House of the Week

I like this house because it shares of couple of features with the house my husband grew up in, on Beacon Hill in Boston. It's in Richmond on Monument Avenue. The front door on the side and the overhanging bay are similar to the ones on my husband's childhood home. Have a great Monday!

A view down Monument Avenue...

An architectural image of the house in Boston:

A photo of the Boston house:

House of the Week

A cozy cottage for this brisk winter day.

House of the Week

Another Monument Ave, Richmond, Virginia house. This one dressed up for Christmas!

House of the Week

On Monument Ave in Richmond, VA....

House of the Week

This stunning row house is in Richmond, VA on Monument Avenue. We spent Thanksgiving in Richmond and I walked up and down Monument Ave drooling and taking pictures. I adore row houses and Richmond has some of the prettiest in the country. My favorite feature of this house is the curved bow in the front.

House(s) of the Week

In Memory of Betsy Yearley, November 29, 1913- November 16, 2011



My grandmother died last week - she had long, wonderful, full life and would have been 98 on November 29. So much of what I know and love about interior design and creating a home comes from her and her talent. In memory of her, three of her houses.





I love you Gram and will miss you!!!

House of the Week

I guess you can call this a "house" of the week, but perhaps "small chateau" might be a better way to describe this exquisite residence.

Le Petite Trianon





Le Petite Trianon was designed by Ange-Jacgues Gabriel for Louis XV and was built between 1762-68. It was built for Louis XV's mistress Madame de Pompadour, but she died before it's completion. When Louis XVI ascended the throne in 1774 he gave the chateau to his young wife, Marie Antoinette. She used the residence as a way to escape from the pressure of court life at Versailles.

Here is a great description:

"His (Gabriel's) best-known structure, the Petit Trianon—designed for Mme de Pompadour in 1761 and considered among the most perfect buildings in France—is one of several modest works he erected for the court. At the Petit Trianon, the handling of the order, the window frames, balustrades, and other features derive closely from the French Classical tradition. Gabriel's debt to the past is equally apparent in the building's noble aura of imperturbable dignity, its harmonious proportions, and the precision and elegance of its detailing. But the deceptively modest structure exemplifies Neoclassical taste, for it is severe in its cubic geometry, restrained in articulation, and barren of the accents of relief sculpture typical of seventeenth-century French design."

— Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. p409-10.

In the warming kitchen...








The Salon




The sitting room off of Marie Antoinette's bedroom


Her bedroom




Marie Antoinette by Madame Vigee Lebrun, this portrait hangs in the billiard room at Le Petite Trianon




Another portrait by Mme Lebrun, who painted the Queen several times. This one is more informal, and one wonders if this type of simple dress is what she wore at Le Petite Trianon in her garden.