Initial Thoughts

Newport’s Holiday Doors

Before we finish Christmas week, I indulge in a tradition started a few years back…strolling the side streets of the Colonial areas of our town and recording their appropriately simple…

Christmas Inspirations at Parterre

Welcome to Parterre!The party is just about to begin and we’ve rolled out the red carpet for you. Each year I look for inspiration to bring a new twist to…

A Holiday Invitation to Marble House

The interiors of Marble House, a property of the Preservation Society of Newport County, are so majestic and of such sheer grandeur that they truly deserve their own post. So,…

Holiday Dreaming: The Parterre Bench

When the Parterre Bench was recently chosen as an engagement gift I was thrilled for many reasons. Celebrating a glorious milestone reminded me of the reason I had originally designed…

New York’s Holiday Sights and Views

December isn’t complete for me without a visit to New York City for all its glorious sights, sounds and views. Each year there is a slightly different focus that catches…

9 Inspiring Holiday Mantles

I may not start decorating for Christmas until mid-December, but early on I am gathering ideas from the beautiful sources available to us in Newport. Even I, who have seen…

Spicing up your Holidays with Pomanders

Blithewold Gardens and Arboretum is an exceptional historic mansion in Bristol, Rhode Island. Overlooking the Narragansett Bay, it is of the same period as Newport’s Gilded Age “cottages” but with…

‘Tis the Season!

When anticipating this glorious holiday season, one image lingered as I carried out the bittersweet ritual of “putting the garden to bed”…the brilliant cardinals that had seemed more ever present…

The Private Newport Bar, at Home

As we head into the most festive of holiday seasons, invitations are being readied and entertaining accoutrements are being assembled. This is the time of the year when “the bar”…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the years, celebrating this wonderful season… Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!