$5.00 April 2010
The Design Issue
robert a.m. stern at the National Academy of Design, 1989
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S T R I B L I N G
Landmarked TH Off Park Ave on 62nd. Restored 20 ft 19th C. 5 story elev brownstone w/bsmt. 7000+sf, 14 rooms. Garden w/water wall. Parlor flr w/drawing rm, libr/DR, den, architectural detail & 13 ft ceils. 5 fplcs. 2 skylights. Master flr + 5BRs, 5.5 bths, kitchenette, FR+ staff area, lndry rm. $15.5M. Web #1071519. B.Evans Butler 452-4391
The Sherry-Netherland Tower. 781 Fifth Avenue. Full floor tower residence with 360 degree Central Park & City views & full hotel services. Triple mint condition. High ceilings, 2 bedrooms, library, beautifully proportioned living room & dining room. Exclusive. $10.95M. Web #1091913. Alexa Lambert 452-4408/Mark Achilles 452-4396
Triple Mint Fifth Avenue Candela Classic. Full service condop 4 bedroom on Museum Mile. Living room & formal dining room have direct views of museum & Central Park. Luxury MBR suite with study/ fifth bedroom. Fully renovated building. Private fitness spa. $15.5M. Web #1148455. K.Younger 646-613-2731/S.Song 212-434-7060
Corner Maisonette Duplex 6 with Every Major Rm Facing Central Park. Fifth Ave. Oversized living rm with wet bar, dining rm, kitchen, 700 bottle wine cooler & guest bth complete ground floor. 3 MBRs with huge closets featured on second flr. Private entrance on Fifth leads to garden. $5M. Web #1169747. M.Furniss 212-452-4390
Georgian Townhouse. East 81st/Madison & Park Avenues. New to market. 20 foot 5 story renovated single-family townhouse with a handsome brick facade. Landscaped south garden, 7BRs, numerous fireplaces, beautiful architectural detailing & high ceilings. $13.95M. Web #1168110. Linda Melnick 452-4425/Tim Desmond 452-4380
Charming Turtle Bay Townhouse. This lovely home has a living ropm with high ceilings & wood-paneling, spectacular terrace off dining rppm which overlooks Turtle Bay gardens, 3 bedrooms, potentially 4, & 4.5 baths. Additional separate floor-thru office on garden floor. Unique opportunity. $4.1M. Web #1055984. B.Ducrot 452-4381
Sunny Carnegie Hill Classic 6. Between Madison & Fifth Aves, this spacious home faces S & W. Large gallery, LR, formal DR, windowed eat-in kitchen, 2BRs & 2.5 baths + maid’s room describes this lovely apt in excellent condition. MBR enjoys Central Park view. Charming prewar co-op with doorman. $1.625M. Web #1155545. C.Eland 452-4384
Fifth Avenue Perfection. Beautifully & intelligently renovated spacious home with 2 large BRs + maid’s room/office, DR & 3 full baths. SieMatic kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, bright & light with side views of Central Park. Full service, Emery Roth designed co-op bldg in a prime location. $3.2M. Web #1171391. Shel Joblin 212-452-4405
Beautiful Prewar 3 Bedroom Off Park Avenue. East 82nd. Beautifully renovated 8 into 7 room apartment. Elegant living room with a wood-burning fireplace, full dining room, enormous eat-in kitchen, 3 full baths, custom built-ins & bright northern exposure. $2.5M. Web #1168508. M.Kaiser 212-585-4554/L.Silverman 212-585-4553
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S T R I B L I N G
60 East 55th. Modern apartment with entry foyer, open living/dining area, floor-to-ceiling windows, windowed kitchen, 2 split-bedrooms with ensuite baths, powder room and washer/dryer. Full service building and access to the exclusive Core Club. $2.195M. Web #1152691. Dennis Cusack 646-613-2614/Mary Ellen Cashman 646-613-2616
Glorious Central Park Views. Elegant 3-4 bedroom in a top Fifth Ave prewar white glove building. Flexible layout, corner MBR, library, 3 windowed baths. Foyer, living rm with wood-burning fireplace, formal dining rm, den, windowed kitchen & laundry rm. Butler’s pantry, maid’s rm & bath. $3.495M. Web #1153935. Pamela D’Arc 452-4377
164 East 72nd. Mint condition prewar 2 bedroom, 2 bth on sunny, high floor features a large living rm with WBFP, formal dining rm, true eat-in kitchen with W/D, corner MBR plus north, south & east exposures. Separate maid’s rm available. 50% fin okay. $1.925M. Web #1168527. A.Hall 212-452-4421/C.VanAmburg 646-613-2683
Beautifully Renovated Prewar 2BR, 2 Bath Home. E 72nd. Full service pet friendly bldg. Sunny S-facing LR with custom details & hi beamed ceilings, kitchen with SS applis, granite counters, wine storage & built-in windowed office. Thru-wall AC. 80% fin. Low maint. $1.25M. Web #1170325. L.Wallace 212-452-4442/C.Layland 452-4410
Prewar 2BR on East 72nd Street. This sun-filled apt in excellent condition, on a high floor, has a proper entry gallery, LR, large eat-in kitchen, bright MBR with ensuite bath & 2nd BR with hall bth. Full service co-op with gym permits pied-a-terres & 80% financing. $1.225M. Web #1169941. M.Scott 212-585-4564/A.Cannon 212-585-4531
Charming Duplexed 6 with Park Views. This apt on W 72nd is fully renovated & features original details. Beautiful woodwork, very high ceilings & WBFP. In addition to the living rm & formal dining rm, there are 2BRs, 2 bths & powder rm. Separate staff rm/office is in the gables with great light. $2.85M. Web #1171497. Kirk Henckels 452-4402
Western Union Telegraph Co. Bldg Full Floor Condo Loft. Fifth Avenue. Custom designed 3BR, 3.5 bath with unobstructed views of Madison Square Park, the Fifth Avenue Toy Building, iconic Flatiron building & Metlife clock. Open kitchen, top appliances, extraordinary finishes. $3.495M. Web #1170490. Brenda Vemich 646-436-3074
Rare Offering at the Fischer Mills Building. 2396 square foot, 3BR, 2.5 bath Tribeca loft with exposed brick & Hudson River views. Huge master bedroom suite with 3 exposures & windowed bath. 62 Beach is full service with stunning roofdeck, full-time doorman, porter & live-in super. $3.6M. Web #1170085. Sean Turner 646-613-2619
Loft living in Gramercy. East 16th Street. Light & views in this mint, renovated 2 bedroom. Full service prewar Art Deco building. Large living/dining room, open chef’s kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, 2 full designer baths, hardwood floors & tons of closet space. Pet friendly. $1.249M. Web #1169919. Lee Ann Jaffee 646-613-2739
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106
94
CONTENTS T he D esign Issue 94
designing legacies
These designers and decorators are part of more
than just family-run businesses—they’re members of family design legacies.
by
102
D aniel C appello , R achel C orbett ,
best in show
and
G eorgina S chaeffer
Quest ventures to the International Gift Show
and sizes up the latest in design with the team behind editoratlarge.com.
produced by
106
Georgina Schaeffer
not another coffee table book
We rounded up the best in the
new design books. Set these luxe must-haves out on the coffee table and they’ll
add to any décor in their own right. by Georgina Schaeffer
114
114
walking the city
Architect Peter Pennoyer ventures from the financial
district to Harlem—on foot—to showcase all the hidden design highlights
our great city has to offer.
by
Peter Pennoyer
102
the
skipper’s
watch
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new york
60
122 60
CONTENTS C olumns 18
Chronicles of the finest fêtes in town.
Social Diary
54 56
Social Calendar
HARRY BENSON
58
observations
60
Fresh Finds
64
canteens
dining
70
82
David Patrick Columbia
Our guide to the month’s best benefits, balls, and more.
Remembering an afternoon with legendary architect Robert A.M Stern. Never speak ill of the dead? There are exceptions. by Taki Theodoracopulos
The latest must-haves.
by
Daniel Cappello
Inside Keith McNally’s Minetta Tavern.
by
and
Elizabeth Meigher
D aniel C appello
A new cookbook supports the Bowery Mission. B y G eorgina S chaeffer
industry insiders
by
David Fite on Palm Beach real estate.
124
the young & the guest list
126
Appearances
128
snapshot
by
B rooks H uston
Partying with the junior set. B y E lizabeth B rown
Hilary reports on the sunny days down south.
by
Hilary Geary
60 A peek at the narrowest building in Manhattan. B y R ebecca M orse
w e d d i n g s & pa r t i e s
CO M I N G S O O N : O U R F I R S T- E V E R W E D D I N G B O U T I Q U E 76 9 M A D I S O N AV E . , N YC T O M A K E Y O U R APP O INT M ENT , SI M P L Y E M AI L K ATE @ J C REW . C O M . SEE O U R C O M P L ETE WEDDING C O L L E C TI O N ( IN C L U DING SPRING 2 0 1 0 ) AT J C REWWEDDING . C O M .
Editor-in-Chief
David Patrick Columbia c r e a t i v e d i r ec t o r
james stoffel e x ec u t i v e e d i t o r
georgina schaeffer senior editor
rachel corbett FASHION e d i t o r
daniel cappello a s s o c i a t e a r t d i r ec t o r
valeria fox A s s o c i at e e d i to r
Elizabeth Brown intern
Essie Gavrilov Societ y editor
Hilary Geary Contributing writers
James macguire HARRY BENSON daisy davenport brooks huston elizabeth meigher rebecca morsE peter pennoyer Taki Theodoracopulos michael thomas VICTOR WISHNA Contributing photographers
Harry Benson Lucien Capehart jeanne chisholm mimi ritzen crawford Jack Deutsch mary hilliard jeffrey hirsch cutty mcgill Patrick McMullan Roger Moenks ann watt eric weiss
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© QUEST MEDIA, LLC 2010. All rights reserved. Vol. 24, No. 4. Quest—New York From The Inside is published monthly, 12 times a year. Yearly subscription rate: $48.00. Quest, 420 Madison Avenue, Penthouse, 16th floor, New York, NY 10017. 646.840.3404 fax 646.840.3408. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Quest—New York From The Inside, 420 Madison Avenue, Penthouse, 16th floor, New York, NY 10017.
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QT0410_MastheadRev.indd 15
“Rattie”
4/14/10 1:52:19 PM
editor’s letter
venture). She did it for the same reason a lot of actors get into other businesses: she needed alternative income. Elsie lived in domestic bliss in those early years of the late 1890s, early 1900s with another woman, Elizabeth “Bessie” Marbury, one of the most successful literary agents in New York and London. The partners became “salonistes” at their little house at 49 Irving Place. All kinds of people came by to visit regularly, such as Jack Astor, a host of Vanderbilts, Stanford White, bankers, theater people, actresses, writers, impresarios... It was this salon that connected DeWolfe to the world of society, fashion, and finance. Then she was able to transform herself into an interior decorator, as she was known in the trade (architects were the “designers”). At the urging of J.P. Morgan’s daughter Anne (a close friend of Elsie and Bessie), Stanford White recInterior decorator Elsie DeWolfe, left, and Bessie Marbury lived at 49 Irving Place. ommended her to decorate the original Colony interior design often takes a backseat in the pantheon of Club. No woman outside of the architectural community had popular opinion. From the outside looking in, it is a profession ever received a commission for a public building before. History for shoppers and the acquisitive; for bored wives or rich girls was made and change was forever. Elsie DeWolfe gained both wealth and fame but, even more looking for “something to do.” We have come to believe that these practitioners of the profession all live in beautiful, often than that, she influenced the way things looked in the world she enviably luxurious circumstances, in halls hallowed by their “decorated.” So great was her success that she was fêted and written about as a “character” on the world stage, rather than visual passions and seemingly endless supply of money. Any interior designer today would laugh at that notion the interior decorator she was in her daily life. So great was her because the business of interior design is a labor- and time-inten- talent that her creations and inventiveness are still borrowed and sive business requiring not only ever-cloning creative talents, but repeated in design today. I guess you’ve figured out by now that the subject of this managerial and psychotherapeutic talents in order to prevail. So, if it’s as “bad” as all that, you might ask what is the real month’s Quest is the world of design and its prominent denireward for members of that sacred, if less than sancrosanct, zens. We look at generations of New York design families. We profession? It’s simple: they are at the heart of the matter of con- take a walking tour of classical Manhattan with architect Peter temporary life, in the thick of it. If you look at any community of Pennoyer. All the work of those men and women, who, through stature, both commercial and social, you’ll see that the men and their profession, wits, and connections, have made New York women who provide the interior design of our buildings, homes, the dream it remains today. Impressive, no? u restaurants, stores, airplanes, cars, and theaters—to name just a few venues—wield enormous influence in the same community where they are often regarded as peripheral. They not only affect David Patrick Columbia the way we see things, but what we see; as well as choosing colors that enchant and even capture us. It is their design ideas that overtake us, where “I hate that!” one day morphs into “I can’t live without it.” And all of this inner activity usually happens on the cover: without our realizing it. The most interesting part of their proLegendary architect, hisfession is their clientele, which is often at the top of the financial torian, and dean of the and power structure. Yale University School of Only a century ago, interior designers, decorators, and archiArchitecture, Robert A.M. tects were all in one category. Stanford White and his partners Stern, photographed in Mead and McKim not only designed the building but chose the 1989 by Quest contributor furnishings, décor, and even directed the landscaping. Harry Benson in the clasA former actress of that era (not a very good one, by her sical lobby of The National own admission), Elsie de Wolfe, broke that tradition almost Academy of Design on singlehandedly, and changed it forever. She got into the busiFifth Avenue in New York. ness almost by osmosis, or New York osmosis (where just by being here you can soak up the vibes and turn it into a business 1 6 Q U EST
48 X 60”
VIEW OVER THE UPPER TERRACE EASTLEACH HOUSE
O/C
Charles Neal Historic Parks and Gardens N e w Yo r k E x h i b i t i o n o n V i e w M a y 2 0 1 0 WA L LY F I N D L AY G A L L E R I E S I N T E R NAT I O NA L , I N C. 1 2 4 E A S T 5 7 T H S T R E E T • N E W YO R K , N Y 1 0 0 2 2 • 2 1 2 - 4 2 1 - 5 3 9 0 • W W W. WA L LY F I N D L AY. C O M
PA L M
B E AC H
•
N E W YO R K
•
L O S
A N G E L E S
•
BA R C E L O NA
EST. 1870
ART WALLY FINDLAY
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A
David Patrick Columbia
NEW YORK SO CIAL DIARY Well, it’s April and there
will be showers. And, even better, flowers! Mother Nature has done her part and provided the rain last month, and then finally the sunshine and those warm Saturdays and Sundays that get New Yorkers out and in a good mood. Even putting a little bit of romance
in the air. Or on the airwaves. An interesting occurrence to a certain set of New Yorkers last month was the introduction of Tinsley Mortimer’s reality TV show “High Society.” If you haven’t seen it and swear you never will watch such trash/flash/ smash (you choose), all I can
say is: you really should. Not by design, I’m sure, but by the nature of things, this “reality” show shows you where people’s heads are at (or not at). It is stupid and superficial, yes. But so is popcorn (with lots of butter and salt). It is decadent and dissembling too. But it is also an accurate
glimpse of the cynical life that youth (and not-so-youth) can fall prey to in this turn-ofcentury era of ours. Tinsley Mortimer took the Paris Hilton route to fame and fortune. She represents a kind of New York girl that has always existed in different eras. She embodies
T H E F a s h i o n i n s t i t u te o f te c h n o l o g y ’ s a n n u a l eff i g a l a a t the h i l t o n n e w y o r k
Nick Madden and Chris Madden
Gilbert and Shelley Harrison with Mayor Michael Bloomberg 18 QUEST
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Roger and Vivian Farah
Dr. Joyce Brown and Carl McCall
Chris Botti and Kenneth Cole
C u t t y m cg i ll
Paige Butcher and Russell Simmons
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A C y n th i a L u f k i n a n d D r . M a r i s a We i s s c e l e b r a te d Ke l l y C o r r i g a n a t d o u b l e s
Rochelle Hirsch
the ambition and desire of the metropolis updated by Candace Bushnell. She’s a working girl. Hers is a contemporary career borne of the digital camera. Like Paris, Tinsley developed her image by posing for party pictures, most prominently in this magazine and on New York Social Diary during the last ten years. There are a lot of girls on the social circuit who have sought attention and recognition through the lens, and for the same reason. Tinsley was 20 QUEST
Joanne Lipman and Tory Burch
easily, from the get-go, a star in that department. She looks just innocent enough to be social rather than notorious. Consider, for example, how many girls (and even some boys) cross their ankles when they pose. That’s the Tinsley Mortimer pose. That sells handbags, and God knows what else they’ll come up with. So, the show. The first episode introduced the characters. It is supposed to be about “society” in New York, and this is definitely a “society” in New
Anne Sutherland Fuchs and Dan Lufkin
Wendy Carduner and Felicia Taylor
York but it’s more like the inhumane society. Poor Marie Antoinette had nothing on this crew—and to think that she eventually went to the guillotine for her “sins.” This scenario is not actually what society is all about in New York. This is about the riff-raff, more like the prequel to the Valley of the Dolls, the twenty-first-century version of the 1930s musicals and comedies. Ernst Lubitsch on Ritalin. Astaire and Rogers with two left feet. In terms of “reality,” I’ve met Jules Kirby and Dabney
Somers Farkas and Grace Hightower De Niro
Mercer, as well as Tinsley Mortimer. Off-camera, they’re very nice young women. None of them seemed as craven and idiotic and spoiled as they are in this show. The stock gay guy, Paul Johnson Calderon is so obnoxious a character that it’s only a matter of time before somebody decks him. And that can’t be real person either. Chocolates for breakfast. It’s real-life thirty-something women sitting around mumbling like teenagers about the kind of things teenagers mumble about.
Pat r i c k McM u ll a n
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A Tinsley does look like the star in this crowd, with those long Mary Pickford locks (now called extensions). She’s got the charisma, although the voice could use some training to get it out of that pretty, turned-up nose of hers. Meanwhile, the ads (I watched the episode on my computer) were for cervical cancer and were purposefully disturbing. There was one spot with a young girl on a front porch talking to a friend on the phone about another friend who had just found out she has cervical cancer. “And she’s only twenty-five.” Just like the average age and gender of the audience, I’m assuming. From a box of
chocolates to a fatal infection in just ten seconds. How’s that for reality? Otherwise, the show is mindless and stupid, in just about every way. But then there are the shoes, and the clothes, and the apartments and the high life, limousines, champagne, and hours of do-nothings. It’s a product placement fantasy come true. There were some censored words, like If-You-See-Kay this and If-You-See-Kay that. Some physical violence— face-slapping, drink throwing. Some sex—boys kissing boys, Tinsley kissing a date. Amid the champagne cocktails, Tinsley had a lowenergy confrontation with
her mother about divorcing her now estranged husband, Topper Mortimer, and dating a European princeling that Mother does not approve of. Evidently, ancient listings in the Almanach de Gotha can’t beat the Mortimer family tree in her mind. Then we had the mother telling the camera that she hoped the couple would get back together. It’s a space-age version of the Perils of Pauline, a very popular serial in the early days of (silent) film about a girl caught in the most impossible of situations, like an ice flow heading for the falls. Tinsley is today’s Pauline, and she’s well cast. She’s got the good looks that you can feel real sorry for
when things get tough, as it no doubt will. “High Society” shows anyone with two eyes and half a brain that the world it’s portraying—the rich, the chic, and the shameless—is off the rails and in a ditch. A veritable train wreck of a society. In Tinsley’s case, the ditch is an expensive rental loft in Soho, or somewhere thereabouts. Dining behind the throne, the real reality. The late Queen Victoria, as you may have read, was fond of male companionship and from the moment she married Prince Albert to her dying day more than sixty years later, she always had a man at her
the Societ y of memorial sloan-kettering cancer center’S a n n ua l b u n n y h o p at fa o s c h w a r z
Shoshanna Gruss and daughter Siena 22 QUEST
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Children at the event
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A side. She was the archetypal Victorian woman of course, except for one thing: she wasn’t. She had real power and could have it her way— and she did. After twenty blissful years of marriage, Prince Albert died suddenly. The loss was profound and the world knew of her mourning. She was only forty-two, and a young forty-two. However, not long after Albert died, Victoria made a former outdoor servant at Balmoral Castle, which she and Albert had bought together, one
John Brown, a Scotsman, her personal servant. Brown, who according to his portrait was tall and wellformed, and a bit younger than Victoria, was also a man with his own ideas and convictions, not to mention dutiful and forceful with the little lady. Whatever it was about Brown, no matter what the relatives and ministers thought, Queen Victoria liked him and got to know him very well by keeping him by her side a lot of the time. Were they lovers? There
were jokes that went around the palace about it. The 11th Earl of Derby once wrote in his diary that the Queen and Brown, “contrary to etiquette and even decency,” slept in adjoining rooms. Whether or not they were lovers, it was obvious that Victoria liked having a good man around the throne. Her children and her ministers were not enchanted because, like Prince Albert before him, Brown had a lot of influence on the Queen’s life and her decisions. Her subjects didn’t have a clue. All they knew was
that she was a strict, upright, pious-looking little lady who wore her widow’s weeds for half her life. After more than twenty years together, Brown died, at age 57. Again the Queen was bereft. Thereafter, it has been bandied about that the couple actually married in a private ceremony. Whatever the truth, according to Tony Rennell in Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria, the queen had instructed her doctor to bury her with a lock of Brown’s hair, several of his letters, his photograph, and
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A the a me r i c a n b a l l et the a t r e ’ s j u n i o r c o u n c i l a n d q u e s t M AGA Z IN E h o s te d a b e n ef i t s c r ee n i n g o f o n l y w h e n i d a n c e A T SO H O H OUS E
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a ring of his mother’s that he had given her. Victoria was in her early sixties when her man Brown died. Four years later, when she was sixty-eight, on her Golden Jubilee as Queen, a new man came into her life: Abdul Karim, a twenty-fouryear old Indian Muslim from northern India who had been picked as one of two to serve the Queen during her Golden Jubilee. He began in her service as waiter. It has been said that upon meeting, he got down and kissed the feet of his “Great Empress” as he addressed her. However it happened, Karim struck a positive note 26 QUEST
Carolina Gunnarsson and Soo Kim
Jeffrey Caldwell, Blair Husain and Brooks Huston
almost instantly with his empress, and made a good first impression. In short time he became “the Indian John Brown.” Like his predecessors, Karim towered over his monarch. He also served her curried dishes, taught her Hindi and Urdu (she was, after all, Empress of India, although she never traveled there). She in turn showered him with privileges and rank, appointing him “Munshi and Indian Clerk to the Queen Empress at a salary of twelve pounds a month.” None of this sat well with, again, her ministers and her children, especially her heir,
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Bertie, the Prince of Wales. They hated Munshi. Oh, how they hated him! As the queen came to a great age, he was always by her side and was very influential. He was there on her royal tours and in her meetings, in audiences with other royals and prime ministers. Once, they spent the night together in the little cottage she had given Brown at Balmoral. Together, sleeping under the same humble roof, that is. Munshi was also given lands in his native Agra in India. When criticism of him came from on high (her high executive assistants, ministers, etc.) the queen dismissed
their reactions as jealousy and racial prejudice. There was nothing they could do to lessen his influence and power with Victoria. When she learned that he had falsified the story of his background (claiming his father was a doctor, for instance, when he actually sold medical cures), she dismissed the messenger telling him that his attitude toward the Indian was “typical of you British!” She wrote to him almost daily (that is, besides seeing him) and signed her letters “Your Loving Mother” or “Your Affectionate Mother.” Then, after fourteen interesting, even fascinating
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A years together, Queen Victoria died, in 1901, at age 82. The end of an age. That was it for Munshi. The heir, Bertie, and his sister, Beatrice, ordered Munshi’s son at Osborne House, the Queen’s summer castle on the Isle of Wight, to bring them all of his father’s private papers and correspondence with Victoria. They then had everything thrown into a bonfire in front of Munshi’s cottage so its occupants could watch it burn, thereby deleting the memory of Abdul Karim in the British royal family, or so
they thought. It has been recently revealed that Victoria’s son and daughter did not obtain all of Munshi’s papers. A century later, a few weeks ago, his descendents in India announced that a large cache of his personal archive remains in their hands, in India. So we will soon be learning more about Abdul Karim’s influence with his queen, and more about the queen herself. He was the driving force behind her political view of India, often differing greatly with many of her advisers.
Although she never traveled to India, she had a very clear picture of the Indian people. Old Victoria, it turns out, was never the model of the “Victorian woman,” strait-laced and frigid, as it has come to be known, but rather what today would even be called a “cougar” by our snarky press. She also liked what today might be referred to as “blue collar” or “working class.” Nostalgie de la boue, the French called it. She was, unlike her issue and social peers, a woman of the people. Stuff. One night last month
I put on a black tie and went down to the Waldorf, where the New York City Police Foundation was holding its thirty-second annual gala. The honorary chair was Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Honorees were Gail and Carl Icahn. Gala chairs were Tina Brown and Sir Harold Evans, Martha and Rich Handler, Tommy and Thalia Mottola, Lizanne and Barry Rosenstein. Hosts were Michael Douglas, Charlie Rose, Sharon Stone, and there was a guest performance by Marc Anthony. I got there well into the
B a c a r d i a n d g r e y g o o s e s p o n s o r e d the b o y s & G i r l s C l u b s o f p a l m b e a c h a t the a n n u a l “ B a r ef o o t o n the b e a c h ” p a r t y
Greg Connors and Talbott Maxey
Bruce Paltrow, Samantha Curry and Reid Boren 28 QUEST
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cocktail hour and made my way through the crowds in two different reception galleries looking for photo ops. I came upon Georgette Mosbacher and Nancy Silverman. That was the first shot of the evening—and the last in those two rooms: I couldn’t find anyone I recognized. However, in the Grand Ballroom, I was talking with Candace Leeds, the public relations executive from the Tisch family’s Loews Corporation when I stood up, turned half way around to look for more photo ops, and the young blonde seated at table twelve feet away smiled at me and said: “Hello!” So I went over and introduced myself and, although she said her name, 30 QUEST
Michael Harris and Donna Shalek
Toni and Dr. James Orsini
Helena Martinez and Alina Farinas
Lord Charles Spencer Churchill, Susie Cowie and Daniel Zucchi
I couldn’t hear her in the din of the hundreds of guests entering the dining room. So I asked her to repeat her name. “Sharon Stone,” she said. Duh. I must say, she looked too young to be Sharon Stone. I know she’s not “old,” but this lady looked like Michael Douglas’s very young date. She was in New York working on a “Law and Order” (with Douglas). We chatted about L.A., where she lives, in Beverly Hills. I suggested— unsolicited advice—that she move back here with her kids and become a citizen of this great city. Then we could see her all the time. I told her I believe that the best way a Hollywood star can keep his or her star power is to leave
L.A. once they have it, and move to New York, where you can be a star forever. I realized as we were talking that I just wanted to stand there leaning over and talking to her while trying to act like it was nothing. Which it was not. It was a little like being in the movie. Well, sort of. With Sharon Stone. When I said goodbye, I turned away and there before me were four guys staring at her with big grins on their faces. I kid you not. You mighta been too. The New York City Police Foundation raises money to augment police projects and programs that aren’t funded by the government. Since it was founded in 1971, the NYC Police Foundation has invested $100 million in four
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hundred innovative NYPD programs. The foundation is the first of its kind in America, and it now serves as a model for municipal police departments across the nation. It does not raise its funds through telephone or telemarketing solicitation. It supports NYPD programs in two main areas: Projects, research studies, and equipment to improve the effectiveness of police; and education, training, and skill development to strengthen the partnership between the police and the public. On this night at the Waldorf, they filled the enormous ballroom as well as the boxes on the first balcony. The NYPD’s band (a great band!) played as we entered
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A w a l l y f i n d l a y g a l l e r i e s c e l e b r a te d D i m i t r y Ge r r m a n ’ s p o e t r y o f f o r m a t the i r n e w y o r k g a l l e r y
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the ballroom. And as we were finding our tables a man and a woman officer serenaded us. They were really good singers and performers. Then came the bagpipes. Michael Douglas opened the evening. Then Valerie Salembier, who is on the board of the foundation, took the podium and told us about the foundation’s activities. She introduced Charlie Rose, who introduced Ray Kelly. Ray Kelly introduced the honorees, Carl and Gail Icahn. I’ve met Mrs. Icahn only once, a number of years ago when we were seated next to each other at a dinner. She was then just dating the local tycoon who was getting 32 QUEST
Benjamin Bradley and David Thiergartner
Tina Tang
a divorce at the time. I think they worked together. She made an impression because she was warm and friendly on meeting. Almost a countrygirl type (okay, the suburbs), the kind you think might be a friend. She’s been Mrs. Icahn for quite some time now and she’s been very active in certain philanthropic activities—the New York Police Foundation is one of them. She is now very southern-California glamorous, Sharon-Stone glamorous. She was definitely camera-ready in a white jersey sheath that didn’t lie—and a diamond necklace to confirm it. Mrs. Icahn accepted first.
Georgina Schaeffer and Frederick Clark
Alexander Duckworth, Jennifer Dussich and Stephanie Clark
Then Mr. took the podium and made himself at home, as they say. He first told us that he’d been asked by his wise wife to keep it to five minutes (which is actually a very long acceptance speech to listen to). Mr. Icahn then went on and on...and on and on…with an often very funny anecdote leading to another point to another anecdote. The audience was laughing. I was thinking this guy is a closet stand-up. He continued with his bemused palaver, what they used to call “long-winded.” I was standing to the right of the stage and watching them in profile. Mrs. Icahn was standing behind him,
listening, amused, but finally she reached over and gave his jacket tail a couple of quick tugs. He stopped, and turned around, looked at her, but went back to his ramble gambol. (It was funny, don’t get me wrong…) A few minutes later, Mrs. reached over and tugged again. No response. That was funny too. And then a few minutes later she moved to his side and put her hand on his back (thank you, Mother). So now you know, the guy has a big personality. Big. And a resolute wife. So, finally, the droll tycoon said his goodnight Gracie. The Gail Icahns are big supporters of the Police
E l i z a b e t h B ro w n
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A Foundation. In summing up, he strongly urged all the wealthy people in the room to put up the money. Gail Icahn said: “We who have the most to give also have the most to gain from our city.” Ray Kelly then gave the annual Chuck Barris Foundation “Cop of the Year” Award to Sgt. Christopher Newsom, Midtown South Precinct, Anti-Crime Unit. Then Marc Anthony took the stage. He told us he grew up on 107th Street and Third Avenue, then known as Spanish Harlem. He recalled how, when he was a kid, there was a cop on the beat who looked out for him and reminded him to stay out
of, and away from, trouble. He credits that man with protecting him and instilling a certain self-confidence in him, and because of it, he honors the Police Foundation to this day. Then he opened with a song he wrote for Jennifer Lopez when he was first dating her. If you’re a fan, you know it. At the gala, I was sitting next to Somers Farkas when Andrea Catsimatidis and Chris Cox came by to say hello to her. Cox is the son of Tricia Nixon, and grandson of Patricia and Richard Nixon. He is planning on following in his grandfather’s footsteps, and is running for Congress in the Suffolk County district
that includes Southampton. Catsimatidis is his constant companion and supporter. Cox is a kid to these eyes and looks to be in his late twenties, early thirties. He’s bright-eyed, friendly, and polite, and all of it clearly comes naturally to him. He has that New-York kid natural forthrightness (compared to those of us who grew up in small towns), and yet none of the smug smoothness that people associate with a certain type of New Yorker, namely the privileged. You can’t not like him. It will be interesting to watch his progress. As improbable as youth looks for national politics, his grandfather was
only thirty-four when he went to Congress in 1947. Three years later, he was elected Senator from California, and two years after that he was elected vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Five years from taking his first elected office, he became the vice president of the United States. (And sixteen years after that, he became President.) Nixon’s grandson comes from far more privileged beginnings than Nixon did. Nixon seemed like the kind of man who would have been very proud of his grandson’s ambition, and maybe full of good ideas on how to achieve his goals. Moving along: on a
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Holly and Michael McCloskey 34 QUEST
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A beautiful, sunny day in New York, overcoats off, with temperatures reaching up into the high fifties, I went down to Michael’s to have lunch with Linda Fairstein, whose Hellgate (Dutton), the twelfth book in her Alexandra Cooper detective series, has just entered bookstores. She started out that morning on the “Today Show,” then the “Joan Hamburg Show” on WOR, then “Live with Lisa” on WSTC/WNLK in Connecticut and Westchester, and then finishes off the day signing books at Barnes and Noble on Broadway and 82nd Street. The next day she was going to be on “Good Day New
York” with Rosanna Scotto. Then she was to begin her two-week book tour that will take her to Boston and then on to Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia, Washington, Richmond, Denver, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, New Canaan, Palm Beach, Delray, Madison, Connecticut, and eventually to Martha’s Vineyard (where she and her husband have a vacation house). Linda used to be a district attorney here in New York. Chief of the sex crimes unit. More than twenty years. She’s an expert on sex crimes and domestic violence. She puts some of that expertise to practice as a board member of
Safe Horizon, the organization that assists people involved in sexual abuse and domestic violence. However, aside from that, Linda’s this very cheerful, gregarious woman who always has many irons in the fire, as well as producing one of her Alexandra Cooper mysteries a year. I still think of her as an A.D.A. in the sex crimes unit. I told her that. She laughed; she said a lot of people still think of her that way, and in some ways she does too. She’s Alexandra Cooper on Linda Fairstein’s old stomping ground. Each novel takes place in New York. One of the locations of Hellgate happens
to be my neighborhood, East End Avenue, where the mayor’s house, Gracie Mansion, sits on a knoll at the end of the avenue overlooking the East River and Hellgate. Readers will learn more about that part of New York, including Carl Schurz Park and the Promenade and the two girls schools, Brearley and Chapin, as well as the F.D.R., when an “accident” occurs in the stretch near Gracie Mansion. Human trafficking and the entire political landscape of New York City, that’s the story. Linda knows. She was there, heard it all, seen it all. So has Alexandra Cooper. And so will you when Linda’s finished.
T i b i s h o w e d i t s s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 l i n e a t s a k s f i fth a v e n u e i n p a l m b e a c h
Amy Smilovic and Samantha Leas Gauntt
Elyse Maschmeyer, Deborah and Troy Maschmeyer 36 QUEST
Sara Groff
Mark Koch and Dabney Mercer
Elisabeth Munder and Bobby Leidy
Robin Grubman and Whitney Stroh
LU C IEN C A P EHART
Frances Leidy and Erik Waldin
400 East 67th Street
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A JI M M Y C H OO L a u n c he s C H OO 2 4 : 7 a t T he P l a z a
cornelia eland
Cornelia Eland, or Caddie as she is known by many of her customers and clients, is one of the original brokers who founded Stribling & Associates and now serves as senior executive vice president for sales. For thirty-five years she has been building her reputation as one of Manhattan’s truly elite brokers and was recently profiled as one of the “10 women who rule the residential real estate industry.” A Smith College graduate and native New Yorker, Caddie is well known for her integrity, reliability, and knowledge of the market, as well as for her intuitive abilities and discretion.
Carol McFadden
Brian Henke
Matthew Modine and Jill Martin
Q: Where does your passion for real estate come from? A: I enjoy meeting new people and renewing old relationships while helping to find people the right home.
Q: How do you begin the dialogue with a new client? A: I listen attentively and then ask questions that help clarify the client’s goals. Q: What are some of the first things you look for in evaluating a new listing? A: Will it be suitable and of interest to one of my customers. I usually know the buildings and apartments, their plans and features. I verify whether layouts have changed and determine the property’s condition. For townhouses, the façade, size, and ceiling heights are important. For all properties, location and price are clearly factors. For more information, please call Cornelia at 212.452.4384, email her at celand@stribling. com, or visit her broker profile and list of sales at Stribling.com. 00 QUEST
Kimberly Guilfoyle and Anisha Lakhani
Jennifer Danzi and Rob Marandino
On another night, I went over to Lincoln Center to the School of American Ballet’s annual winter ball on the promenade of the David H. Koch Theater. The parties, dinners, and galas at Lincoln Center are all special. They usually occur after or during something wonderful. Everyone’s spiffed up for it. The places are set up to look beautiful and partake of the atmosphere of this great cultural complex. This night was no exception. Cocktails began at 7 p.m. and ran till 8. I arrived late into the cocktail hour. Paul McCartney was leaving, with his girlfriend. I never saw the guy in the flesh before. That connection he made as a performer, he makes on site. He evidently was dashing off somewhere with his very pretty girlfriend who sort of looks like she’s watching him “happen” also. It was a pleasure seeing him in exactly the same
Jill Yablon
way all those years of his and the Beatles work enhanced our attitudes. The event was crowded, which is a good sign. Where the performing arts are concerned, like athletic events, the more the merrier. This year’s success, I was told, was because of Pamela Joyner, who lives here and in San Francisco. Joyner is a dynamo and a big supporter of the ballet in both cities. I introduced myself and took her picture. She was wearing an amazing emerald and diamond necklace, the kind where you want to ask: “is that real?” So I did. She told me the emeralds had originally belonged to an Indian maharajah and were acquired later by the Aga Khan (grandfather of the present Aga Khan). It was later made into a necklace at his request by Claude Arpels. I could be wrong, but I think
Pat r i c k McM u ll a n
Q: What are some of the principles Stribling was founded on? A: Integrity, experience, and a collegial working environment in which we support each other to provide better service for our clients and customers.
Lisburne Grange Garrison, New York Railroad magnate Samuel Sloan built this splendid three story mansion in 1862 with views of the Hudson River and historic West Point one hour north of New York City. Lisburne Grange, at the crest of a hill is sited on 16 acres, comprising the main house with 13,000 sq.ft., a three story carriage house and terraced gardens. Noted landscape architect Fletcher Steele designed the gardens featuring a reflecting pool, wrought iron tea house, statuary and formal pool inspired by the dragon fountain at the Villa d’Este in Tivoli outside Rome. The house was the elegant setting for Sloan’s active political and social life with the cultural elite of his era. The house has impressive ceiling heights and large windows throughout as well as 9 spacious, en suite bedrooms with fireplaces. The ballroom has chestnut wood floors opening to a balustraded terrace on three sides. The grand dining room has a coffered ceiling and French doors leading to its own terrace. A hall with an original mural leads to a wood paneled library with a secret study and floor to ceiling carved mantel dating from 1741. Offered at $4,250,000
For further information contact Heather Croner (845) 677-9822, hc@hcronerrealestate.com
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A that Joyner was wearing it for the occasion thanks to Van Cleef and Arpels, who was the sponsor of the evening. At about 8 p.m., guests moved up the staircase to the promenade. Dinner was scheduled for 8, but there were hundreds of guests and they take awhile to find their tables while they’re socializing with friends. It was a goodlooking scene, with the women dressed for the occasion and the men in black tie. I once asked my late friend Johnny Galliher why a tuxedo seemed to make anyone look good, no matter the shape or the age? He replied the obvious: the color black with a dash of white is a uniform, and people
almost always look good in uniforms. I think last night they felt good too. Students at the School of American Ballet start training and learning as children. It is very impressive. Witnessing it you can see what a wonderful education and preparation for life the children get there. They learn to work and focus and commit and selfdiscipline. Not to mention passion. I always think it’s unfortunate that all children in this country don’t have that kind of education. We’d have more industry in this country if that were so. Deborah Roberts and Al Roker opened the evening as emcees. Peter Martins spoke,
as did Marjorie Van Dercook, the S.A.B.’s executive director, who told us that this year they raised more than ever before, more than $800,000. Darci Kistler, the former prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet and wife of its director, Peter Martins, spoke about coming to New York from California as an early teenager to go to the School of American Ballet. George Balanchine was still alive and working then and she trained with him. She reminisced about the facilities, which were far more primitive than students have today. She had a full scholarship, which pleased her parents. New York soon became everything
to her. She excelled so that she was a principal dancer by fifteen or sixteen and a soloist the following year. When she retired from the stage, she joined the staff of the S.A.B. The highlight of the evening was a performance by the students, which took place after dinner and before dessert. There were four pieces on the program, unfortunately I only recognized one number, “Tea For Two.” The S.A.B. dancers are especially optimistic to watch because they are in training to provide the immense pleasure the world can receive in the future from watching them. After all, everything really is beautiful at the ballet.
r o b e r t a f r e y m a n n a n d o l i v i a p a l e r m o l a u n c he d the i r c o l l a b o r a t i v e n e c k l a c e c o l l e c t i o n
Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict 40 QUEST
Caroline Curtis and Lisa Weiss
Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl
Lisa Wassong and Roberta Freymann
Liz Kaye and Daniel Kinney
Jack Bryan, Teresa Greenfeld and Ryan FitzGerald
pat r i c k m c m u ll a n
Jackie Williams and Pat Werblin
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Fifth Ave/60s Exclusive Lovely 2 bedroom/2bath in fine full service Fifth Avenue Building. Gracious foyer leads to a large living/dining space - perfect for entertaining. Top kitchen and bath renovations. Pets OK. Asks: $1.7M. Web#1810435 Sharon Bergh, SVP 212.381.2211
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60s East Exclusive 2-unit TH. Doctor’s office on the St. level with great income & an owner’s duplex above w/ great patio. Call for a prvt viewing of this exceptionally sound invstmnt. Asks: $4.9M. Web#1627244
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East 72nd St Exclusive Lrg wndws & rms distinguish this high flr PRW7. LR w WBFP, formal DR, Kit w W/D,maids’ & Bth,3BR wing w 3Bths. In a FS co-op with lovely garden. Pets fine. Asks: $2.999M. Web#1700038 Marguerite Platt, EVP 212.381.3223 David Platt 212.381.3354
MASTERPIECE IN THE SKY!
Sutton Area Exclusive Approx 3400SF, recently completed w finest details. 3Brs, 3Bths, Lrg Den/Libr. Panoramic N,E, S, city & river vus. Immense LR & Lrg Terr. All weather A/C system. Pets, Pied-à-terres allwd. FSB w concrge, 24hr garge. Asks: $2.295M. Web#23987 Elayne Reimer, EVP 212.381.3372
2 TERRACE CONDO GEM 4
E63rd/3rd Exclusive Views galore on 500SF high floor terraces of 4 room condo. Renovated living room, dining room/ 2nd BR, kitchen, now one BR, one bath - 2nd bath possible. Classic F/S w garage. Pets OK. Asks $1.6M. Web#1814912 Marguerite Platt, EVP 212.381.3223 David Platt 212.381.3354
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Park Avenue Exclusive Private landing & grand marble gallery; huge LR+DR. 2BR+ Library. N/W/S city views. Finest Location. Pied-à-terres & pets OK. Asks:$4.95M. Web#1800617 Elizabeth Sahlman, SVP 212.381.3293 Liora Yalof, SVP 212.381.3322
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36th St./7th-8th Exclusive Full flr 3200SF for $800SF! Contemporary, but eclectic, warm, 3BR/2.5BA loft. As seen in Architectural Digest. All custom & top of line. Pet friendly, cyber DM. Asks: $2.6M. Web#1806835 Bonnie Brown, SVP 212.317.7878 James Harp, SVP 212.317.7832
MINT CORNER CONDO
50’s East Condo Exclusive Mint 2 Br/2.5 Bth condo w/ N/W views, for to ceil wndws. Wd floors, waterworks Bth, top kit applcs, sep. climate control A/C make this place special. FS Bldg with health club & on site garage. Corp. & pets ok. Asks: $2.1M. Web#907527 Eva Penson 212.381.3370
CONDO lOVERS DElIGHT
93rd West Exclusive Renov 1 BR w/Caesar Stone cnters, Kit Aid applcs, + your own W/D! Marble Bth, bamboo flrs. Southern exposure. 24 Hr DM, garage, fitness rm. Low carrying costs makes this the best value to live in or invest. Near Whole Foods, Prk, trnsprtn. Asks: $670K. Web#1131253 Anna Milat-Meyer, VP 212.381.2296
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A T he l u p u s f o u n d a t i o n o f Ame r i c a h o s te d the b u tte r f l y b a l l a t m a r - a - l a g o i n p a l m b e a c h
Pamela and Michael Mathe
On another early evening, Allison and Leonard Stern hosted a “welcome-back party” for their friends Rikki Klieman and Bill Bratton, who have returned to New York after several years in Los Angeles where Bratton was chief of the LAPD. I got there almost an hour into the party so I know I missed a lot of people. New York cocktail parties at the end of the day usually start at this hour and those who haven’t gone home first go straight to the party first. However, it was crowded. 42 QUEST
Lily Holt Dillon and Patrick Dillon
The Sterns are very relaxed and welcoming hosts. They have a beautiful house on Fifth Avenue built early in the last century for a banker, and replete with polished wood paneling that makes it cozy yet expansive in proportion. There must have been fifty or sixty there when I arrived. The couple may not know it but they still retain some of that California brightness in their appearances. They both look fresh and relaxed compared to a lot of us New Yorkers, who do not look especially luminescent at this
Judge Rodney Eielson and Barbara Messier
Dan and Sheree Ladove Funsch
Greg and Anastacia Georgas with Diahann and Jay Cochran
grayest time of year. They are also, I should add, glad to be back in New York. In the crowd: Richard and Marcia Mishaan, Ernie Pomerantz and Marie Brenner, Dr. Sherrell and Muffie Potter Aston, Robert Zimmerman, Harriet and Ron Weintraub, Francesca Stanfill, Roy Kean, Cornelia and Marty Bregman, Carl and Christine Bernstein, Debbie and Billy Bancroft, who was making a very rare social appearance, very rare. You never see his picture because he won’t allow you to take it—this is Debbie’s
husband I’m talking about, Caroline Hirsch and Andrew Fox, Nancy Silverman, John and Lauren Veronis, Diahn and Tom McGrath, Hilary and Wilbur Ross, Richard Feigen, Tom and Sheila Wolfe, Susie and Ed Hayes, Kim Heirston, Felicia Taylor, and many more. People were glad to be there. Mr. Bratton looks like he should run for office. Mrs. B. is the perfect political partner. This is just me going off on a tangent that came to mind when I was taking their picture.
lu c i e n c a p e h a rt
Henry and Elizabeth Mellon, Lawrie and Brian Firestone, Megan Huisinga
PHILANTHROPY Has Always Been
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Benefit Dinner May 11, 2010, at The Oak Bar at The Plaza honoring legendary designer Carolina Herrera and founder of 1stdibs Michael Bruno Benefit Preview Sale May 12, 2010 Public Sale May 13 – 16, 2010 www.poshsale.org Call (212) 821-9428 for information about the dinner and preview FASHIONABLE PHILANTHROPY® All proceeds benefit Dedicated to fighting vision loss through prevention, treatment and empowerment
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A A k r i s h o s t E D T H E n e w y o r k e r s f o r c h i l d r e n s p r i n g d a n c e KICK - O F F
Lydia Fenet and Tinsley Mortimer
After the party, I went up the avenue and over to the Carlyle where I was a guest of Michael Thomas to see John Standing at the Café Carlyle. This was my second trip to see Mr. Standing’s Noël Coward evening. It was exactly the same act with one song I hadn’t heard the first time. What always amazes me about great performers is how they keep it “fresh,” as if they’re doing it for the first time. Sir John is now in his mid-seventies. His craggy face speaks of decades of life and living, but his figure and bearing remains collegial. Dressed in a blue jacket, open; a white shirt, open; gray jeans, 44 QUEST
Moises de la Renta and Rachel Roy
black loafers, and red socks, he’s a slender man who moves easily and like a trouper: big, energetic when making a point, yet always with the utmost economy. The show ran for only a week, but if you want to find out why Coward was a legend in his own time, John Standing will show you. And you’ll also get to see rare talent live before your eyes. You’ll laugh all the way through and just as buoyant as if you’d had a good glass of champagne. Saturday is his last night. On a Thursday night at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, there was an inaugural gala
Marisa Noel Brown
Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos and Nicholas Scoppetta
Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richthofen
dinner for the Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women, which was created by Cécilia Attias two years ago. Attias, up until that time, was known as Cécilia Sarkozy, briefly the First Lady of France when her then-husband Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France. Her husband today, Richard Attias, is very well known in the corridors of power as the man behind Davos, (or the man who runs Davos, depending on who’s telling you). The new foundation, from what I could gather, will find funding for projects all over the world that promote and support matters of
Oluchi Onweagba
women’s rights. It was a very impressive dinner. The Stephen Schwarzman building, as it is now known, is one of the great institutional monuments of New York. Cocktails were in the entry hall of the library and then we went downstairs to the Celeste Bartos Forum for dinner. The room was beautifully decorated with vast and shimmery sprays of flowers as centerpieces. The menu had been provided by one of Mme. Attias’ friends and supporters, Daniel Boulud—this is quite the coup for a benefit dinner no matter what the charity. Paul LeClerc, the head of the Library spoke,
pat r i c k m c m u ll a n
Michelle Buswell, Gale Harold and Tiiu Kuik
Local Experts Worldw ide
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IMPERIAL HOUSE: 150 East 69th Street. Excellent 2-3 bedrooms, 3 baths coop with magnificent views from every room. North-facing terrace, 9’ ceilings. $3,195,000. WEB: Q0016959. Phyllis Stock, 212.606.7745
EXTRAORDINARY DUPLEX: Prewar 1 or convertible 2 bedrooms. 2 enchanting planted gardens, high ceilings, fireplace. $1,950,000. WEB: Q0016571. M. Smith, 212.606.7683, J. Hascoe, 212.606.7695
MANHATTAN BROKERAGES I sothebyshomes.com/nyc EAST SIDE 38 EAST 61ST STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10065 T 212.606.7660 F 212.606.7661 DOWNTOWN 379 WEST BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10012 T 212.431.2440 F 212.431.2441 Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. is owned and operated by NRT LLC. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark. Les Bords de l’Epte a Giverny, used with permission.
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A as did Diana Taylor. Cécilia, as they all call her, has lived in New York, under the radar mainly, for the past few years. She is one of those women who makes friends with other women, and as a result she has a number of very good women friends in New York. I could see she has that self-confidence. I met her for the first time on this night. She has a quality of determination about her. It’s not hardnosed, it’s almost unassuming. Like, why not? I read that she studied piano as a young girl and won first prize in a conservatory contest; that she’d studied law and worked as a parliamentary assistant before she went to
work for Elsa Schiaparelli, the French fashion house, as a fitting model. She’s been married three times, has three children, and now she has a new mission. I’ve been covering the world of philanthropy (which in today’s terms is the real world of society with a capital “S”) throughout the 1990s and now the aughts, and it is interesting to watch the process unfold and change with the times. Many of these projects (which is how they begin) have flowered and done amazing things for the community and for the world. Evelyn Lauder’s Breast Cancer Research Foundation, for example. Sharyn Mann’s
Food Allergy Initiative is another. Princess Yasmin Aga Khan and the Rita Hayworth Alzheimer’s Association. It is an area of philanthropy that is the domain of women to a great degree. The subject of women and women’s rights is regarded by many women as the forefront of solving the problems and improving education and living conditions for everyone— men, women and children, the world over. The subject is the future of mankind. If the civilization is to be saved, if the world and all its troubles is to be saved, then, it would seem to more than some, that it will be the women who save it. The motivation behind
these projects is to take control of matters at hand, independent of governmental (read: political) solutions. Mme. Attias has thrown her hat into that ring of solutions. When I met Mme. Attias, who is very warm and friendly, I couldn’t help noticing the similarities between her and Carla Bruni. Now, what do I care? I don’t. But I was noticing anyway. Aha, a type. He definitely has a type. The new man, Mr. Attias, however, does not seem to bear much resemblance to his predecessor, although he and the President of France have thing in common besides: they are go-getters. Time determines the rest. u
H o p e fo r d e p r e s s i o n r e s e a r c h fo u n d at i o n ’ s a n n u a l p a l m b e a c h s em i n a r a t the b r e a k e r s
Darcy Gould and Fernanda Niven 46 QUEST
Kate Khosrovani, Jullio Serrano, Vera Serrano and Hashem Khosrovani
Krista Bard, Alex Bard and Audrey Gruss
Dr. Harold Koenigsberg and Felicia Taylor
Vicki and Chris Kellogg
lu c i e n c a p e h a rt
Robert Nederlander and Pat Cook
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A T H E Ch a r l e s m a d d o c k f o u n d a t i o n ’ s w i n te r b e n ef i t a t c l u b a v e n u e
Rich Thomas
Jennifer Garabedian, Walter Tomenson, Holly Whidden and Joe Reardon
Missie Walker and Liz Walker 48 QUEST
Maggie Katz
Charles Maddock and Lily Maddock
Jackie Valls and Tina Teagle
Melissa Butler and Caroline Rowley
Pat r i c k McM u ll a n
Ambuyah Ebanks and Cristian Archirili
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A T he f r e n c h he r i t a g e s o c i et y c e l e b r a te s the AR T AND CUL T UR E O F DIJON , f r a n c e , a t the h a r o l d p r a tt h o u s e
John Schumacher and Barbara Cirkva
Linda and Sandy Lindenbaum, Marifé Hernández, Stanley DeForest Scott and Joel Bell
Elizabeth Stafford and John Stafford
Gurnee and Marjorie Hart
Len Small, Sophie Jugie and Marie-France Ménage Small 50 QUEST
George Sape and Philippe Lalliot
Guy Robinson, Greg Joyce, and Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt
James Liell and Cathy Virgil
Madame Maryline and François Rebsamen with Elizabeth Stribling
L au r e n M e r k e l
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D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A E SPRI T Ce l e b r a teD i t s F LAGS H IP S T OR E OP E NING w i th a p e r f o r m a n c e b y m a c y g r a y
Flo Fulton, Elizabeth Meigher, Suzie Wissert and Kate Girotti
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Kari Talley
Macy Gray
Mia Moretti
Lindsey Wheat and Lindsey Fox
Meredith Melling Burke with Eloise
p o r c e l a i n l a u n c he s i n n e w y o r k a t h o te l g r i ff o u
Joel Schumacher and Ann Dexter Jones 52 QUEST
Becka Diamond and Imogen Lloyd Webber
Ashley Baker and Nadia Vellam
Dalia Oberlander and Arden Wohl
Olivia Ma Corwin, Trudie Styler, Charlie Corwin and Sting
Pat r i c k m c m u ll a n
Scott MacDonough and Morgan Bogle
CALENDAR
APRIL
On April 15th, the American Museum of Natural History will host a Spring Safari-themed dance at 7:30 p.m at the museum, allowing guests to enjoy the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. For more information, call 212.313.7161.
3
don’t settle for less
The East Side House Settlement will host the eleventh annual Gala Preview of the 2010 New York International Auto Show at 6 p.m. at The Jacob Javits Center. For more information, call 212.829.0002.
6
say “i do”
The 2010 New York Weddings
Event will be held at 5 p.m. at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street. The event will provide brides and grooms with a one-stop resource for their big day. For more information, call 866.777.8932.
8
Lucky number seven
The Friends of New Yorkers for Children will hold their annual dinner dance with a “New Year’s
in April’’ theme at 7:30 p.m. at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel. For more information, call 212.867.1117. a girl’s best friend
Platinum Jewels in Bloom will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at thirty premier jewelry boutiques on Madison Avenue. The event will run through April 17th. For more information, call 212.953.51777.
10
Standing ovation
The Houston Grand Opera will host The Yellow Rose Ball at the Wortham Theater Center. For more information call, 713.546.0277
12
acting out
The Actors Fund 2010 gala will be held at 6 p.m. at the New York Marriott Marquis. For more information, call 212.763.8597
13
shout hooray
On April 13th, the Hale House Center will honor Frederick Anderson and Judith Giuliani at the forty-first gala anniversary at 7 p.m., 583 Park Avenue. For more information, call 212.727.2220. 54 QUEST
The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College will announce the spring 2010 season at “Story Time with Barnes and Noble: Shout Hooray for Earth Day!” For more
information call, 212.237.8005. party on park
The Hale House Center’s forty-first gala anniversary will be held at 7 p.m. at 583 Park Avenue. For more information call, 212.727.2220 dime plus ninety-nine
The March of Dimes will host “Magic and Mystique” at 7:30 p.m. at Carnival. For more information, call 914.997.4488.
14
legal luncheon
The Police Athletic League will hold the annual Legal Profession Luncheon honoring Manhattan D.A. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. at 11:30 a.m. at The Pierre Hotel. For more information, call 212.477.9450. magical evening
Al Roker will host City Harvest’s “An Evening of Practical Magic” at 6:30 p.m. at Cipriani 42nd Street. For more information, call 917.351.8725.
15
night at the museum
The American Museum of Natural
CALENDAR
History will hold a Spring Safarithemed dance at 7:30 p.m. at the museum. For more information, call 212.313.7161.
26
speaking up
A conversation between Eliot Feld and Cynthia Gregory will take place at 7 p.m. at the Paley Center for Media. For more information, call 415.793.9317.
put on a happy face
Operation Smile will host the fifth annual Jr. Smile Collection at 6:30 p.m. at Capitale. For more information, call 917.214.6700.
29
ballet benefit
16
The New York City Ballet will hold its 2010 spring gala at 5:30 p.m. at the David H. Koch Theater. For more information, call 212.870.5585.
beautiful botanicals
The Chicago Botanic Garden Antiques and Garden Fair will be held through April 18th. The event will feature daily booth chats and one hundred exhibits. For more information, call 973.808.5015. portraits of spring
The Young Friends of the Norton Museum of Art will host “Portraits of Spring: Avedon Fashion 19442000” at 6 p.m. For more information, call 561.832.5196.
17
la vie en rose
The Southampton Rose Society will host the annual Pruning and Rose Care Session at 10:30 a.m. on the grounds of the Rogers Memorial Library. For more information, call 917.881.0857.
annual alzheimer’s eve
On April 29th, Nancy Corzine, president of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Board of Directors, will co-host the annual Connoisseur’s Dinner at 6:30 p.m. at Sotheby’s. For more information, call 212.901.8008.
22
literary lunch
The seventh annual Authors in Kind Literary Luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the New York Palace Hotel. The event will benefit God’s Love We Deliver. For more information, call 212.294.8162. breath of fresh air
The American Lung Association
will host the “Life and Breath” awards dinner at 6 p.m. at Gotham Hall. For more information, call 212.889.3370.
The annual Connoisseur’s Dinner to benefit the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Sotheby’s, with Leonard Lauder as chairman and Nancy Corzine as president. For more information, call 212.901.8008.
24
MAY 5
The Young Friends of the Kravis Center’s “Reach for the Stars” event will be held at 6 p.m at the center. For more information, call 561.832.7469.
The Shorewalkers will host the annual “Great Saunter,” a thirtytwo mile walk around Manhattan. For more information, call 917.783.6540.
fun with friends
18
take a hike
derby day
The Easter Seals Florida’s Derby Day Party will be held at 4 p.m. at the Palm Beach Ritz-Carlton. For more information, call 561.640.9521.
sing the blues
Daniel Boulud will hold a supper titled “Burgundy, Blue Jeans, and Blues” at 5:30 p.m. at Daniel. The event will support Citymeals-onWheels. For more information, call 212.687.1290.
3
voices and visions
The seventh annual Fountain House symposium and luncheon “Voices and Visions: Understanding and Treating Psychosis” will be held at 11:15 a.m. at the Pierre. For more information, call 212.874.5457.
19
amazing awards
New York Women in Communications will host the Matrix Awards at 11 a.m. at the WaldorfAstoria. For more information, call 212.297.2102.
6
women of courage
21
Lesley Stahl will host the Women’s Refugee Commission’s 2010 Voices of Courage Luncheon at noon at Gotham Hall. For more information, call 212.763.8590.
a healthy dose of fun
The HealthCorps will hold the annual “Garden of Good and Evil” gala at 6:30 p.m. at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers. For more information, call 212.742.2875.
17
Spring ahead Take some initiative
The Food Allergy Initiative will host the annual New York Spring Luncheon at 11 a.m. at Cipriani 42nd Street. For more information, call 212.207.1974.
On April 16th, “Portraits of Spring: Avedon Fashion 1944-2000” will be held at 6 p.m. at the Norton Museum of Art. For more information, call 561.832.5196.
The American Ballet Theatre will celebrate its seventieth anniversary season with a spring gala at 6:30 p.m. at the Metropolitan Opera House. For more information, call 212.477.3030. A P R I L 2 0 1 0 55
QT0410_Benson.indd 56
4/14/10 2:07:24 PM
H A R RY B E N S O N Robert A.M. Stern at the National Academy of Design in 1989.
IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY Robert A.M. Stern: Legendary architect, historian, and dean of the Yale University School of Architecture. Since I am not a student of architecture, I will describe Stern in his own words. He has characterized himself as a “modern traditionalist” in architecture. His celebrated accomplishments are known by many, but a little piece of trivia that I found interesting is that he is a second cousin of playwright Arthur Miller. When I was asked, in 1989, to photograph the venerable architect in his favorite place in New York, I had no idea what to expect. He suggested we meet in the lobby of the National Academy of Design on Fifth Avenue. The academy was amenable to the idea. Walking into the building, my eye was immediately taken by the impressive sculpture Diana of the Chase, by Anna V. Hyatt Huntington, which stood guard beneath the winding, wrought-iron staircase. When I asked about the sculpture, someone at the academy told me that we were in what was once Hyatt Huntington’s home, and the
sculpture had originally been in her dining room. The foyer was remarkable in itself, and I asked Stern to stand there. We didn’t need to go any further. Not known for his exuberance, I was pleased to catch Stern in a sweeping gesture of carefree exuberance. Charles Cohen, who owns the D & D Building in New York, told me a funny story about asking several major architects to each design the inside of an elevator in the D & D Building. Most of them agreed—they found it amusing. But, if I remember correctly, Stern chose not to participate in the project for some reason. At first I thought it a strange request by Cohen, but on second thought, why not? People in New York spend half their lives inside elevators. What better than to ride, not only in comfort, but with a surprising and stylish change of scenery. Stern’s projects are so generally expansive, I would have liked to have seen what the esteemed architect would have done with the inside of an elevator. u APRIL 2010 57
QT0410_Benson.indd 57
4/14/10 2:07:27 PM
Ta k i
eternal etiquette
Left: The late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Right: McQueen was famous for his outrageous runway shows and innovative designs—fashion that perplexes this author.
“De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum” is a Latin epigram that tells us never to speak ill of the dead. It goes without saying, but there are exceptions of course. Cheap shots against former President Richard Nixon have never stopped since his resignation; especially by cheap types who never took a shine to the way he wore 5 8 QUES T
his suits. When Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, an unfortunate obituary writer had the temerity to mention the fact that King was known for having plagiarized most of his doctorate, and the writer was never heard from again. What was okay to use against Nixon’s sartorial weakness was not okay to use
against King’s intellectual one. Stalin and Mao, of course, are never put in the same category of mass murderers as Hitler, although both outdid the Führer as far as getting rid of their supposed enemies were concerned. I suppose Russian and Chinese lives are more expandable than Jewish ones.
Ta k i Churchill’s and Roosevelt’s carpet bombings of Germany’s cities, killing hundreds of thousands of old men, women, and children is not considered a war crime, nor is the firebombing of Tokyo, where 84,000 people were vaporized in one night. And let’s not go into the Hiroshima-Nagasaki numbers of dead and burned; it makes for much too depressing reading, especially for someone like me, who loves the Japanese martial spirit and whose boat is named Bushido. No one has dared to write a word against these two war criminals. But let’s get down to the business at hand. A recent death by a dress designer has plunged the fashion world into mourning. Reading some of the obituaries made me think we lost the likes of Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Kimon of Athens, Robert E. Lee, even Madame Curie. How could this great, great man take his own life? What would the world become without him? I rang my children and we sat around a dark room holding hands and praying. (And if you believe that, you’ll believe anything.) It’s obviously sad that Alexander McQueen has died—and by taking his own life at that. It is especially sad that he died at age forty. Designers, unlike athletes, can go on forever. Just look at Coco Chanel. She was terrifying young models—and a few other things—well into her eighties. (And sleeping with handsome young German officers into her fifties.) But, and it’s a big but, since when does a dress designer take precedence over, say, a young soldier, or a cop, for that matter? A very dumb question. Okay, I get it. This is how the world works, cops and soldiers die every day, fashion designers do not commit suicide as often as cops and soldiers die. Mind you, I’m old-fashioned and have different standards, and know as much about fashion as I do about Chinese calligraphy, but the fashion industry, it seems to me, is one of the least attractive legal activities on earth, populated by weirdos, freakish P.R. types, and emaciated and mentally disturbed models. I am a friend of Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, and Valentino Garavani, all four normal
human beings who happen to be fashion designers. But the rest you can keep. I came across McQueen once, at a London charity event, and I found him to be foulmouthed, horribly dressed, and downright ridiculous. If he was the genius the gossip writers and fashion phonies made him out to be, I’m Monica Lewinsky. It might sound sacrilegious, but I find the fashion scene one full of phonies and airheads, mutually massaging the pointlessness of each other’s professional existence, self-regarding to a degree that would make Narcissus blush, committed only to getting their names and pictures in the tabloids and cable TV shows. Fashion might be big business, but to an old fogey like myself, it’s one that the world could easily do without. The tributes to McQueen make it sound as though he was engaged in some global mission to improve the human condition, or about to discover a way to end hunger and disease. Or that he was a proper artist, a Renaissance man under the patronage of a latter-day Medici, rather than a Savile Row apprentice who became famous for creating absurd-looking outfits for absurd-looking women to wear on a runway. Let’s face it, do you know of any real woman who would wear any of these costumes in everyday life? But apparently it was his influence on the clothes that women actually do wear that was so profound. At least that’s what I read in the obituaries.
No one dares write a bad word about Winston Churchill (left) or Franklin D. Roosevelt (center), and even Stalin isn’t put in the same category of mass murderers as Hitler.
That’s when I had a bit of a laugh. He changed the silhouette of trousers forever, said one dewy-eyed fashionista, her voice breaking with emotion. Well, all I can say is that I’d cry too if the person who changed the way my trousers are silhouetted had dropped dead. So what’s Madame Curie’s invention compared to McQueen’s ability to change the way trousers fall? A mere bagatelle. Since the death of Princess Diana, celebrity mourning has gotten completely out of hand. The death of anyone well-known, especially anyone in a supposedly glamorous industry, is treated as a national tragedy. Young actors overdose in their hotel rooms and a nation weeps. A dress designer hangs himself and forests of trees are chopped down so hacks can praise him to the skies. What next? Paris Hilton’s dog is run over by her pusher and we’re supposed to cancel the Army-Navy game? Let’s get serious. Had McQueen’s life been recorded in a measured and appropriate way, it would have retained some dignity. As it is, I’ll always remember him for having changed the silhouette of some rock chick’s trousers, as monumental an achievement as that of discovering that day follows night. u A P RIL 2 0 1 0 5 9
Quest
Fresh Finds b y d a n i e l c a p p e l l o AND elizabeth meigher
WITH SPRING IN THE AIR, there’s no better time to hit the streets for some fresh finds. Still, if you missed out on spring break, now’s also a great time to get away. Why not grab your Pucci (or the one at right), keep the jewelry simple but sophisticated (try the Helioro BY KIM, at Wempe), and pack a Lugano suitcase by J. Crew? In case you’re not leaving town, there’s plenty of new finds to brighten your days. And, if April showers do descend, jump into your Hunters and go.
The Helioro BY KIM is an expression of infinity in 18-kt. rose gold with cinnamon-
Show off your golden gams this spring and summer in an Emilio Pucci silk mini dress. $1,775. Emilio Pucci: 212.230.1135 or emiliopucci.com.
colored diamonds. $5,525. Wempe: 700 Fifth Avenue, 212.397.9000, or wempe.com.
These Ralph Lauren Collection Padma Lizard Cowboy Boots are definitely made for walking. $2,500. Ralph Lauren: ralphlauren.com.
Add color to any outfit with this cherry blossom pin: pink tourmaline flowers with diamond center, purple pavé diamond stem. Price upon request. Sorab & Roshi: 914.763.2140 or sorabandroshi.com.
60 QUEST
Support the White Ribbon Alliance, an organization devoted to making pregnancy
The round-diamond Jean
and childbirth safe worldwide, with this
Schlumberger Stitches bracelet,
T-shirt from Diane von Furstenberg. $125.
lined in gold “stiching,”
888.472.2383 or dvf.com.
creates a striking look of timeless elegance. Price upon request. Tiffany & Co.: 800.843.3269 or tiffany.com.
A fresh find is at your fingertips with the Mayfair Square Clutch in peridot millennium matte-finished crocodile. $8,700. Asprey: 853 Madison Avenue, 212.688.1811, or asprey.com.
Freshen up with David Yurman Luxurious Dusting Powder, scented with patchouli and essences of rose and peony. $80. David Yurman: 212.752.4255 or davidyurman.com.
Dress up your handshake with Montblanc’s 4810 mini bracelet in yellow gold with mother-of-pearl inlay. $2,685. Montblanc: 598 Madison Avenue or 212.223.8888.
APRIL 2010 61
Fresh Finds Keep up wih the times by sporting a 40-mm. Oyster Perpetual Milgauss with 31-jewel chronometer movement. $6,575. Rolex: 800.36.ROLEX for an Official Rolex Jeweler near you. Light up your life with the Balthazar chandelier (40” x 25”), with 18 lights covered in silk shades. $18,084. Nancy Corzine: 979 Third Avenue, 212.238.8340, or nancycorzine.com.
Toast Earth Day in style with The Touch decanter by John Pomp, inspired by the completely sustainable Newton Vineyard in Napa Valley. $500. 707.963.9000 or newtonvineyard.com.
With warmer weather on tap, keep it light with this effortless cream jacket— perfect for a casual luncheon or a summer night out. $1,195. Luigi Bianchi Mantova: 212.755.0729 or lubiam.it.
Lather up under the Architectural Lotus Lavatory Faucet in polished chrome. Keep your weekend getaway chic with the white Lugaro Leather Valise from J. Crew. $1,200. J. Crew: 800.562.0258 or jcrew.com. 62 QUEST
Sherle Wagner: 212.758.3300 or sherlewagner.com.
Enjoy 20% off the Darphin Orange Energizing Exfoliating Polish, exclusively when mentioning Quest! The Spa at The Surrey: 20 East 76th Street, 646.358.3615, or thesurrey.com.
Swing the Erica Hobo bag over
Be sure to take a break from the beach
your shoulder and you’re
at one of Casa de Campo’s new restaurants,
ready to go. $1,380. Smythson:
like The Beach Club by Le Cirque.
4 West 57th Street,
809.523.3333 or casadecampo.com.do.
866.769.8476, or smythson.com.
Scrumptious Puyricard Signature Chocolates are available in the U.S. by membership only. $4,000 for the first year. Puyricard: +33.(0)4.42.28.18.18 or puyricard.fr.
Julianne Moore and Jeff Koons are among the celebs who’ve designed labels for Kiehl’s Açai Damage-Protecting Toning Mist, proceeds of which support the Rainforest Alliance. Kiehl’s: 109 Third Avenue, 212.677.3171, or kiehls.com.
Wear this printed silk bustier with lace overlay ($1,900) and cottonand-silk capri ($750) anywhere, from the Upper East Side to East Hampton. LUCA LUCA: 1011 Madison Avenue, 212.288.9285.
Embrace your inner Englishman (or Englishwoman) in Hunter’s Original Gloss Tall boots in lava— a hot color for the season. $115. Hunter: 877.495.1500 or usa.hunter-boot.com.
APRIL 2010 63
c anteens
FASHION PLATE By DANIEL CAPPELLO
Opposite: Whom you might spot, and what they
YOU HAVE TO HAND IT TO Keith McNally, the Midas of restaurateurs. His fine aesthetic sense, married with an unfailing culinary ability, has turned just about every venture of his into gold. People feel comfortable, reassured, fashionable, of the moment, and timeless in his restaurants. McNally knows that the smallest of details, such as cracks in the smoked mirrors, are just as important as, say, the amount of salt in the French onion soup. New Yorkers flock to his establishments as much for the micro-tiled floors and pressed-tin ceilings as they do for the reliable fruits de mer platters and the Pommes Anna. 64 QUEST
Like Odeon, Balthazar, and Schiller’s before (and the newly minted Pulino’s), McNally has nailed it just right with Minetta Tavern, the dinted, worn-in “neighborhood joint” he took over last year. A Greenwich Village stalwart at the corner of MacDougal Street and Minetta Lane, the original Minetta Tavern was the kind of place where everybody knew your name—where you’d go to throw back a beer followed by a shot of whiskey. Today, the same oak bar from the former incarnation greets you upon entering. The long bar, like much of the décor, has almost relic-like status (i.e., the throwback photos of
M I N E T TA TAV E R N
might be having.
regular-guy New Yorkers). McNally has painstakingly preserved the speakeasy appeal, albeit finished off with a magic waving of his gentrifying wand. Minetta’s former appeal lay in its slightly seedy, hole-in-thewall character. Now, it’s transformed the college-town part of MacDougal Street into a destination where fashionistas are as likely as media moguls and movie stars to descend for a chance to sneak past the intimidating (think club bouncer), if polite (“Thank you for joining us this evening”), man at the door.
wines, and nostalgic cocktails. This author was unlucky in landing a proper seat in the dining room on said night, but couldn’t resist an order of the stuffed squid, with salt cod, piquillo peppers, olives, and preserved lemons, or an order of the pommes frites. Those important or lucky enough to make it past the bar and into the dining room relish the ambient glow of yellowed lighting against deeply rich red leather banquettes—McNally’s signature staging. To be sure, New York Dressed-up dinner: Fashionista Keep it light: Model Meal
Men’s Style Editor Downtown Designer
Brooklyn Blogger Surf & Chop: Mogul’s Delight Fashion Publicist
Those who snag a reservation a month or more in advance—and those who take their chances, sitting at the bar waiting for a glimpse of Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna, or Hugh Grant—discover that Minetta is true to McNally’s original vision of French brasserie comfort standards. The clientele helps with the appeal; you might kink your neck by craning to see a celeb, or just by checking out the threads on an anonymous diner beside you. On a recent night, plates of enormous côte de boeuf, complete with roasted marrow bones, floated above the fashionable crowd and landed at the bar, which was cluttered with beers,
is a city that takes its dining seriously. There used to be a day when tucking into an oversized red banquette at Jean-Jacques Rachou’s La Côte Basque was the epitome of what it meant “to dine”—to be out, to eat well, to be seen—in Manhattan. Today, the stakes are just as high as snagging that once-impossible reservation at La Côte Basque. Tucking into a red banquette in the back room of Minetta Tavern comes with a certain sentimentality for old-time, speakeasy New York. Those fortunate enough to find a perch in the main dining room will feel as if they’ve “arrived”—back in time. u APRIL 2010 65
DÉCOR
defining foyers B y E l i z a be t h B r o w n
welcome, you want to feel embraced,” says William Eubanks, principal at William R. Eubanks, Inc. “Whether it be period or modern style, it gives you an introduction to what you’re about to find.” Eubanks, together with vice president of interior design and showrooms Mitchell Brown, offers a truly comprehensive interior design service, providing its clients with everything from an on-staff architect to pre-selected antiques and artwork. “We’re going to look at every aspect of a project: architecture, decorating, and finishes,” Eubanks says. Of all projects, the entrance is particularly important in that it always leaves the first impression of a residence. The space allows the visitor to immediately identify with the homeowner. For a recent project, the company worked with a client who possessed very traditional, and very specific, taste. “She had a wonderful collec66 QUEST
tion of French antiques and wanted those appropriately displayed,” Eubanks says. By dividing the space, the company was able to achieve an entrance that was at first intimate, and then larger, more grand—all decorated with her personal pieces. Another recent project was for a client who, having already commissioned the company for several period-style homes, now desired a modern-style home. “We offered open space, open surfaces. No clutter, just very clean lines, something that I think conveys their energy, a kind of youthful, fun energy,” Brown says. William R. Eubanks, Inc. succeeds in conveying the very essence of a particular style. Eubanks adds: “Clients come to us because they think that they’re going to get the authentic patina of what they want to achieve.” u Above: A traditional entrance decorated with French antiques. Left: Open space and clean lines define the modern foyer.
Kim Sargent
“As you walk into anyone’s entrance, you want to feel
ROBERT A. McCAFFREY REALTY Garrison • Cold Spring, NY • 60 Mins NYC
143 Main Street, Cold Spring, NY 10516 Tel: 845.265.4113 • www.mccaffreyrealty.com
Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess MLS
info@mccaffreyrealty.com
PUTNAM VALLEY
$2,150,000
Exquisite Arts and Crafts home on 20 private acres. Restored 1932 residence offers great room with cathedral ceilings and stone fireplace, gourmet eat-in-kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 2 full and 2 half baths. The property includes a separate stone building with finished great room, stone patios, rambling creek with waterfall and pond, stone walls and a sauna.
GARRISON $2,025,000
Spacious and open country home with fabulous HUDSON RIVER VIEWS to the west and north to Storm King Mt and Newburgh Bay. The living room features cathedral ceiling and stone fireplace, and all living areas enjoy the views and access to stone terraces. 4 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths, includes huge master suite privately located on its own level. The inground pool and cabana further enhance the 5.6 acre property.
GARRISON
$1,300,000
Unique home on 12+ completely private acres with spectacular valley views. Geodesic dome LR with mezzanine, charming circular DR, open kitchen with separate prep-serving pantry. Large master suite, guest room with loft, and huge studio/ office/guest suite with bath & kitchenette. Inground pool & spa, lush landscaping. Convenient location, Garrison school.
GARRISON
$999,000
Elegant Hudson Valley retreat on serene 3.5 acres combines tradition with modern construction and conveniences. Expansive great room with beamed ceiling and stone fireplace, open country kitchen, garden room, library, three bedrooms, including luxurious and private master suite. Beautifully landscaped with in-ground pool and patio.
KENT
$750,000
Swiss-inspired home with over 300 feet of frontage on lovely Lake Sagamore. Stone fireplace in living room, large dining room and deck overlooking the lake, 4 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths. Private 1.3 acre property, private dock. 1 hour to NYC.
Member of Westchester/Putnam, MLS • Mid-Hudson MLS (Dutchess County) Greater Hudson Valley MLS • (Orange, Rockland, Ulster, Sullivan Counties) For more information on these and other listings, many with full brochures and floor plans, visit our website: www.mccaffreyrealty.com
h e a lt h
physicians of the year
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Connolly Medical Ltd., adding, “Many of these physicians have invented new treatments and devices, but this award really recognizes their role in patient care.” Each year, Dr. Connolly and John K. Castle, chairman of Castle Connolly, preside over the event, at which several awards are presented to physicians who work tirelessly in their respective fields—and to a non-physician who has heightened awareness for the need of support and research for a specific cause. In
Dr. Connolly’s words, “the lives of these honorees are truly inspirational.” March 22nd marked the fifth annual National Physician of the Year Awards, and the honorees celebrated at the Hudson Theater at the Millennium Broadway Hotel included Leonard Apt, M.D., and Basil I. Hirschowitz, M.D., who were each awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for their dedication to research and practice in their fields. The Clinical Excellence Award was presented to John B. Buse, M.D., Ph.D.; Ching-Hon Pui, M.D.; and Larry Norton, M.D., for their exemplary excellence in clinical medical practice. Lastly, the National Health Leadership Award was presented to two special nonphysicians: Alexandra Reeve Givens and Matthew Reeve, trustees of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. Bravo to these outstanding honorees! u This page, top: Dr. Norton. Left: the Reeve siblings. Opposite, clockwise from top left: Dr. Apt; Dr. Pui; Dr. Hirschowitz; Dr. Buse.
s t. j u d e b i o m e d i c a l co m m u n i c at i o n s , U n i v e r s i t y o f N o rt h C a ro l i n a S c h o o l o f M e d i c i n e ( o p p o s i te )
America Trusts Castle Connolly to identify our country’s top doctors—and each year, Castle Connolly also celebrates these exemplary physicians at the annual Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. National Physician of the Year Awards. Castle Connolly reviews thousands of nominations annually as an integral part of the intense screening process used to select the professionals included in each year’s America’s Top Doctors® publications. The selected physicians, representative of more than seventy medical specialties and subspecialties, share one distinguishing professional attribute: an unwavering dedication to their patients and to their medical practices. In honor of these physicians, as well as the many thousands of other excellent physicians practicing in communities throughout our country, Castle Connolly created the National Physician of the Year Awards. “This is the only event that recognizes clinical excellence—caring for patients,” says John J. Connolly, Ed.D., president and chief executive officer of Castle
w i r e i m a g e by m a r i o n c u rt i s / m e m o r i a l s lo a n - k e t te r i n g c a n c e r c e n te r ( t h i s pa g e )
The Castle Connolly National Physician of the Year Awards
C OO K B OO K
recipes with a mission
one reader review on amazon.com
said, “Even if you can’t afford a bottle of Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, you may be able to afford the vineyard’s cookbook, which will last longer and is at least as intoxicating...” Nestled high above Lake Hennessey in the Napa Valley, the Bryant Family Vineyard first produced its award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon in 1992. A consistent international favorite, the cabernet is loved by wine connoissuers and served by well-known chefs the world over. In an new collaboration, The Bryant Family Vineyard Cookbook: Recipes from Great Chefs and Friends, Barbara Bryant and Betsy Fenstress produce a once-ina-lifetime compendium of recipes from the best chefs in the world to benefit the Bowery Mission. “We started this project before email had become the standard way of communicating,” Bryant says, “so I sent handwritten notes on my pale blue Crane’s correspondence cards asking if they would 70 QUEST
like to contribute something to help the Bowery Mission. I started receiving faxes and letters, and then, with email, which made things so much easier for these incredibly busy people, the contributions poured in. I feel like they caught the enthusiasm I had for the Bowery Mission.” The mission serves men, women, and children caught in cycles of poverty, hopelessness, and dependency. “At the heart of the Bowery Mission’s work is nourishment— they serve hundreds of meals a day.” With contributions from Michael Anthony and Lidia Bastianich to Terrance Brennan and Daniel Boulud, the cookbook captures a unique moment where restaurants in New York, and other cities, are at an apex. Complemented by pictures from award-winning photographer Robert Holmes, this coffee table-style book represents a unique view of cuisine. “The chefs were a delight to work with,” Bryant says. “They are by nature magnanimous people who delight in the whole idea of hospitality—of people gath-
ering to share a meal—which as a hostess has always delighted me.” Among the eighty-plus recipes is light fare—as airy as a summer afternoon— that includes lobster salad with haricots verts and sautéed diver scallops with cauliflower, to cozy curl-up-by-the-fire winter recipes like cavatelli with braised duck and chocolate short bread. “We hired Denise Landis, the recipe tester for the New York Times, to test all the recipes and make certain they worked well in home kitchens. She was incredible! The book really works and now people can have a lot of fun entertaining with some of the best recipes around, perfected by the world’s finest chefs.” Alongside each recipe is a suggested wine-pairing (notably not all from the Bryant Family Vineyard). That same reader who reviewed the book concluded by writing, “This may be the most beautifully produced cookbook of the year. It may also be the best.” We couldn’t agree more. Mangia! u
t h e b rya n t fa m i ly v i n e ya r d co o k b o o k
By georgina schaeffer
Contributing Chefs Michael Anthony—Beet Skewers Gramercy Tavern is the essence of colorful New York restaurant life. Owner Danny Meyer, a St. Louis native, was one of the first restaurateurs to carry Bryant Family Vineyard’s wines. Chef Michael Anthony plans his daily fare around what’s fresh and seasonal. These unusual beet skewers contrast the textures of crispy, crunchy Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes) with tender, velvety roasted beets, topped with a biting, yet balanced, vinaigrette.
Lidia Bastianich—Minestrone di Branzio Lidia is the personification of food, family, and friends sharing and enjoying life together. Eating at her restaurant in New York is always a pleasure. This sea bass and couscous soup captures the light, fresh flavors so characteristic of her native Italy.
Terrance Brennan—Feta-Orzo Salad Terrance serves this salad with simple grilled chicken. It’s a perfect picnic salad as well.
Daniel Boulud—Chocolate Mousse Everyone needs a great chocolate mousse recipe, and this one from Daniel Boulud is simple, yet classic. Use a top-quality chocolate; it will make a difference. Add whipped cream for serving.
artistic partners not everyone can walk into a space and immediately see the
future potential of a room. Enter the new partnership between Wally Findlay Galleries and world-renowned real-estate developer Related Companies. Launched at The Brompton, a new luxury condominium designed by Robert A.M. Stern located on the Upper East Side, and continuing to the west coast at The Century in Century City, Los Angeles, these two companies have come together in a unique partnership to create “the art of stylishly proper living.� In a model four-bedroom residence at The Brompton, a twenty-two-story brick and limestone building, potential buyers will see a blending of conventional and contemporary styles as represented by the generously proportioned layouts and richly detailed interiors. They will also see how these layouts will appear when decorated not only with furniture, but an entire collection of art work, ranging from the traditional to the mod72 QUEST
N o e l a llu m ( l i v i n g ro o m , b e d ro o m s , k i tc h e n ) / s cot t f r a n c e s ( e x te r i o r a n d lo b by )
art
Asoma Palm Beach exhibition
Simbari Los Angeles exhibition
ern, including artists Nicola Simbari and Tadashi Asoma. Wally Findlay is offering complimentary art consultations along with an exclusive Brompton/Findlay art membership card which entitles residents to an expanding roster of benefits. The partnership represents the best merger of art and real estate to create artistic living. u
Heine New York exhibition
This page, clockwise from top: three canvases from Wally Findlay Galleries’ most recent exhibitions, which inspired the collection at the Brompton; the den, which doubles as a guest bedroom, features two Gustavo Novoa paintings from Wally Findlay Galleries; the lobby of the Brompton, located at 205 East 85th Street; the kitchen features maple cabinetry and Viking appliances, as well as a canvas by Peter Von Artens; the master bedroom with a work by Richard Stark. Opposite,
For more information, visit thebromptonnyc.com/wf or call Wally Findlay Galleries at 212.421.5390 or The Brompton Sales and Design Showroom at 212.249.8505.
top: the graciously designed and expertly curated four-bedroom model residence at the The Brompton on the Upper East Side. Bottom: The Brompton was built by legendary architect Robert A.M. Stern.
hotels
haute hotel Denihan’s choice of acclaimed designer Lauren Rottet to helm the revamp of Denihan Hospitality’s Upper East Side beaux-arts jewel, The Surrey, was perhaps not the most predictable choice: Rottet had been long lauded for her ultra-contemporary aesthetic. But along with Brad Wilson, the chief operating officer of Denihan who had fallen for a project Rottet had recently completed in Paris, Denihan was nonetheless sure that Rottet had the right sensibility to transform The Surrey with, in the designer’s words, “historical elegance, but contemporary intrigue.” Rottet remembers, “Brad had me read E.B. White’s Here is New York and then described modern luxury in [Brad’s] own words—and he is very good with words.” Denihan and Wilson’s unpredictable choice has proven to be an inspired one, and words themselves have become a central force in The Surrey’s spectacular
Patrick
redesign. Text is woven throughout the property, most notably graffitied across an armoire in the lobby and on a silk chaise in the Presidential Suite. “I designed the cabinet and chaise to look stately,” says Rottet, “and of a past heritage, and then asked British artist Jimmie Martin to apply his creative touch, giving him the theme ‘amorous’ for the cabinet and ‘favorite drink recipe’ for the chaise.” (Fittingly, that cocktail turned out to be a Manhattan.) “Words are a theme that seems to be prevalent in art today,” Rottet says. “Several of the artists in The Surrey’s collection are exploring words in their works, from the Jenny Holzer photographs behind the front desk to the Mel Bochner piece in the Presidential Suite. The use of words blatantly juxtaposed next to the hotel’s historic architectural imagery and finishes felt like the right counter balance of tradition and contemporary.”
To m M c W i ll i a m ( to p ) / E r i c L a i g n e l ( le f t )
By Rebecc a Morse
Name
This page, from left: Jimmie Martin’s recipe for a Manhattan on a chaise designed by Lauren Rottet; the gilded door to the Penthouse Suite. Opposite, from top: the 2,200-square-foot Presidential Suite overlooking Central Park. The floral carpet pattern was inspired by the background of a black-and-white Horst photograph of Coco Chanel
To m M c W i ll i a m
reclining on a chaise; an etched coffee table in one of The Surrey’s 190 Guest Salons.
The seat cushions in the guestrooms’ windows are even poetic: “the poem written on the window seat is meant to draw the guest into the view of New York outside their window and start their imagination running about what they will find in the city outside of their room.” The telling words of one of the unfinished window seat poem? “...through these windows lies the soul of the city...” The soul of the city lies within The Surrey’s windows as well. Rottet spent time in The Surrey before the tour-deforce renovation began, walking through the neighborhood and “watching how the streets and building fronts changed with the day.” The neighborhood came to life in her design: “the Upper East Side influence,” Rottet says, “is everywhere... from the subtle scents to the uniforms to the historically elegant, but currently fashionable, [details]. I wanted the rooms to feel like the bedroom suite of an Upper
East Side grande dame’s apartment: very personal and collected with style and care over time—not done in a moment.” Hardly a moment’s work, the renovation took more than fourteen months and has since been celebrated by the design community—not to mention by the lucky guests who get to rest their heads on one of The Surrey’s DUX beds by Duxiana. The Surrey has not escaped the locals’ notice either: tucked off the lobby, Bar Pleiades has become the go-to spot for after-work cocktails and romantic rendezvous alike. Rottet’s hand is apparent au bar as well, as are the dual influences of Coco Chanel and the Deco period, specifically “the classic Chanel compact, black and white with the diagonal tufted pattern, and the sharp contrast of black lacquer with white inlay from the Deco period.” Rottet wanted the bar itself to be “small and personal and the rooms to be a little dark and romantically mysterious, like
looking into a vintage photograph. And, as with the other spaces, I wanted the bar to feel as if the furnishings and art had been collected over time, from 1920 on. The murals are hand-painted scenes of ancient India—travelers in the ’20s began to explore India.” For guests, neighbors, and design aficionados alike, The Surrey represents contemporary romantic luxury: a sublime melding of its Deco birthright with modern art and urban wit. “[Being in] the hotel is like being cast into a black-andwhite photograph from a romantic trip to New York in the ’20s,” says Rottet—but with constant reminders of the twentyfirst century: unusual, skewed mosaic carpets, graffiti-painted cabinets, and video art. “Every turn has a small surprise,” says Rottet, and each of them transports. u The Surrey Hotel is located at 20 East 76th Street. For more, call 212.288.3700. A P RIL 2 0 1 0 7 5
home
a smart move Have your ever invited your movers
to return as weekend guests? If not, your movers must not be NouvelleView, the all-encompassing moving service. “One of our clients, whom we moved twice in the same year, said to us at the end of the second job, ‘You know, we have a guest room if you want to come and visit,’” laughs Pamela Muller (opposite page, left), who, along with Juliana Gilbert (middle) and Patti Mazzarella (right), helms NouvelleView. “We are three women who are very used to problem solving,” Juliana says, and if the trio looks different than typical movers, it’s because they are anything but. NouvelleView provides couture moves, impeccably tailored to each client’s budget, timeframe, and personal preference for a seamless, stress-free experience. 76 QUEST
Like most great ideas, the concept was born out of necessity when Juliana herself needed to orchestrate a tightly timed move from her Dakota home (pictured in various stages on this page and opposite). Ever since, NouvelleView has meticulously planned and coordinated relocations, set up second homes, and managed high-end tag sales for clients in New York, Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, and the Hamptons. In a NouvelleView move, each item, down to the contents of the bathroom cabinet, is photographed and cataloged, so that all is accounted for and replaced as it was—in its new setting. Not just movers, but shakers too, NouvelleView has been recognized by Christie’s and Sotheby’s, both thrilled clients. “NouvelleView’s assistance in orchestrating and overseeing
our recent and very large consignment (more than 200 pieces of high-value art work) in a tricky, white-glove New York apartment building was amazing,” says Sotheby’s Brad Bentoff. Its success may be due to the fact that NouvelleView “takes ownership of your ownership,” says Patti, adding, “I was project managing the two-day installation of a washer-dryer requiring all new plumbing and electrical. As the second day drew to a close, I cautioned the plumber that he had to finish in time for the apartment to be properly cleaned for the owners. He looked at me incredulously and said, ‘This isn’t your apartment?’ I knew we had done our job well.” NouvelleView just might be the smartest move you make. u For more, see nouvelleview.com.
Name
smooth moves: * Always ask your movers for at least two references—and check them! * Get a binding flat fee instead of an hourly rate: you’ll know your costs up front and won’t be counting every minute. * Feed your movers: most people don’t, and this simple courtesy goes far. * Box and label “His” and “Hers” items separately for quicker settling of master bed and bath. * Organization is the key to success. Make four piles: move, give away, sell, toss. Mantra: if you don’t use it and don’t love it, then lose it. * Get the kids involved! Have them think of ways to help, and
P h oto C r e d i t G o e s HERE
assure them that their contributions are valued and appreciated.
MO N T H 2 0 0 8 0 0
A Mother trying to house her daughter’s thoroughbred in that perfect stable—outside of Paris. An executive looking to sell an asset (a herd of cattle). A European family hoping to deliver a hand-arranged bouquet to friends…4,000 miles away. What do these disparate characters have in common? They all accomplished the tasks at hand with the same swift phone call—to Sandra Stern. Stern has a doctorate degree in education from the University of Virginia, but she could also be a candidate for a Ph.D. in the elegant details of life. After eight 78 QUEST
years as founder and managing director of Citigroup’s Multiple Residence & Farm Advisory Group, she has branched off to form her own firm, Stern Estate, which she manages with the assistance of native New Yorker and former attorney Alexandra Leidesdorf Hack. Together, the women seamlessly organize the homes and lives of their clients, approaching and handling their clients’ every nuanced need with the most gracious of hands. “Nothing ever surprises me—not anymore!” laughs Stern. “Maybe that comes from growing up on a dairy farm.”
From the dairy farm to Manhattan, Stern’s career has been nothing short of multifaceted. “I feel like I’m on my ninth life,” she says. After years of teaching and serving as director of programs for the Aspen Institute, she helmed the executive education department at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Living in Virginia, she began to lease and refurbish estate properties, winning many a spot on the historic register, until she was stolen away to Citibank to advise its Private Bank’s most important clients. She has three decades of experience in mul-
Dav i d e C e r n u s c h i
home even sweeter home
HO M Es tiple-residence and farm management. With that expertise supporting their efforts, Leidesdorf Hack and Stern provide seamless service to owners of mulitple residences. “Our clients who own these lovely places want privacy and a five-star experience in their own home,” Stern says. “When they arrive for the season or the weekend, there may be maintenance issues that distract from their relaxation and fun.” Not if Stern Estate is in charge: the pair creates a customized, preventative, twelve-month maintenance calendar for each residence’s caretakers and household staff. “If the person in charge follows the calendar, there will be minimal surprises for the client upon arrival,” Leidesdorf Hack says. This page, clockwise from top left: Alexandra Leidesdorf Hack and Sandra Stern in the greenhouse of Stern’s Englewood, New Jersey, home; Stern with spring cuttings from the greenhouse; a painting by Isabelle DeGanay; the Stern Estate team at work in the library. Opposite: Leidesdorf Hack (left) and Stern have joined forces to launch Stern Estate.
Stern Estate will locate and install that “dream team” for each property, hiring new staff or refining the skills of current ones—right down to personal instruction on caring for antiques and fine furnishings (complete with a care guide manual written in, if applicable, the staff member’s native language). Stern and Leidesdorf Hack conduct one-on-one training sessions with staff. As a “final exam,” the staff member “teaches” the lesson back to his or her instructor, confirming that the information has been perfectly absorbed. Stateside, Stern Estate manages client homes in locations from North Miami and Palm Beach to New York, Locust Valley, and Westport (and “that’s just this week!” adds Stern). Once they have their residences in shipshape, Stern Estate’s client might just celebrate by jetting off to a new destination—with Stern to assist them in her concierge advisory services role. “Most of our travel requests are bespoke trips for multigenerational families, customized to their destination points—often involving the lease of private villas, chateaux,
or ranches,” she says. Stern Estate’s “golden rolodex” of contacts worldwide also exposes clients to academic admissions advisory services: “For colleges, schools of any sort, we have vetted the most capable advisors on the east and west coasts for admission from fitness camps to drivers’ courses to Ivy League schools,” says Leidesdorf Hack, a double-degree Ivy League graduate herself. And once that coveted admissions letter has arrived, the duo will locate the most appropriate living situations for clients in university and college towns. No request or dream is too detailed for Stern Estate’s attention. The women of Stern Estate well deserve their sterling reputations: trust is their mantra. “It’s the type of service and relationship we hope to establish with everyone we work with—from the billionaire to the farm hand,” Stern says. We’d gladly turn over the keys to our homes, and our lives, to Stern Esate! u For more information, visit sternestate.com or call 917.306.0216.
home
digital-age DÉcor B y E l i z a be t h B r o W n
Decorating one’s dwelling, be it a walk-up studio or an
Upper East Side townhouse, is a defining, though often expensive, endeavor. Enter One Kings Lane, the first website of its kind to host daily private sales on home furnishings and decorations. Launched in March 2009 by Susan Feldman and Alison Gelb Pincus, the site offers three-day sales on designer décor from nearly two hundred vendors, at prices marked down by fifty to seventy percent. “We’re able to provide incredible value, for both the brands and the customers,” Pincus says. Sales start most days at 11 a.m., with items ranging from art work to candles to furniture. In addition to sales, the site features an extensive catalog of “Designer Profiles.” Each includes a biography of the interior decorator, as well as five “Designer Tips and Inspiration” provided exclusively to One Kings Lane. 8 0 Q U EST
For example, Kenneth Brown suggests that “Each room should have at least one unique piece that has a special meaning to you (even if it doesn’t match the décor of the room).” Pincus credits the site’s success to the inelastic nature of the company’s supply. “For many, many months, people were afraid to splurge, but they still wanted to make sure that their home, their nest, was a comfortable, warm, and inviting place.” One Kings Lane will continue to expand in the coming year. “We’re keen to build the brand beyond private sales,” Pincus says. With Gwenyth Paltrow already among its stylish subscribers, the company expects to further broaden its following with a winning combination of entrepreneurship and taste. u One Kings Lane founders Susan Feldman (left) and Alison Gelb Pincus.
Clockwise from top left: Pui Wood Dice from SurEvolution (original: $70, sale: $29); black Chinoiserie Coffee Table from EJ Victor (original: $2,398, sale: $899); Resin Weave Daybed with canopy from Walters Wicker (original: $5,333, sale:$2,649). Opposite: A three-drawer bureau that was sold on One Kings Lane.
DEAL Log on to www.onekingslane.com/quest to sign up for a free membership, and instantly receive a $10 credit toward any purchase. Offer valid from May 1 through May 15.
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r ea l E state
industry insiders David Fite, principal of Fite Shavell & Associates
David Fite, principal of Fite Shavell & Associates shares why now is a great time to invest in Palm Beach real estate.
How do seasons affect the Palm Beach market? Historically, Palm Beach has been a consistent winter-to-spring real-estate market, in lockstep with the vigorous social and charity season. However, during the summer and early fall of 2009, we began to see many people returning to Palm Beach during the off-season as active buyers, intent on buying before the start of “the season.” We believe this is a new standard emerging—an elongated market for real estate in Palm Beach. How active is the market right now? Have recent deals brought new buyers to Palm Beach, or were most sales made to existing residents and locals? Since early fall, the real-estate market in Palm Beach has been very active at all price points. Consumers real-
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ize that values on the island are the best they have been in years and Fite Shavell & Associates has been happy to see that transactions have picked up significantly. After sitting on the sidelines for the past year and a half, pent-up buyer demand and value pricing are driving a strong spring market. For instance, notable Fite Shavell & Associates’ sales
By Brooks Huston
since December include the following: (1) The highest-priced property in Palm Beach—and Florida—was purchased for $24 million by Jeff Greene of Beverly Hills, who had been looking for a large oceanfront estate for a number of years; (2) A long-term island resident, seeing an opportunity to further invest in Palm Beach, recently purchased an oceanfront home for $8.5 million; (3) A 10,000-square-foot home, one off the ocean, was snapped up after only two months on the market for $8 million by a New Englander who had been looking for more than a year before buying his family’s perfect winter getaway. How has the perception of the Palm Beach market been affected by the economic events of the past year and a half? As we all know, the country has weathered significant economic turmoil. Palm Beach has not been immune to this. However, Palm Beach is a unique community in that it offers a smalltown ambiance with world-class amenities. This unique blend of exclusivity, luxury, and small-town charm has enabled our local real-estate market to hold much of its value. Our current belief is that the Palm Beach market is
Author James Patterson’s home on Everglades Island has 136 feet of water frontage. $14.95 million.
1558 North Ocean Way is a just-completed state-of-the-art Smart Home with 4 bedrooms and 6.1 baths on a +/-30,000-sq.-ft lot. $9.995 million.
improving more quickly than in other parts of the country. Our local sales data shows that the number of transactions is up 50% and sales volume is up 98% for the first 70 days of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009. How would you describe the quality of the current inventory? What advantages do prospective buyers have right now? The quality of the homes in Palm Beach has always been high. In the past, one reason for significant demand was the low levels of real-estate inventory. Fortunately for today’s buyer, the quality and number of homes for sale are both high, giving prospective Palm Beach buyers unprecedented options. What is your outlook for 2010? The Palm Beach market is experiencing significant improvement from the lows of 2008 and 2009. Fite Shavell & Associates is optimistic that over the next twelve months the market will continue to strengthen. Given the strong start to 2010, we believe prices are stabilizing. It is possible that the market will experience a 5–10% increase in housing prices by mid2011. Until then, supply remains high,
and properties are selling at incredible values. Now is a great time to invest in Palm Beach real estate.
What advantages does Fite Shavell have over other local brokerages that are affiliates of New York-based firms? In one year, Fite Shavell & Associates has become the market leader in Palm Beach. As a locally owned and managed firm, Fite Shavell & Associates has handpicked more than sixty of the best agents in Palm Beach who share our entrepreneurial spirit. Fite Shavell & Associates is strategically focused on one market, Palm Beach. We combine the flexibility and traditional values of local leadership with national experience and a global perspective in buying and selling real estate. We pride ourselves on our ability to provide expert local guidance and personalized service that is not limited by restrictive corporate requirements, national budget cuts, or absentee management. Fite and Shavell are not just names. They are real people with real families who live in the Palm Beach community. Every home and every client is special to us. We hope you’ll let Fite Shavell show you Palm Beach from our personal point of view. u
167 East Inlet has 4 bedrooms and 6.1 baths on
For more information, call 561.655.6570 or email dfite@fiteshavell.com.
the Palm Beach Inlet. $8.595 million.
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Lisburne Grange
gustavus myers, in his book History of the Great American Fortunes, described Samuel Sloan, a founder of the Hudson River Railroad, as one of “the monarchs of the land…the actual rulers of the United States; the men who had the power in the final say of ordering what should be done.” 84 QUEST
That American monarch’s palace was Lisburne Grange, a breathtaking threestory, thirty-room mansion with views of the Hudson, which sits on sixteen-plus acres in the charming hamlet of Garrison, less than an hour from Manhattan. Upon Sloan’s death, his son inherited the property and retained James Gamble Rogers to expand the house to include a wood-paneled library (with secret cupboards, including one that hides a private office), a ballroom with coffered ceilings, chestnut floors, and Moroccan mantles. In the twenty-first century, it stands proud and spectacular, a glimpse into the past, its 13,000 square feet impeccably maintained and preserved. Lisburne Grange has nine en suite bedrooms, each with a unique fireplace. The grounds, which are featured in the upcoming Hudson River
Valley Gardens, include an allee of linden trees and an expansive meadow with a variety of specimen trees, some planted by the Sloan himself. The upper terrace boasts ancient Tunisian columns and a carved balustrade, leading to several additional terraces, a wrought iron tea house, and a large pool embedded in the hillside and rimmed with volcanic tufa, modeled on the dragon fountain at the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, near Rome. Lisburne Grange was home to the Sloan family for more than eighty years; only one other family has lived there since. It’s more than a home—it’s an heirloom to be cherished for generations. u $4.25 million. Contact Heather Croner, Sotheby’s International Real Estate, at 845.677.9822 or hcronerrealestate.com.
s t e v e g ro s s & s u s a n da le y / j e n n i f e r Tay lo r / H e at h e r C ro n e r S ot h e by ’ s I n te r n at i o n a l R e a l E s tate
Name
OPEN HOUSE
This page, clockwise from top: a swimming pool inspired by the Villa d’Este’s dragon fountain; the balustraded terrace; the home’s wood-paneled library; the dining room opens onto the brick patio; the floating staircase. Opposite, from top: views of the Hudson river; Lisburne Grange.
APRIL 2010 00
Brushwood A thirty-room Greek Revival manor house built in 1904 for Alice Isabel Ballantine has been restored and preserved by a thoroughly modern family. 86 QUEST
Ku r f i ss S ot h e by ’ s I n te r n at i o n a l R e a lt y
O P E N HOUS E
“This HOUse BREATHES FAMILY,” says the current mistress of Brushwood, a Greek Revival fieldstone mansion that presides over twenty-nine lush, green acres in the tony enclave of Bernardsville, New Jersey, just west of Manhattan. Brushwood has known only three families in its hundred years, but its owner is spot on: there is something tangibly— unexpectedly, perhaps—nurturing about the property. A pinnacle of architectural practices, exemplifying the highest standards of classic design and proportion, each original detail preserved, each of its thirty rooms perfected down to the
chicest detail, Brushwood is nonetheless a home, a place where laughter rings in the air, where splashes are heard from the pool, where a badminton or tennis tournament might just be in progress—all visible from the oversized fanlight windows of the manor house, which perches upon a knoll. It has been this way, alive and vibrant, since 1904, when it was built as a wedding present for brewery heiress Alice Ballantine, whose father hired architect Charles Alling Gifford to construct a summer cottage for his only daughter. The site? Bernardsville, in New Jersey’s
Somerset Hills, where in the late nineteenth century captains of industry summered in lavish “cottages” like those of Newport. With the 1870s arrival of the railroad came industrialists, lawyers, and financiers, and they remain today. Bernardsville, at the heart of New Jersey’s fabled horse country, is a mere fifty miles from Manhattan and a short drive to Newark and Morristown Airports. This page, clockwise from top: Brushwood; oak-paneled library; sunroom. Opposite: the living room, designed by Janet Simon, with original Adams-style marble fireplace.
The current owners arrived from Manhattan in 1993. At the time, Brushwood had no working electricity or plumbing, and the grounds had been completely let go. The original architectural details were all in tact, though, and the young couple “couldn’t find anything that compared with its magic and romance.” They embarked on a complete renovation with the goal of preservation. Seventeen years later, Brushwood is once more a showstopper. Under the expert guidance of architect David Scott Parker and designer Janet Simon, the
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physical structure, the grounds, and the interiors are sublime artistry, reflective of Brushwood’s rich history, but also of the modern family that calls it home. With eleven bedrooms, the property also features a four-bedroom guesthouse—and a two-story (LEED certified!) treehouse. The air-conditioned 4,800-square-foot garage will thrill the serious car collector. Between Brushwood’s movie theater, music room, 1,500-bottle wine cellar, tennis courts, and pool, the twinkling Manhattan skyline visible is the only reason to ever leave, a reminder that the
commerce and culture of New York is almost close enough to touch. As the owners’ teenage boys head off on their own adventures, a new family will call Brushwood home. Could it be yours? u $10.75 million. Call Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty, Dan Leuzzi: 215.794.1308, kurfiss.com. For more on Janet Simon, see janetsimoninc.com. Clockwise from top: Leonardis-designed kitchen; the pool; the grounds, originally designed by Brinley & Holbrook. Opposite: the first-floor hallway, designed by Janet Simon.
Co u rt e s y o f Ku r f i ss S ot h e by ’ s I n te r n at i o n a l R e a lt y
e s tate
DUNNELLEN HALL Crowning one of the highest points in Fairfield County with distant views of Long Island Sound, Dunnellen Hall is possibly the most celebrated of “The Great Estates” in Greenwich. Approached through stately iron gates framed by tall stone walls, the glorious backcountry setting affords exceptional luxury, comfort, privacy and security amid forty acres of spectacular countryside punctuated by sculptured gardens, a 75-foot outdoor pool with pool house, a tennis court and beautiful koi pond with three waterfalls. An elegant walled courtyard with a marble reflecting pool and tiered fountain fronts the palatial 1918 Jacobean manor, an architectural tour-de-force designed by eminent New York architect, William Tubby. A stunning reception hall and 86foot gallery, both with limestone walls, travertine marble flooring and intricate tracery ceilings softly illuminated by cove lighting, introduces the exquisitely detailed 28-room interior. A vaulted stone archway beyond a regal staircase includes triple French doors to an expansive terrace bordered by a stone balustrade. Sublime formal rooms, all with 12-foot tracery ceilings, include a majestic teak floored, three-exposure living room with imposing limestone fireplace and leaded French doors to a loggia, a paneled banquet-size dining room with carved marble fireplace and richly mellowed oak library with an 15th century limestone fireplace. There is a family room with marble fireplace and full bar, a casual breakfast room and spacious kitchen wing with butler’s pantry, silver vault and service areas. A glassed solarium opening to the terrace adjoins an extraordinary marbled natatorium with 50-foot pool and changing room. Gracious, comfortably-scaled family quarters balance the grandeur of formal spaces. A sumptuous master suite comprises the entire south wing. For the gentleman, there is a handsome study with marble fireplace, bath, coffee bar and customfitted walk-in closet. The lady’s dressing room, walled with wardrobe and accessory closets, adjoins a marble bath. An opulent his/her bath finished in onyx serves the three-exposure bedroom chamber with antique French fireplace and breathtaking views. Four of five additional second floor bedrooms, one with marble fireplace, include en suite baths. Third floor includes recreation/exercise room, two bedrooms, one bath. Four powder rooms, a charming wine cellar/ tasting room and a six-bedroom, two-bath staff wing complete the layout. Separate garaging for six cars, caretaker and guest cottages. Exclusive Agents: Lyn Stevens and Laurie Smith For additional photos visit: www.greenwichgreatestate.com
GREENWICH FINE PROPERTIES Exclusive Greenwich Affiliate of Classic Properties International
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The Kitchawan Schoolhouse -
Part of South Salem’s past. The former Kitchawan schoolhouse circa 1822. Random width birch floors, crown dentil molding and built-ins. Living Room with Fireplace and doors to terrace and porch. Formal Dining Room. Country Kitchen. Family Room. Private Master Suite. Family Bedroom. Office/Nursery. Third Floor Sitting/Guest Room. Recreation Room. Beautiful property on quiet country road. $765,000
Turn-of-the-Century Gatehouse - Four beautiful acres in the
heart of one of Bedford’s finest estate areas. Absolutely impeccable Country House, circa 1900. Gleaming hardwood floors, two fireplaces and period charm. First floor Master Bedroom Suite. Two additional Bedrooms. Separate Two Bedroom Guest House with Recreation Room. Gently rolling lawns, majestic evergreens and incredible Weeping Cherry. Lap Pool. $1,750,000
On Top of the World - Spectacular 27 acre hilltop with breath- Pool & Court taking views of rolling countryside. Stately 1905 Stone and Shingle Country House sited to take in the view. Wraparound Front Porch. Living and Dining Rooms with Fireplaces. Five Bedrooms. Pool with Spa. Tennis Court. Two Bedroom Cottage. Garages for six cars. Studio and Barn. Waccabuc Lake rights. An incredible opportunity! $3,650,000
Your own private club! Absolutely gorgeous grounds with Shoreline Pool and Spa and Tennis Court. Gently rolling acreage with fine trees, specimen shrubs and flowering plantings. Sophisticated Country House with desirable one-level living. Hardwood and slate floors, recessed lighting, built-ins and walls of glass. A fabulous offering just minutes from town and the park. $1,100,000
Longfields- Pastoral windswept meadows and peaceful privacy. Long drive to stunning estate abutting the protected Mianus Gorge. Over ten estate acres of perfectly level property leading to the river. An outdoor paradise with Pool, Cabana, Tennis and Basketball Courts! Handsomely appointed Stone & Clapboard Country House with wide board floors, classic moldings and rich detail. Six Bedrooms. Garages for four cars. $4,950,000
Pink Cloud Farm - Gorgeous meadow views. Impeccable and impressive Country Manor House, circa 1929, perfectly restored. 7500 square feet of beautifully appointed living space. Separate Caretaker’s Cottage. Stalls for 16 horses. Groom’s Quarters. Dressage Ring. 26 pastoral acres. Pool, Pool/Guest House and Tennis. One of Westchester’s greatest equestrian estates in the heart of horse country. Additional land available. $9,995,000
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Majestic, 32’ wide mansion. Grand rooms. Elevator. Ideal for commercial use or conversion to single family home. $16,500,000
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designing legacies The designers and decorators featured in these pages represent more than just family-run businesses. The imprint of the generations that preceded them lies at the very heart of their work. Today, these individuals combine contemporary innovation with the wisdom of legacy.
McMillen, Inc. Established in 1924 by Eleanor McMillen Brown, McMillen, Inc. is the oldest interiordesign firm in the United States. In 1972, the reins were passed to the then twenty-year veteran of the firm, Betty Sherrill. Today, she remains as chairman of the board, and her daughter, Ann Pyne, has been a partner since 2002. Keeping the legacy alive—and carrying the torch for the future—is Sherrill’s granddaughter and Ann’s daughter, Elizabeth Pyne. Pyne joined the team last fall to spearhead the effort of the forward-looking branch of the firm, McMillen Plus. Finding inspiration in younger, fresher venues, Pyne still holds true to the infallible maxim that you can tell a lady by her shoes and handbags. “A key to good design is investing in high-quality pieces where you can,” Pyne says. “I help clients focus on strong accent pieces that can last a lifetime. Start with a painting, or good upholstery.” The rest should follow, as it has for the women of McMillen. —Daniel Cappello 94 QUEST
This page: Elizabeth Pyne in her living room. Opposite, clockwise from left: Betty Sherrill in her living room at One Sutton Place South; the McMillen townhouse on East 55th Street; a 1929 McMillen, Inc. interior for the distiller
l a n d o n n o r d em a n ( t h is pa g e ) / j o n at h a n be c k e r ( bett y s h e r r i ll ) / va n day t ru e x ( wate r co lo r ) / M c M i lle n , I n c .
magnate Seton Porter.
Sherle Wagner what began with a single faucet launched a three-generation business for the luxury hardware and bath accessories company Sherle Wagner. “My grandmother Rose, who co-founded the company with my grandfather Sherle, originally produced fine silk fabric hangers,” says Evan Geoffroy, Sherle Wagner International’s CEO. “My grandfather found this one faucet he wanted to import, and that is how the company began.” That one faucet, a 24-carat gold-plated dolphin spout, is still available today. Favored in the 1950s by Frank Sinatra and President Kennedy, Sherle Wagner has a legacy of creating beautiful pieces with materials from around the world and hand-crafted in their factory in Fall River, Massachusetts. Much like the men that came before him, Geoffroy focuses on keeping his company current, and his recently designed “Arco” series, part of the company’s new Architectural Line, was recently selected as a Merit Award Winner in Best New Bath Fittings for 2009. He adds: “Designing is one of the best parts of my job.” —Georgina Schaeffer 96 QUEST
s h e r le wa g n e r
This page: Sherle and Rose Wagner, 1945. Opposite, clockwise from top left: Wagner and his grandson Evan Geoffroy; Geoffroy is now the company’s CEO; Wagner in the 1940s; a Sherle Wagner fixture; and bath basin; the three generations.
Sister Parish Design “Things inherited from the past always turn out to be the most interesting and beautiful things we can live with today,” interior decorator Sister Parish once said. “In decorating, innovation is often the ability to reach into the past and bring back what is good, what is useful, and what is lasting.” Parish reached into America’s past when she created her tactile, comfortable patchwork décor that famously became known as American country style in the 1960s. Today, her granddaughter, Susan Bartlett Crater, and her onetime design protégé, Libby Cameron, have carried on her legacy through the brightly colored, handscreened fabrics and wallpapers at their firm, Sister Parish Design. “We started our firm in 2000, during a time when everything was these beige, monochromatic rooms,” Bartlett Crater says. Now, using fabrics from Parish’s archive in Maine, as well as their own updated styles, the pair enlivens clients’ homes, creating such a sense of comfort that, as Bartlett Crater says, “when you’re sitting in one of the rooms, you feel like you’re taken care of.” —Rachel Corbett 98 QUEST
This page: Sister Parish’s wallpaper and fabrics. Opposite, clockwise from top left: her signature pattern-on-pattern décor; Parish’s Fifth Avenue living room; a portrait of Parish; a room in Parish’s Maine home; Libby Cameron and Susan Bartlett Crater;
M I TA cO R S I N I B LAND / S T. M ART I N ’ S P R E S S / n a n c y k a r e n s ( b a rt lett c r ate r a n d c a me ro n )
Sister Parish.
“in life, as in design, it is not perfection you should be after,” writes Kemble in her book Celerie Kemble: To Your Taste, which she dedicated to her childhood home—The Old Bethesda-by-the-Sea Church in Palm Beach. “I grew up carefree and joyful,” Kemble says. “The doors were swung open and there wasn’t a room that wasn’t welcoming to friends, kids, and pets.” During these same early years, young Kemble was brought around by her mother, interior designer Mimi McMakin, to houses and homes, accidentally developing her design vocabulary. “Seeing how my mother works was incredibly influential, in both her work ethic and taste. Lessons unwittingly learned are some of the ones I am most grateful for,” she says. But it is that joyful energy that Kemble seeks to infuse into all of her projects. Today, she runs the New York branch of Kemble Interiors, while Mimi and Brooke Huttig run her Florida office. Kemble Interiors is known for merging beauty and function with comfort and sentimentality. —Georgina Schaeffer 100 QUEST
z . d es a rt ( pi n k room a n d boo k j ac k et ) / C . S c h i av o n e ( fa mi ly po rt r a it ) / a . ac h i lleos ( c a bi n et )
Kemble Interiors
This page: Celerie Kemble in her House Beautiful showhouse room. Opposite, clockwise from top left: Celerie’s joyful childhood is inspiration for her work; with her mother and father; a vignette; the cover of her book; the interior of her childhood home, the Old Church.
best in show Quest ventures behind the scenes of the International Gift Show, guided by the forces of design website editoratlarge.com. We scoured the booths and came back with the best pieces of 2010.
produced by georgina schaeffer
Vanessa’s Picks 1. The Work Horse Desk from BeeLine Home (right) draws on contemporary architectural elements and uses clean lines and beautiful materials. 2. Hybrid lighting from Bel Occhio combines artistry, functionality, and illusion. It is the ideal marriage of ambient and task lighting. 3. Bon Genre’s melamine tableware is the innovative answer to china—minus the fragility. Inspired by classic china design, as well as more contemporary selections, the vivid colors convey authenticity while refreshingly accommodating today’s more practical lifestyle.
meet the editors
1 0 2 Q U EST
Vanessa Kogevinas
Carolyn Sollis is
Eugenia
Sophie Donelson
is the founder of
a consultant, lec-
Santiesteban
is a freelance
Get It! Consulting
turer, and former
is a freelance
journalist and
and contributes to
style director of
editor and
consultant.
California Homes.
House & Garden.
stylist.
Carolyn’s Picks 1.BeeLine Home by Bunny Williams Porters Drinks table in black lacquer finish. Like a little black dress, this table looks chic in any environment. 2. Frances Palmer’s Pearl Collection in new Butter color (right). Setting a table with this collection would make me feel like everyday is sunny side up. 3. Pheronome by Christopher Marley. Pheromone is a chemical stimulant that insects release to attract one another. That must be why I cannot resist Christopher Marley’s booth, where extraordinary artwork is created from creatures that creep, crawl, and fly.
Julia Noran is
Marisa Marcanto-
Tom Delevan is the
Caren Kurlander is
the founder of
nio launched the
former director of
a frequent writer
Editor at Large
blog Stylebeat, as
The Armory Show
for Home Los
(editoratlarge.
well as a design
and a contempory
Angeles and Luxe
com).
consulting firm.
art specialist.
Interiors + Design. APRIL 2010 103
Marisa’s Picks 1. Barsoian table from Celestina Home. Celestina, known for her shell clutch evening bags, entered the home furnishings arena last year with stingray and shell-embellished pieces. A diminutive table completes a room like a necklace can make an outfit. This octagon mahogany table has arched legs covered in gray jewel crown stingray and a table top of black lip shell, making it glamorous and sleek. 2. Mimi Mirror from Made Goods (top right). The white finish on the Mimi Mirror makes this global-chic piece fresh and modern. Hand carving and floral embellishments provide an artisanal component, adding a sense of history to an interior. 3. Paule Marrot Print from Natural Curiosities (top left). The legendary French fabric designer Paule Marrot is seeing a rennaissance in her designs. Beloved by Billy Baldwin and other distinquished designers of the day, Brunshwig and Fils re-launched her fabrics several years ago, and now, Natural Curiosities offers her painted prints framed. Her work has a joie de vivre, capturing flowers and the natural world with verve.
Sophie’s Picks
Tom’s Picks
1. I would stack towels on the Corkscrew Stool from Canvas in
1. Pablo LIM LED Task Light is made of surprisingly thin lead and attaches
the bathroom or use it in the kitchen for guests to perch while I cook.
with a magnet to a base or the underside of a desk. 2. The Peace sign from
2. Household tools and cleaning products from Alice Supply Co. (above)
Design Legacy (above) reminds me of growing up in the 1970s. Imagine
make chores more fun. The Woolly Wally Pocket gets an “A” for innova-
it on the porch of a crumbling Victorian in Vermont. Not only is it groovy, but
tion—they’re soft-sided garden containers that can be used outside
it puts out a beautiful glowing light. 3. Paule Marrot Edition from Natural
or in. They’re making trendy vertical gardens available to everyone and
Curiosities. I love the colors and the handmade feel of this piece. The box
are great for the elderly who love to garden but hate kneeling for hours.
frame lends a certain elegance to this subtly bohemian wall hanging.
104 QUEST
Caren’s Picks
Eugenia’s Picks
1. Jonathan Adler’s accessories keep a room from taking itself too seriously,
1. Jardins du Jour’s grisaille prints (above) are beautiful and surpris-
and his needlepoint zodiac pillows (above) are no exception. 2. Style de
ingly modern. 2. The beyond gorgeous mirrors from Made Goods,
Vie offers an exhaustive selection of vintage movie posters, maps, and
particularly one made in malachite and the David Hicks-inspired
other ephemera. Graphic black-and-white vintage bus signs from England
mirrors with shell inlay. 3. Anglepoise’s re-issued original task
are a standout. 3. I’ve been a fan of Oly Studio’s hip take on traditional
lamp in cobalt: it’s the perfect shade of Yves Klein blue. 4. The
designs. Their new line of children’s furniture is sized for future tastemak-
brightly colored wool pile rugs from Manglam Arts in bright pink,
ers, but is every bit sophisticated as their grown-up counterparts.
teal, and maroon, among other colors.
Julia’s Picks 1. The cashmere in the Savoia Imperiale throw blankets by Rani Arabella (above left) is so luscious your fingers practically melt when you touch it. It doesn’t surprise me that it takes the artisan a full year to make. 2. The Tibetan silk rugs by Tempo Luxury Home Collection. I love art-inspired décor, which is why I picked Joe Ginsberg’s rugs. His style combines the perfect mix of edginess and elegance. The designs are influenced by his background as an artist and interior designer, and his many creative collaborations with notable artists and architects. 3. Eco dog bed by Dog Gone Smart (above right). These beds are not overly decorative, but simple, clean, and well-priced. The best part is that they are the only pet beds designed to completely decompose in a landfill in 120 days. Even my dog, Gizmo, can reduce his carbon footprint! APRIL 2010 105
Not Just Another Coffee Table Book By georgina schaeffer if there is one thing you can count on in a well-appointed interior, it is the omnipresent coffee table book. Whether the home is eclectic, modern, traditional, or transitional, resting on a coffee table will be glossy, printed pages. It may be a reflection of the resident—fashion photography for a clotheshorse, a book on wine for the oenophile, or it may just be for the oversized pretty pictures. This month, we showcase the photography of five new interiordesign books released from the coffee-table masters at Rizzoli. 1 0 6 Q UEST
From David Hicks: A Life of Design, by his son, Ashley Hicks. This page: The Great Rotunda at Baronscourt. Opposite: Pamela Mountbatten Hicks’s bed at Britwell uphostered in a graphic green print.
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From City Rooms: Inspirational Interiors for Urban Living by Anne Kelly. This page: Fashion designer Zang Toi’s modern interpretation of classic French design in his New York City apartment. Opposite: Carolina Irving’s fantastic collections showcased in her living room.
The Home within us Bobby McAlp-
How to live with what you love
ine writes on the architecture he has created with his partner, Greg Tankersley, at their firm, McAlpine and Tankersley. Known for creating residences that “resonate with nostalgia, fantasy, and a sense of place,” the book showcases some twenty-five residences from the countryside to the seaside, all showing off the design vernacular of this notable firm.
“Whether you have been accumulating and displaying your collections for generations, or just beginning to decorate your home, this book will show you the tremendous creative adventure that lies ahead,” begins Stafford Cliff in the introduction to this serial book. Cliff and Gilles de Chabaneix look at fabulously creative interiors with collections that center on everything from antiques to kitsch.
great lady decorators Mixing social
history with stunning period photography, Great Lady Decorators: Lessons From the Women Who Invented Interior Design is a not-to-be-missed volume on the contributions of remarkable women, including Elsie de Wolfe, Rose Cummings, Eleanor Brown, and many more. rooms to inspire: in the city From Carolina Irving’s Gothic-inspired Upper East Side-chic apartment to Robert Couturier’s elegant curved walls at his residence in Soho, this book mixes cosmopolitan sophisication with artistic expression. In the City is part of the “Rooms to Inspire” series. 1 1 0 Q UEST
david Hicks: a life in design Written by his son, Ashley,
this book is the defintive source of information on one of the most important interior designers of the twentieth century. Known for his colors, eclecticism, and geometric designs, Hicks defined a generation of style in the 1950s and ’60s. This book offers unprecedented access to his archives, personal photos, journals, and scrapbooks. Opposite, clockwise from top left: an open-air configured loggia; a Chapel walkway; a grand salon marries antiques with modern elements, all from The Home Within Us: The Romantic Houses of McAlpine Tankersley Architecture. This page, from top left: a collection of oil paintings recedes into the background on an egg-shell blue wall; an array of bottles catch the light below a window, both from How to Live with What You Love.
From The Great Lady Decorators: Lessons from the Women who Invented Interior Design, written by Adam Lewis with a foreword by Bunny Williams. This page: the entrance hall of Swan House in Atlanta, Georgia. Opposite: the living room belonging to designer Bunny Williams at her home on Park Avenue.
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walking the city By PETER PeNNOYER
Walking tours in New York have ranged from rallies to preserve neighborhoods—Greenwich Village, for example, before it was landmarked—to adventures led by erudite docents from the Municipal Art Society. As chronicled by the historian Gregory Gilmartin, tours led by the great irascible champion of classicism, Henry Hope Reed, in the 1960s, were balanced by tours of modern architecture by a young staff member at MoMA named Ada Louise Huxtable. My goal for a recent Manhattan walking tour was to make a sampling of the classical icons on our skinny island, if not from end to end, at least as far as my group’s legs would carry in one day. Aside from a quick bowl of New England clam chowder at the Oyster Bar and a stop at The Old Print Shop to buy a birthday present, we kept moving all day. If you want to try this, I suggest you search the internet and arm yourself with a sheaf of literature on these buildings. Of course,
l i b r a ry of con g r e ss ( h i sto r i c ) / P e t e r P e nnoy e r a r c h i t e c ts ( map )
This page: a map of architect and author Peter Pennoyer’s classical walking tour of Manhattan, from Wall Street to Washington Heights. Opposite, clockwise from top left: Federal Hall; the interior of the haunted Merchant’s House Museum; the New York School of Applied Arts for Women; Peter Pennoyer. A P RIL 2 0 1 0 1 1 5
most of the sheaf will consist of Streetscapes columns by the esteemed Christopher Gray. Federal hall. The tour began at 8:30 a.m. There is really no other building in our city that presents the strength and beauty, the muscular presence of the Greek temple model as Federal Hall. Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis designed this Doric temple as the U.S. Custom House in 1842 on the site of the New York’s former City Hall and America’s first Capitol Building. Within, the architects span the great hall with a dome inspired by ancient Rome. This monument is both ingenious for combining these two threads in our classical heritage and for holding its own in the powerful streetscape of Nassau and Wall. From the top of the steps the building dominates the corner where the J. P. Morgan Building meets the New York Stock Exchange. Though not on my list, I must mention how the Stock Exchange attempts to challenge the dominance of Federal Hall: George B. Post’s façade features a Corinthian seven bay temple front, which is perched on an engaged rusticated plinth as though the architect intended for this monument to rise to the level of Federal Hall. Unfortunately for Post, lore has it that the board forced him to drop the exchange floor to street level to expedite the flight of traders who might panic in a stock market crash. As a result, Federal Hall maintains its superior elevation and the interior of the Stock Exchange drops behind its façade.
MERCHANT’S HOUSE MUSEUM. A wealthy and prominent
merchant, Seabury Tredwell moved into this late Federal house with his family in 1835. By the 1840s, the house contained the eight Tredwell children and four Tredwell servants. Gertrude, the youngest child, lived in the house until she died, in 1933, in the second-floor south bedroom. Yes, in the same bed, decorated with the same hangings, fabricated from an extra bolt of damask found in the attic. Inside, as was common in the 1830s, the builder created interiors in the Greek Revival taste, with robust details that look like they’re taken straight from the popular pattern books of the day. This is New York’s only nineteenth-century family home that is preserved—inside and out. We arrived earlier than Margaret Halsey Gardiner, the director, so all the lights were off. When she arrived, she preceded us into each room, opening the shutters just as the Irish servants must have done for Mrs. Tredwell in the morning. Halsey Gardiner knows almost everything about this house— and its ghosts. Her connoisseurship will guide the planned restoration of the rear façade and some of the interior rooms, which will be complete in the fall. And her patience will keep the doors open to the public during the work. LAGRANGE TERRACE. Just around the corner, I spotted my favorite classical row in New York. Named after the Marquis de Lafayette’s country house, the remaining four of an original This page: Pennoyer’s favorite classical row in New York, La Grange Terrace. Opposite: The Charles Follen McKim building, the historic center of the Morgan Library and Musuem, is closing in June for renovations, but will reopen in the fall.
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nine-house row, developed in 1832, these twenty-seven-foot-wide houses are unified by a colossal screen of Corinthian columns. Even in their diminished and decaying state—the marble is simply melting—these are still the most important looking houses in New York, and a great inspiration to a certain kind of architect. Since five are missing, I am left with one nagging question: Where—oh where—are the great columns? The American Wing at the Met should certainly display one. NEW YORK SCHOOL OF APPLIED DESIGN FOR WOMEN. All the way up
the director of the Morgan Library & Museum, Bill Griswold. We focused on the library, which was designed by Charles Follen McKim in 1902. Morgan took a step back from the florid Beaux-Arts excesses of Whitney Warren, who had designed the New York Yacht Club under Morgan’s patronage just two years before. Rejecting Warren’s very French proposal, Morgan commissioned this rather academically correct, utterly balanced, and harmonious Palladian set piece. Griswold is rightfully excited to see the results of the planned restoration of this building’s great interiors, which were recently covered by the financial press as the site of Morgan’s marathon meetings to salvage our financial system, almost exactly one hundred years before the troubles of 2008. The rooms, among the most important historic interiors in the country, include marble, mosaic, tapestry, brocade, fresco, and wood, which will be cleaned, refurbished, and provided with state-of-the-art lighting. Original elements, long stored in the basement, such as the heroically-scaled temple lantern that hung at the entrance to the East Room, will be simply dusted off and re-hung—though it’s probably more complicated than I make it sound. Closing in June, the McKim building, the historic center of the Morgan Library & Museum complex, will reopen in the fall to great fanfare. GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL. Though we only stopped in on the way to the Oyster Bar, and avoided the temporary exposition on the history of eyewear in Vanderbilt Hall, we did pause long enough in the main concourse to admire the vaulted ceiling. When the ceiling was complete and ready for paint, the architect, Whitney Warren, told the
to that stretch of Lexington that is home to Indian and Pakistani restaurants, we came upon the grandest schoolhouse ever built in our city. This stout, Ionic temple could be a secret pagan society, but was actually designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett in 1908 for the artist Ellen Dunlap Hopkins, who used her ample checkbook to establish a school for women in art and architecture. Casts of the frieze of the Parthenon, a popular model for students of art at the turn of the twentieth century, band the base of the building’s plinth. THE MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM. We walked up a few blocks to 36th Street and Madison, where we were greeted by
This page, from top: Grand Central Terminal—an architectural gem of Manhattan, and home to the great Oyster Bar; the entrance to the New York Yacht Club, built by Whitney Warren in 1902; the exterior of 78th Street that this writer considers “a masterpiece.” Opposite: students at the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, possibly the most important institute of its kind in the nation.
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the Harry Rogers Wintrhop house, an eccentric 1930s house on East
project supervisor that the color would have to match the blue of a certain shirt in his wardrobe that was being laundered in Paris as they spoke. The crew waited six days until an assistant to Warren arrived with the shirt in a basket, straight from Pier 54. What great taste and what a great ego. INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE & CLASSICAL AMERICA and THE GRAND CENTRAL ART ACADEMY. Just
down 44th Street, we were greeted by Paul Gunther at the Institute of Classical Architecture, where classically inclined architects and artists teach, write, and spread the word to advance the classical ideal in architecture and the applied arts. As the most important national institution dedicated to classicism, these studios attract students from all over. From Paul’s office, we climbed to the attic floor, where Jacob Collins runs an ICA program called the Grand Central Art Academy. Jacob, though fresh from the otherworldly experience of having been the subject of a life mask—his face freshly scrubbed of the encasing goo, was eager to show us his students’
latest work, much of it based on observations of plaster casts donated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art from its vaults. This is where classicism lives in Manhattan. I was taken by a particularly fine charcoal drawing of a Greek torso. NEW YORK YACHT CLUB No list of classical New York would be complete without this absolutely phantasmagorical concoction by Whitney Warren in 1902. The asymmetrical stone façade seems to be straight from the drafting board Warren used as a student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. The model room, which faces 44th Street—where the club keeps all of the models of the America’s Cup boats—is expressed on the façade by galleon sterns thrusting out of the building, pulling seaweed and anchor chains. This is classicism that accomplishes fantasy in architecture without simply being eccentric or scenographic. A masterpiece. HARRY ROGERS WINTHROP HOUSE. We stopped in the heart of the Upper East Side, a neighborhood that is so full of beautiful houses that it really deserves its own tour. I have written about
This page, top: a row of townhouses in Harlem designed by McKim, Mead, and White in 1891 for David King, Jr. is known as Strivers’ Row. Bottom: the courtyard at Audubon Terrace houses many cultural headquarters in New York City. Opposite: One of the monumental
William Adams Delano before and am particularly smitten by this eccentric 1930 townhouse on East 78th Street. The façade has a great two-story arch framing a semi-elliptical niche that captures the entrance at the first floor, the entrance to the basement, and a central window. This treatment of a townhouse façade is unique in our city and a delightfully grand gesture made modest by the simplicity of the surrounding detail, which is essentially Federal in spirit. VINCENT ASTOR TOWNHOUSE. After the shortest leg of the walk, we arrived at the headquarters of the Junior League of the City of New York, which was designed by Mott Schmidt in 1926 for Vincent Astor. Schmidt, like his contemporaries who practiced classicism with a light hand, could shape the most elegant and noble buildings with restraint—buildings more eloquent than effusive, more delicate than robust. Here, the architect presents a central pediment over Ionic pilasters. The center window of the façade is surrounded by a lovely arched panel set in shallow relief. Not only is this an exquisite façade, but
it also relates well to its neighbors, which include houses by Cross and Cross and Delano & Aldrich. By the end of this year, my firm will have a new classical limestone façade under construction on the north side of the street facing this gem. We hope to live up to the neighborhood. STRIVERS’ ROW. Continuing the tour with the northern Manhattan counterpoint to LaGrange Terrace, we walked the length of 139th Street, from Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard to Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The north side of the street is a row of townhouses designed by McKim, Mead, and White in 1891 for the developer David King, Jr. The façades are rendered in a warm red-orange brick of beautiful texture and proportion. All of the details, the small balconies, door enframements, and lintels are made of molded bricks of the same character. This uniformity allows the rhythm of the street to reflect the overall architectural design, rather than the division of the block into small row houses. First-floor balconies with French doors center each parlor floor, while the entrances are discreetly tucked to the side; shallow projections of the cornices break the long plane of the street wall. Strivers’ Row proves that classical architecture can transform a row of houses into part of a more important streetscape, giving civic scale and beauty back to the city. AUDUBON TERRACE. Finally, quite exhausted, we arrived at the last stop on the tour, the complex of buildings known as Audubon Terrace. Walking west from Broadway, we entered the courtyard terraces where a collection of impressive classical buildings face the inside of the block, creating a diverse but, sadly, quite under-populated precinct of headquarters of various New York cultural institutions. With buildings by McKim, Mead, and White, Cass Gilbert and Charles Pratt Huntington, and impressive sculpture, including a colossal El Cid by Anna Hyatt Huntington, this complex is one of the only public courtyards in America that reflects the spirit of the City Beautiful Movement of the turn of the twentieth century. We did wander into an exhibit of contemporary art at the American Academy of Arts and Letters and admired the southern view of the Hudson over the Trinity Cemetery. If we had more time, we would have visited Goya’s Dutchess of Alba, one of the treasures within the Hispanic Society, but our legs were aching and my cab ride home was waiting. Next time I’ll splurge and take a pedicab—but that would be cheating. u
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statues at Audubon Terrace.
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THE YOUNG & THE GUEST LIST It’s a raucous month of parties—with stops at the Frick Young Fellow’s Ball, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the alice + olivia shop at Saks—as Elizabeth Brown goes behind the scenes with Manhattan’s freshest young faces. by Elizabeth Brown
Between glasses of champagne, guests browse the art works on view at The Frick Collection during the Young Fellows Ball.
“t Ted Geary, Liz Walker, Remington Curtis, and Harrison LeFrak enjoying Atlantico Rum at Avenue.
Lesley Schulhof and Lily Maddock, who was proud of her brother-in-law’s benefit. Megan Zillis and Ashley Passik pause for a photo while exploring “Decodence” at the South Street Seaport Museum.
Winston Lapham, Hayley Bloomingdale, and Samer Awwa at the Charles
Annabel Vartanian flashes a smile (and a glimpse
Mike Gilbane, John Seitz, Jim Zimmerman, and
of her Gucci shoes!) at The Frick Collection.
Charles Maddock at his winter benefit.
Maddock Foundation’s winter benefit.
Pat r i c k m c M u ll a n / S o n ny n o rto n
when kate moss met Frank Sinatra, she described the en-
counter by saying, “He kissed me on the lips, then gave me a filterless cigarette. I came off all lightheaded. He was fabulous.” Being asked to write this column feels sort of like that. Succeeding Andrew and Jack is a bit daunting, but twirling around Manhattan, going from event to event? What more could a young writer ask for. So, with a splash of Jo Malone and some vintage fur, I’m off, feeling all lightheaded and fabulous. Here’s hoping I’m on the guest list... I stopped by the Museum of the City of New York Director’s Council Winter Ball on February 23 with Jamie Yike, my Quest-y bestie. We said a quick “Hello!” to Mark Gilbertson, admired Lauren Remington Platt, whose braided hairstyle
was gorgeous, and casually joined a conversation about vacationing in Gstaad which, well, must be nice. Meanwhile, aprivateclub was hosting an opening reception for “Decodence.” So, after a final sip of champagne, I was en route to collect my friend Lindsay Torpey-Cross. Since my Christian Louboutin boots weren’t really made for walking, I cabbed it from above 100th Street to the South Street Seaport Museum. That fare certainly set me back a bottle or two of André. There, Sebastian Bland and Teddy Van Beuren browsed original furnishings and rare photographs from the S.S. Normandie, alongside aprivateclub founders Justin Belmont and Kloe Korby. After a night off, I left work early that Thursday and dashed over to Bloomingdale’s. I begged the stylists at Bumble and APRIL 2010 123
bumble StyleBar to weatherproof my hair before visiting makeup artist Lauren Napier at the shu uemura counter. A set of false eyelashes later, I was on my way with David Mehlman to the The Frick Collection’s Young Fellows Diamond Deco Ball wearing a short red Acne dress borrowed from my friend Anne Moody. The chairmen, including Lydia Fenet, Coralie Charriol Paul, and Elisabeth Saint-Amand, sparkled in Tiffany & Co. jewels. And March Quest covergirl, Annabel Vartanian, looked stunning in black Oscar de la Renta. After the mini ice-cream sandwiches had been served, I exited into a veritable blizzard. I stopped by Dorrian’s before heading to an after-party at a friend’s apartment where Paul Johnson Calderon and I played “Addicted to Love” by Florence and the Machine on repeat. I’m sure everyone really appreciated that. A wintery week later, the Charles Maddock Foundation 2010 Winter Benefit was hosted at Avenue. Guests sipped Atlantico Rum courtesy of Aleco Azqueta and Brandon Lieb to the sweet, sweet sounds of DJ Cassidy. Lily Maddock, Charles Maddock’s sister-in-law, was excited about the event’s success: “Liz Walker was super helpful with everything and we had some great liquor sponsors. I was glad my good friend Harry LeFrak was there. He’s been really supportive of CMF.”
his book launch.
In March, Malcolm Dorson launched his first novel, Octopus Summer, at the Lisa Perry boutique. Many of the attendees contributed to the work in which the protagonist is the ultimate outsider with a unique insider’s view of New York society. According to Dorson, Dave Knott and James Slattery may have inspired some characters. Mercedes Dorson, Eleonora Monacella, and Tathiana Monacella assisted with the editing process and Carolina Dorson, Claire Gries Cacciapaglia, and Serena Tufo helped with the event. Swag included plastic Wayfarer-esque Octopus Summer sunglasses! The following evening, Essie Gavrilov and I hopped across the street from the Quest offices to Saks, where I met Juliet Izon at the opening of the alice + olivia shop. DJs Harley Viera-Newton, Cassie Coane, Alexandra Richards, Chelsea Leyland, Mia Moretti, and Caitlin Moe performed as designer Stacey Bendet mingled with Byrdie Bell, Valerie Boster, and Ali Wise. I mingled with a blue and white number that I totally wouldn’t mind wearing as I “research” next month’s installment... So, until then, enjoy that first coffee on the delightful spring day when it’s just warm enough to order it iced. You know, when it tastes like driving on Nantucket with your feet through the window of a 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser. Ah, summer! u
Above: Valerie Boster, Byrdie Bell, designer Stacey Bendet, and Ali Wise at the opening of the alice + olivia shop at Saks Fifth Avenue. Left: Chelsea Leyland sets the tone for the evening at alice + olivia. 124 QUEST
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Malcolm Dorson signs a copy of Octopus Summer at
Kimberly Guilfoyle, Sebastian Bland, Anisha Lakhani, and Lara Glaister display copies of Octopus Summer.
Malcolm Dorson reads an excerpt from his first novel, Octopus Summer.
Lizzy Fraser and Olivia Magowen toast to their friend’s literary debut.
Marisa and Wally Tomenson with Malcolm
Fifi Knott, Ellen Moore, and Dave Knott
Dorson, Michael Streicker, and Christina
support author and friend, Malcolm Dorson.
Bennison at Dorson’s book launch. Anne Huntington and Lauriston Roach sporting Lisa Perry designs at her Madison Avenue boutique.
Jamie Yike, David Mehlman, and Lindsay
Lily Evans, Daphne Butler, Stephanie deKertanguy, Missie
Aprivateclub founders Justin Belmont, left, and Kloe
Torpey-Cross at the aprivateclub event.
Walker, and Carter Kahle celebrate Octopus Summer.
Korby, right, with Pam Bristow and John Finger. APRIL 2010 125
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palm beach heats up by hilary geary
From left: Rush Limbaugh and Kathryn Rogers at Mar-a-Lago for an Andrea Bocelli concert; Evelyn Lauder with Tom Quick at his birthday party.
At long last we got a little sun down here in P.B., after what seems to have been the coldest winter on record in this little town! Every day, the glib weatherman would say that the weather would be, yet again, “unseasonably cool.” Sure, it’s not as cold as D.C. or N.Y.C. but, darlin,’ this is supposed to be a tropical resort. Our pals Lauren and John Veronis came 126 QUEST
down to stay and I had to tell her to pack sweaters, maybe even a fur jacket! Anyway, we turned on the heat, lit the fires, and kicked off the weekend with cocktails at the Artis Group Ltd. Gallery, featuring paintings, photos, and drawings from Alice and Allan Ryan, Nina Rumbough, and Virginia Burke. This talented group of artists sold everything
in a flash. The next night, the Everglades Foundation held a benefit dinner with the one-and-only Sting, in concert, right there in the ballroom at the Breakers. Eight hundred people showed up for this special benefit! The next morning, everyone was up at 9 a.m. to watch experts implode the condemned 1515 tower in West Palm Beach that had been
damaged beyond repair by hurricanes. In nine seconds, the thirty-story tower came down. That night, we had some pals over for a dinner in honor of Lauren and John. They have so many friends it was hard to keep this one small. The following day we had lunch at Christine and Steve Schwarzman’s dazzling waterfront house to celebrate his birthday. Christine held a tennis tournament with star players such as John McEnroe and Mats Wilander. The tennis matches benefited Haitian relief efforts. On Valentine’s Day eve we headed to Marjorie Fisher’s, who is everyone’s favorite Valentine for her annual “Pig Out” dinner. This soirée is everyone’s favorite as she serves comfort food with exquisite wines—perfection! Among the group were Mila Mulroney, Steve
Gruss’s charity, Hope for Depression. Krista’s paintings are terrific and a big crowd came to applaud her wonderful works. After that, we dined at a cozy gathering at Jackie and Rod Drake’s cheerful, art-filled home. She set a long table for twelve with smoked salmon, followed by lamb chops, and a chocolate dessert—yum! Then, like a miracle, the water calmed and the sun came out. To celebrate, we hopped on to Rand and Jessie Araskog’s beautiful Hinckley picnic boat, Dream Awhile, for a glorious tour of P.B. from the water. On another weekend, we popped into Edwina Sandy’s wonderful art show and cocktail party in West Palm Beach. You know that Edwina is a not only a very talented artist, but also a granddaughter of Winston Churchill. Her irresistible artworks have a touch
between the ocean and the Intracoastal, and it was a splendid setting for a chamber-music concert in honor of Toby and Itzhak Perlman, hosted by the Clarks along with Emilia and Pepe Fanjul. We then went to Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson’s dinner party as they were celebrating John’s birthday. They had rented a house for a month or so and hopefully will spend more time here. The last stop was Diana and Llwyd Ecclestone’s fabulous bash to celebrate Tommy Quick’s birthday. The theme was “Tommy’s Bar” (one of Tom’s favorite clubs is Harry’s Bar in London, mine too I might add). The seated dinner party was great fun as pals flew in from all over. The dinner was wonderful, starting out with butternut squash ravioli, followed by chicken Milanese. We had dessert al fresco by the pool fol-
From left: Christine Schwarzman; Marylou Whitney and Jean Tailer holding a photo of themselves at John Hendrickson’s birthday dinner years before.
and Kara Ross, Cynthia Boardman, Muffy and Don Miller, John and Carole Moran, Kate Gubelmann, Parker Ladd and Arnold Scaasi, and more. On the next weekend, we had Anne Eisenhower and Wolfgang Flöttl to stay so we took them to Krista Bard’s art show at the Wally Findlay Galleries, which was a benefit for her sister, Audrey
of Magritte and a dash of Matisse, and they always make me smile! We spotted Henry Buhl, Carlos Morrison, Suzette Smith, and Gigi and Harry Benson in the crowd. The next day, we stopped by Kristy and Jim Clark’s lovely house, “Il Palmetto,” formerly owned by Janet Annenberg Hooker. This showplace sits right
lowed by dancing to a terrific D.J. On a Sunday night, we were guests of Michele and Howard Kessler at Mar-aLago for an Andrea Bocelli concert with special guest, Broadway star Heather Headley. What a dynamic duo! After dining by the pool, lit by a full moon, we headed into the sold-out concert. How much fun! u APR I L 2 0 1 0 1 2 7
751/2 bedford street In Manhattan, even the townhouses are skinny—but none more so than 751/2 Bedford Street, the narrowest building in Manhattan, with an interior spanning only 98 inches across. Tucked between 77 and 75 Bedford Street, lore has it that both John Barrymore and Cary Grant once called the 990-square foot townhouse home, but it is best known as the 1920s-era residence of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. In 1923, as the New York newspaper headlines blared “Famous Love Lyricist Belies Her Own Philosophy by Marrying,” Millay’s new husband Eugen Boissevain rented 751/2 Bedford Street, built circa 1873, from the Cherry Lane Theater for a lease of one year and ten months. The rent was $200, “a princely sum,” wrote Nancy Milford in Savage Beauty, her acclaimed biography of Millay, “to a young woman who earlier in the year was deeply in debt and staying with friends to economize.” Millay’s newlywed home still stands—at the same dimensions—on Bedford Street today. 128 QUEST
“It’s not practical living, but it’s living with heart,” said Alex Nicholas, the Corcoran broker who sold the townhouse in late 2009, noting that even the stove in the house accomodates its narrowness: its four burners lie in a straight line, rather than the usual foursquare. Its previous owner loved the romanticism of 751/2 and would open the windows to chat with curious tourists passing by on the street. And the purchaser? His identity is shrouded in mystery and is protected by a deed in the name of an anonymous corporation. The buyer’s broker allows only that the new owner is an investor who fell in love with the townhouse as soon as he saw it. Edna might have been shocked to learn that her $200 rental is currently available for lease at $10,000 a month: only minimalists, or poets, need apply. —Rebecca Morse Left: Edna St. Vincent Millay and her husband photographed by Jessie Tarbox Beals in the backyard of 751/2 Bedford Street. Right: the yard today.
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