Happy Thanksgiving!

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!!!

Versailles: A Private Invitation

If you love Versailles, you will love this book. The photographs are simply amazing and the text compelling. The authors were given unprecedented access to the chateau and you will be thrilled by these unique photographs. Would make a divine Christmas present!

Versailles: A Private Invitation
by Frances Hammond and Guillaume Picon
available here

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.

Doors of Versailles

Continuing with the door obsession....

Monogram Pillows

How cute are these needlepoint pillows? They were custom made by our friend Janet Gregg for this room below and will sit in the pink chairs:

Paris Doors

Two church doors on Montmartre:


Sacre Coeur


Saint Pierre de Montmartre