Take one sugar-trust fortune. Mix liberally with railroad and steamship monopolies. Add a second-generation art collector mated with fox hunter/polo player. Stir in 3000acres of farmland. Add one lake (largish). Allow to rise for about 100 years.
Last week I, along with a bunch of golden agers, art appreciaters, and general busy bodies, got a chance to tour through the home of one of America's great collectors of art and antiques, Electra Havemeyer Webb. Mrs. Webb was the daughter of a sugar trust magnate and she married the scion of the Vanderbilt fortune. (She was actually richer than her husband...) She started the fabulous Shelburne Museum (see the sidebar). Her in-laws started Shelburne Farms, which is a gilded age farm fairy land. My tour was guided by a guy who is apparently occupying himself productively while Waiting for Guffman. I was grateful he could project since I sometimes have a hard time hearing when I am at the back of a crowd of old people in a stranger's bedroom. The tour was of Mrs. Webb's private home, a former farm house known as "the Brick House." This is not the great mansion belonging to her in-laws that has become the Shelburne Inn. It's unmistakably the former home of a Very Rich Woman, but very homey and warm. If I had been invited for the weekend I would have had no problem lolling on a sofa.
Mrs. Webb's son, the film editor Watson Webb Jr., inherited the place after his mother's death in 1960 and it came to the Shelburne Museum after his death, around 1999, I think. Now, they let VIPs stay in it, hold a symposia or two, and lead tours once in a while (like, four times a year). Museum interns, I was told, live in the servants' quarters. I love all the same kinds of things that Mrs. Webb collected, so I knew I would love her house. And I did. So, I am sharing.
The driveway. The house is way back at the end of the avenue, and surrounded by a thousand acres of private land. I think back in the day, the family had 3,000 acres.
The view from Mrs. Webb's bedroom door. Don't you love the lamp?
Here are a few of the barns on the property of Shelburne Farms.
Now back in the house.
Teapots? Yes. I love them too! Of course there was Staffordshire all over the place. You couldn't swing a dead cat in there, not that I would recommend bringing a dead cat into this, or any, house, without hitting Staffordshire.
He was a fox hunter. She was a collector. I am sure she HAD to have this painting.
Speaking of Robert Burns
We weren't but we are now - aren't we?
I have always had a soft spot for Robert Burns. This is partly because I learned when I was kid - from one of those little astrology booklets they sell at supermarket checkout - that he and I have the same birthday: January 25. (Fun fact: also shared with Eartha Kitt).
I wrote a few months ago here about Arvo Part and earlier this week, for some reason I can't now recall, I drifted back to Youtube to listen to a Part setting of the Burns poem "My Heart is in the Highlands". It is really haunting. Since I am doing a classy post, I thought I would include the video here. The slideshow is a bit overwrought but someone worked hard on it the music is beautiful - it says on Youtube that this is a high school choir. Could it be? My heart is in the highlands too. Here in the north. The birth place of valour. The country of worth.
Let me know what you think.
6 comments:
can i have one of those barns? i believe my little house, the studio and any "stuff" would fit in one....
can't find your email address in your profile so when you get a chance wander to www.mrspsbrain.blogspot.com
i had a dream the other night i had a photo of myself as your flying lady....
Nice place; Did you make an offer?
:)
Cheers.
I feel that I must have been stolen as a child from a family who lived in this sort of place. It all looks lovely.
Not sure about Avro Part, bit of mixed feelings about him. But always liked Burns. Kind of have to, being Scottish.
Oh, I loved this! Of course, I clicked on the old books to see the titles. And I do love that lamp. Do you ever listen to Jean Redpath?
http://www.jeanredpath.com/pages/burns.html
one cannot have enough lamps with dogs on them, can one?
(i should like to tell those people off, the ones who parked their cars under the trees that way.)
Deborah - The Coach Barn, which I didn't photograph because I didn't have my camera - took my breath away. Think court yard entered by arched brick entry way, clock tower, iron hinges like from King Arthur's Day, on massive doors. I would happily live in that barn. Next time you get back to VT you must put this on your list. I loved that website you recommended!
R. - Ohhh How I would love to make an offer. As you no doubt have surmised, not even Bill Gates or JK Rowling could make an offer on this particular piece of real estate.
Mme. YES! I know, I was meant for this too but somehow wound up born in student housing to a graduate student back in the '60s. A cosmic error? Did you not like the Part music or the video? Glad to hear you like Burns - sort of mandatory as you noted.
Nan - Have you gone wandering over the grounds at Shelburne Farms? For many visits we only got as far as the Farm Barn (not that it is not splendid on its own). This summer I have made it a point to roam further and I was blown away. Hope you get a chance to see some of this too.
Hey Proj - I don't have any dog-shade lamps myself but I would love to have this one. I am happy to report I was not parked on the lawn (I got there in time to park next to the house in the drive). No one came out to yell at the lawn parkers though. Nice to hear from you.
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