China Tales, Part Deux

Architecture
October 14, 2013

Hello everyone. I’m sorry for the last couple weeks of radio silence, I had been working on something on my end that I will be able to tell you all about very soon! Today I wanted to talk about china storage. You have listened to me talk about china in the post China Tales, see here, but I haven’t discussed where to keep it. This weekend I went on a re-organization binge to determine the best way to store my china, linens, and silver. Let’s just say the project is not finished, and I may have to add some shelves inside my sideboard. While in the midst of this project all I could think about was how lovely it would be to have a large butlers pantry or china room that could store everything in an organized fashion – like Martha Stewart’s butler’s pantry above. A girl can dream, right?

This is a picture of Bunny Williams china room in her house in the Dominican Republic. Now let’s be honest, the amount of china, silver, and linens that I have would not even fill a single cabinet in this room, but what a dream to walk in and have everything on display providing instant table setting inspiration. And finally, this is the butler’s pantry at The Breakers, in Newport Rhode Island. Completed in 1895 for Cornelius Vanderbilt II and designed by Richard Morris Hunt, The Breakers is one of the more famous Newport mansions where entertaining was part of everyday life. This butlers pantry has a mezzanine, meaning it offers two stories of storage for china. Note the single pane glass fronted cabinets that would allow staff to locate china quickly and easily. It is also interesting to recognize that the cabinetry in the butler’s pantry goes all the way to the floor, which was very common at the turn of the century. Today, most kitchen cabinetry has a recessed kick plate at its base. We don’t have a need for a china room such as this one anymore, as we no longer have the number of staff to manage storage such as this. However, these rooms still exist in historic homes throughout the world, and offer a glimpse into another time. All I need is a couple extra shelves.

Photos courtesy of House Beautiful, Martha Stewart, and Historic Structures.

Discovery at the MET

Architecture
September 23, 2013

I was in NYC last week, so I went to the MET.When we lived in NYC, our apartment was only 4 blocks away, and I would often find myself in the museum discovering something new. Despite my frequent visits to this extraordinary building, and my background in preservation, my focus has never been on the architecture. I am always looking at the collections. This time, I decided I would pay a little bit of attention to the building itself.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in its current location at 82nd and Fifth Avenues in 1880. The originally building, seen here, was designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould. If the name Calvert Vaux seems familiar to you, it should be. He is the architect who, along with Frederick Law Olmsted, designed Central Park. As the MET Museum’s collections grew, additions were added to this building. Today, this entire original structure is encased by later additions.

The building’s early Vaux-designed facade can be seen when the visitor is standing in the Robert Lehman Wing.

The facade of the MET that we are all familiar with today was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, and opened to the public in 1902. Hunt, who was a Trustee of the Museum, was also the founder of the Municipal Arts Society and the American Institute of Architects. So if you live in New York, stroll on over to the MET, go the Robert Lehman Wing, and go check out the building’s original facade.

Castello, Villa, Palazzo …

Architecture
September 17, 2013

This 15th century gothic building is Castello di Thiene. Located in the Vincenza area of Italy, the Castello is a rare example of a Pre-Palladio villa. Although the building is referred to as a castle, it is an early example of an Italian villa also known as a palazzo. The Castello di Thiene is still privately owned by the Conti di Thiene, however, like many historic homes of this scale it is open to the public.

In the 15th Century, Francesco Porto Sr. inherited some land from his father and uncle, and the Castello di Thiene was begun around 1450.
The two photos above are of the stables at Castello di Thiene. Although construction on the Castello began in the 15th century, it wasn’t until the late 17th century that construction began on the elaborate stable complex. Enthusiastic equestrians, the Porto family most defnitely built these stables to impress. With 32 stalls each divided by red marble columns from Asiago, ornately carved hay stalls and carved stone putti; I’m sure prospective buyers were impressed. This is the Castello’s chapel, referred to as the Noble Chapel. Although also constructed in the 15th century, the chapel underwent major renovations in the 19th century. Photos courtesy of castellodithiene.com