The Inn at Little Washington by Rizzoli International Publications

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A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

Chapter Four

Claiborne House

t one point in its life, the Claiborne House was the ugliest

building on the block. It started out as a one-room doctor’s office on the property next door. The building was later moved a few hundred feet to its current site. Several unfortunate additions were cobbled on to it— one on each side and it became a genuine eye sore. The addition on the left featured an enormous, red brick chimney on the front façade, which resembled an incinerator. At the time, I was living on the corner of the block and had to walk by the little house to get to the Inn each morning. I hated looking at OP P OSITE A ND A BOVE:

it – especially that awful chimney. It was so troublesome to me that I fantasized about how I could correct its appearance. My first thought was simply to buy the house and paint it white, which would make the chimney less prominent. A friend suggested I might have a large slipcover sewn and drop it over the whole house. I spent a bit of time contemplating what fabric I’d use for the task and imagined something on the order of a tea stained, floral chintz thinking it might look like a very

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PART OF THE FUN OF THE HOUSE IS THE UNEXPECTED SURPRISE OF FINDING AN INTERIOR FAR BEYOND ANYONE’S EXPECTATIONS. WALKING

OPPOSITE AND ABOVE:

If you believe in fairy tales then perhaps this story of the transformation of The Inn at Little Washington from a country auto garage into a fantasy jewel box will seem less foreign to you than for someone more solidly grounded in reality. As children, my mother loved to read to us and we enjoyed a steady diet of all the classic children’s fairy tales. I was especially haunted by the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and only much later realized how much it influenced my decision to become a chef. I knew at a very early age that food offers a means of

outsized tea cozy that a giant may have left on the side of the road. As it turned out, the elderly widow living in the house was called to her after-life one winter day. Apparently she had been sitting on her front porch sipping from a flask, watching the goings on at the Inn and quietly, cooly expired. The Inn became the most logical buyer for the property. As we were signing the purchase contract with the realtor, he asked “You all ain’t superstitious are you?” We were puzzled. He continued, “Because there’s an old graveyard on this property.” I immediately thought, how charming. I had fantasies of creating a miniature cathedral on the edge of the graveyard. The realtor pointed out that Virginia law allows anyone who has a relative buried on the property to have right of access. However, since the gravestones date from the 1800s it didn’t seem likely that we would get much traffic from visiting relatives. Today our guests are intrigued when they see lichen-covered tombstones dating back several hundred years. It’s one of many small details that give the Claiborne House such a unique character. During this period we had been working with a renowned architect, Allan Greenberg on plans to enlarge The Inn. Allan is considered to be one of America’s foremost classicists. He had been asked to design the diplomatic reception rooms at the State Department. I mentioned to Allan that we had purchased this little cottage and were thinking of freshening it up a bit and wondered if he had any thoughts. He said dryly, “I gather you’re looking for something down and dirty on a cocktail napkin?” “Precisely,” I said. So I pulled a cocktail napkin off the table and drew what I thought would be a proper front porch with a Palladian window above. Surprisingly, he concurred. But the next day he called and said, “You know, you’re never going to be happy unless you demolish that awful chimney on the front. Once you do that, you can do anything you want.” When the chimney got knocked down there was very little of the cottage left. At that point Allan began generating working drawings and set about developing an identity for the house far beyond its wildest dreams. As with all projects here, the goal was to make the finished cottage appear as if it had always been there. Today, one of the building’s

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A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

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A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

A M A G NReserved IFICENT OBSESSION ÂŠ 2014 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights

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A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

A M A G NReserved IFICENT OBSESSION ÂŠ 2014 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights

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A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

charms is its forced symmetry. The left and right of the front façade are not quite identical. This quirky imperfection gives the house the character of a much older home. The plan was to make the cottage my personal residence. Because I spend the majority of my waking hours at The Inn and take all my meals there, I naturally thought it wouldn’t be necessary for the house to have a kitchen. But the bank felt otherwise. I was informed that all houses have kitchens. The footprint of the house continued to grow and evolve. A kitchen, dining room, media room, and back veranda showed up on the sheaves PART OF THE

of blueprints that Allan’s team began churning out. As the project grew,

FUN OF THE

we struggled with the challenge of how to give the residence the sophis-

HOUSE IS THE UNEXPECTED SURPRISE OF FINDING AN

tication of a proper house in town with the comfort of a country farmhouse—inside and out. Finding just the right balance between diminutive and grand was one of the more satisfying accomplishments. Joyce, as always seemed to be capable of channeling the house’s inner dreams

INTERIOR FAR BEYOND

and intuiting what was appropriate. We always joke that with our reno-

ANYONE’S EX-

vations and re-dos we like to push things right to the edge and hopefully

PECTATIONS.

stop just before falling over it.

WALKING

The sedate and traditional exterior of the Claiborne House is in marked contrast to the stage set on the inside. Part of the fun of the

OP P OSITE A ND A BOVE:

house is the unexpected surprise of finding an interior far beyond anyone’s expectations. Walking through the front door one can’t help but feel as if they’ve walked into a folly—a sort of giant birdcage. By removing part of the second floor, the entry stair lobby now has a double height ceiling, papered in a sky blue and bamboo English wallpaper. The paneled walls are poison green faux pine with an overlay of faux bamboo trellis covered with flowering vines. The imaginary narrative is that the cottage was created by an eccentric former inhabitant to serve as a fanciful escape from the “big house” (The Inn) when it became necessary In spite of the cottage being cursed with small rooms and very low ceilings, Joyce dealt with both liabilities in incredibly creative ways. For example, the small library ceiling was paneled and upholstered in leather with brass nail head trim. The floors are made from giant pine beams

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A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

A M A G NReserved IFICENT OBSESSION ÂŠ 2014 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights

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Part of the fun of the house is the unexpected surprise of finding an interior far beyond anyone’s expectations. Walking through the front door one can’t help but feel as if they’ve walked into a folly—a sort of giant birdcage. If you believe in fairy tales then perhaps this story of the transformation of The Inn at Little Washington from a country auto garage into a fantasy jewel box will seem less foreign to you than for someone more solidly grounded in reality. As children, my mother loved to read to us and we enjoyed a steady diet of all the classic children’s fairy tales. I was especially haunted by the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and only much later realized how much it influenced my decision to become a chef. I knew at a very early age that food offers OP P OSITE A ND ABOVE:

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A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

salvaged from slave cottages, which were sawed into planks fourteen inches wide and then pickled. Allan Greenberg designed a floor plan with an open flow through the rooms to encourage an indoor/outdoor feeling, with the living room leading into the dining room, opening onto the back veranda and garden beyond. The carpet in the living room is a blue and white English Wilton wool from Stark, which was loomed in twenty-four inch strips the same way it was done in the 1800s. This indoor/outdoor feeling is most strongly felt in the airy sunroom/ dining room. Three walls are small-paned floor to ceiling windows. Mirrors were employed on the remaining interior wall creating an illusion that the entire room is in the middle of a garden. The ceiling has a round opening in the center with clouds and birds painted on it giving the sense that you’re looking straight up into the sky. A chandelier in the shape of a hot air balloon completes the fantasy of an open ceiling as the balloon appears to ascend through it. The kitchen, which almost didn’t happen, turned out to be one of our favorite rooms. Joyce chose a midnight blue for all the cabinets with a black strié applied on top of it. The striking color of the cabinet doors is set off by huge, brass lion head pulls. The walls are old Delft tiles laid out in a hodgepodge pattern. For the finishing touch, we painted the ceiling terracotta. One of the biggest surprises in the house is the barrel-vaulted ceiling in the master bedroom. I’ve always loved Newport and the magnificent architecture there. We found a wall covering from Scalamandré which was inspired by one of the carved ceilings in Marble House and used it to paper the arched vault over the bed. Possibly because of the house’s compact and highly detailed spaces, it evokes a luxury sailing vessel, particularly in the master bathroom which is trimmed out in mahogany. Craig Claiborne’s first visit to what would later become his namesake cottage is a memorable one. While we were still in the construction stages, he called to say that he was coming to stay at the Inn for his birthday. (Having attained the status of “culinary royalty,” Craig was not one to inquire first if there was a room available for him.) As it turned out, A M A G NReserved IFICENT OBSESSION © 2014 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights

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RECIPE

Strawberry Tartlettes with Lemon Curd hood home in Sunflower Mississippi. He was so touched that he told us he planned to spend every birthday here for the rest of his life. Happily he managed to spend quite a few with I have fond memories of Craig and his friend Jim having lunch on the back porch, eating caviar with soup spoons (which is really the best way to enjoy it) and drinking crisp, white burgundy. We still serve Craig Claiborne’s tomato soup on our room service menu. The recipe appeared in one of his early cook books. Today the Claiborne House serves as our “Presidential Suite” and many celebrities and luminaries have enjoyed staying there over the years. Warren Beatty and Anette Benning, Al and Tipper Gore, Alain Ducasse, Susan Lucci, Michael J. Fox and Kathy Bates, among others.

000

A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

A M A G NReserved IFICENT OBSESSION ÂŠ 2014 Rizzoli International Publications. All Rights

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