Initial Thoughts

Christmas at the Breakers

What an unusual December treat for 2024…spending a week in Paris, captivated by the decorations, bright lights, and historic architecture…and returning to Newport to enjoy, with houseguests, one of our town’s historic…

“The City of Lights” At Christmas

From Avenue Montaigne to the Place de la Concorde to Le Marais, the “City of Lights” takes on a new meaning at Christmas! Trees sparkle all over Paris (much more…

Merry Christmas From Paris

What’s not to love about captivating, romantic, scintillating Paris? But when you add the sparkle of Christmas…well, that begets a whole other list of superlatives. I’m fresh off the plane, checked…

Thanksgiving Day ’24 Blog

Our Thanksgiving supper table experienced a meant-to-be moment. A thoughtful houseguest sent ahead her thank you gift…a very upscale partridge, cloaked in a patchwork of textiles, ribbon, velvet, and feathers…which immediately…

A Newport Fall 2024

It is Wednesday, November 20, the high temp will be 54 degrees today, and our long, very long Fall is still bright and enchanting. Newport is now in its seventh…

Swan House, an Atlanta Treasure Part 2

As last week’s post promised, I will focus today on the West Facade of Swan House, strictly Italian in derivation, and in marked contrast to the East Facade with its…

Swan House, an Atlanta Treasure

On my recent trip to Atlanta I had a singular goal in mind…to capture the sumptuous beauty and history of Swan House, one of the most elegant (former) private homes…

Halloween 2024 : Revisiting a Venetian Masquerade Fête

Taking advantage of this Halloween 2024 actually falling on a Thursday (blog day) I’m re-issuing a post from many years back (I’d actually forgotten about it…). In the days before…

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was a well kept Boston secret until 2012, when a multimillion dollar expansion by “starchitect” Renzo Piano shone a light on this singular jewel…which can…

Boston’s Back Bay Townhouses, Part 2

The townhouses of Boston’s Back Bay have never looked better! So many periods, such a divergence in architectural styles, enhanced by tasteful gardens. Some are condominiums within a “row house”…