamier.

The term sofa is what we normally are talking about, the article of furniture found in everyone's living room. It's not a 'formal' term or interchangeable with couch -they are DIFFERENT things. A couch is a specific term reserved for pieces of furniture on which one lies. I immediately thought of Madame Recamier, so well known for having been painted in repose by numerous artists.

While in the Louvre on my last visit I loved Madame Recamier's furniture made for her by Georges Jacob as well as 2 very well known paintings of her, in which she is lying on a couch.

 The rest of her furniture is really beautiful and I just had to have an excuse to post!

In the future think of Madame Recamier on her couch and the sofa you have at home; unless you have a fainting couch or daybed, well then that's another story!

Glamorgan Castle, Alliance Ohio

 image by don0626 on Flickr

One of my favorite parts of traveling, particularly in the northeast and midwest, is that you never know what you may stumble upon house-wise. Every city or town no matter the size has its area of inspiring houses.

Recently I was in Alliance, Ohio, and stumbled upon a castle. The castle seen here isn't in Wales or Scotland this is small town America!

Glamorgan Castle was built in 1904 by Cleveland architect Willard Hirsh for the Morgan family. Col. Morgan sent Hirsh to travel Wales and study medieval castles to come up with an original design for the family. I wish I could find a client like that!

I was recently reading about porte cocheres on Things that Inspire and this is an impressive example she could have added to her post!

I've never seen such a large porte cochere before, particularly one with a flight of steps up to the front door.

Don't let the scale fool you -this front door is massive.

This enormous ornate 'door knocker' actually isn't a knocker at all but merely decorative. I suppose with a butler in residence a knocker wasn't necessary.

The walls are built of a Vermont marble and the tiles appear to be Ludowici clay tiles which are still manufactured in nearby Ohio.

The upkeep on the property is phenomenal. For the past 20 years the castle has been home to the local Alliance school district. Tours are given on Fridays but unfortunately I just missed it.

The details were all astounding. Not only for their quality (and that they still exist) but also for shear scale.

 These large marble scuppers are found all over the house; probably a copy of medieval originals.

I imagine that the master bedroom is high in the main tower;  Thats where I'd want mine!

 The front door leads one through an enclosed loggia with a crest of the family over the entrance.

These large patinated bronze light posts may be missing their original globes (and sport much too small replacements) but are still impressive.

Based on what I could find online the interior is sadly un-inspired if grand and well preserved. No quirky 'castle' influence mars the period 1905 interiors unlike at Doylestown PA at Mercer and Fonthill.

As an example of the good job that Alliance is doing on preservation the worn marble steps on the kitchen side entrance have been replaced with identical new white marble slabs; Heart warming attention to detail! According to their website they are trying to raise money for the rewiring of original light fixtures. This is the kind of preservation I like to see!

If you find yourself passing through Ohio don't forget to schedule a trip to Glamorgan Castle!

Elizabeth Hamilton and Peter Fasano at John Rosselli, DC

I had the pleasure earlier this week of attending a presentation by husband & wife fabric designers Elizabeth Hamilton and Peter Fasano at the beautiful John Rosselli showroom here in Washington earlier this week. I had first heard of the design duo on everyone's favorite design blog Style Court who frequently references their work. Events like this aren't only great learning experiences but a fun chance to catch up with friends.

Due to some unfortunate weather the crew was small but vivacious.  The ever lovely Sally Steponkus, Josh Hildreth, Frank Babb Randolph (who doesn't have a website but then again is a self-professed NON-reader of blogs), and Atlanta's notable blogger 'The Blue Remembered Hills' (amongst others) were on hand to learn about hand printed and hand painted fabrics.

The banter between Elizabeth and Peter was almost as interesting as the discussion of how they produce their fabrics; both those readily available (at John Rosselli) and their custom projects. You probably saw in last month's issue of House Beautiful magazine an article of 4 designers working with them on completely different custom fabric designs.

Naturally the fabric swatches of the husband and wife team are mounted side by side in the showroom.

Peter specialized in hand painted fabrics while they lived in NYC and after their move they've been concentrating more on silk screening. For all the pattern they are known for professionally Peter said in their own house they prefer more texture and no pattern!

As always the showroom was filled with goodies that I wanted to take home. I also loved that the store is scented with delicious candles. It's more like visiting a stylish friend's home instead of a showroom!  I particularly loved the lounge chairs below with the cute drinks table, available in wood or metal. Stop into John Rosselli in Georgetown to see whats new and prepare to be inspired by visiting all of the links I've included in this posting!

Many thanks to the staff at John Rosselli for making me quite at home and all of my dear friends who were in attendance making for such a fun mid-day treat.

ICAA tour in DC, Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office

Join the ICAA next week (Wednesday, Oct 22 2014 from 6:15-8:30 PM) for an exciting tour of the newly restored Clara Barton's Missing Soldiers Office in Washington's recently gentrified Gallery Place / Chinatown.

 image by Pepper Watkins

The tour will include the museum director relating the history of Clara Barton followed by how the research was conducted to fulfill the 16 year conservation and restoration of this forgotten gem from the Civil War era. 2 AIA learning units are available for those who need them and fun will be had by all. Join me there!

image from OLBN architects

The cost is $10 for ICAA members and $25 to the general public. To reserve your spot please email Susan Sapiro at susan.sapiro@classicist-washington.org.  The Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office is located at 437 7th Street NW.