There was music from my neighbor's house through those summer nights. In his enchanted gardens, men and girls came and went like moths, among the whispering and the champagne and the stars. I believe that few people were actually invited to these parties.
This weekend has been an odd mix of the normal and the extra-ordinary. Usually I don’t start my blog on a Friday but this week was sports day and so deserves a special mention as it is a bit like a free day from work. It was held away from the school, and started later and finished earlier than a normal day. It was also beautifully hot and sunny, with a light breeze blowing that just stopped one from overheating, making it the perfect day for sitting outside, eating pizza and ice cream. I’m not going to wax lyrical over it as it was still definitely a work day, but as they say, a change is as good as a rest, and this was a particularly pleasant day for a change. Ten more days to go and the summer vacation starts in earnest! I am of course really looking forward to July 4th and all that it brings- I think Boston Harbor will be THE place to be this year. Watch this space in two weeks time…
Saturday may have felt more productive had I not embarrassed myself hugely by falling over in the street while running. The least said about that the better, other than it didn’t really impinge on my Saturday plans, other than to make me grumpy and whingy all day. Other than that, Newbury Street is, as ever, a great place to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon, people watching, gossiping and generally hanging out with friends. Having heard it called the “Rodeo Drive of the East” I feel quite lucky to have it so close by, and so easily accessible. I’m not sure I would agree with the statement though. It certainly does, as I have said before have a very eclectic mix of stores, both quirky independent boutique types and well know chains, but it has a European style charm that I have never experienced in L.A. and certainly didn’t pick up on when I was on Rodeo Drive- for one thing I do actually purchases goods and services when on Newbury Street! For me, and it was a few years ago, Rodeo Drive felt much more polished and sure of itself.
By Saturday evening it was definitely summer in the city mood, as the Fenway Civic Association are holding a series of free concerts in the park. The first one was this week, and it was by a group called Buffalo Soul, who describe themselves as a mix of futuristic reggae fusion. I would love to tell you more about the music, but having checked out the website before hand and deciding that it maybe wasn’t the way I envisioned my evening going I sat myself down in the park with a book instead and passed a very pleasant half hour in the evening sun. If however, you are intrigued by futuristic reggae fusion I’m sure they would be more than happy for you to check out their website http://www.myspace.com/tu33ylove
Sunday morning saw the brilliant blue skies and summer sun continue so I set out to Newport RI to play in the summer cottages, wander along the cliff tops and gaze longingly out to sea, wishing I had the time and the money to do this every day. Newport stands on the southernmost tip of Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay. It was established as a colony in 1639 and with great harbors quickly grew as a port. Despite growing quickly and becoming a prosperous town it suffered huge losses during the War of Independence, many of the population fled and the original town was mainly burned to the ground. Having said this, it does still have a few examples of eighteenth century architecture. This isn’t so much what it is known for today, as the Bellevue Avenue mansions. I have talked about these before, the summer homes of the American “aristocracy” from the late 1880s through to the 1920s. This is where the Vanderbilts, and the Astors spent their six weeks away from New York.
Having been here before I wanted to visit a different house, so today it was Rosecliff, the summer home, for five years of Theresa Fair Oelrichs, a silver heiress from Nevada, and her husband. She bought the land in 1891 from George Bancroft and precede to tear down his log cabin and construct a house that cost $1.2 million to build and took four years to complete. Her brief to her architect was, apparently, to create a summer house suitable for entertaining on a large scale- and they certainly met that brief. This house has the largest ball room in Newport and a very impressive sweeping heart shaped staircase on which to make an entrance. The basic layout is similar to the Grand Trianon at Versailles, and if you are going to steal a design idea Marie Antoinette is a good a person as any to borrow from, and incidentally she is carved into the marble above the fireplace in the dining room. While keeping the feel of the columns and arched windows from the Trianon (and again it has been a few years, so correct me if I’m wrong) a second story has been added to the house for the bedrooms and the bathrooms. A third story has also been, in my opinion, cleverly concealed behind the roof line to contain the servant’s rooms and the laundry. With all this at her disposal Mrs. Oelrichs did indeed become one of the best know hostesses in Newport, and even created her own navel harbor scenes for her parties! What I would give to have been invited to one! I was born to have floated around these houses in swooshy, sweeping dresses and sit on porches drinking long island iced teas in the summer.
This weekend has been an odd mix of the normal and the extra-ordinary. Usually I don’t start my blog on a Friday but this week was sports day and so deserves a special mention as it is a bit like a free day from work. It was held away from the school, and started later and finished earlier than a normal day. It was also beautifully hot and sunny, with a light breeze blowing that just stopped one from overheating, making it the perfect day for sitting outside, eating pizza and ice cream. I’m not going to wax lyrical over it as it was still definitely a work day, but as they say, a change is as good as a rest, and this was a particularly pleasant day for a change. Ten more days to go and the summer vacation starts in earnest! I am of course really looking forward to July 4th and all that it brings- I think Boston Harbor will be THE place to be this year. Watch this space in two weeks time…
Saturday may have felt more productive had I not embarrassed myself hugely by falling over in the street while running. The least said about that the better, other than it didn’t really impinge on my Saturday plans, other than to make me grumpy and whingy all day. Other than that, Newbury Street is, as ever, a great place to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon, people watching, gossiping and generally hanging out with friends. Having heard it called the “Rodeo Drive of the East” I feel quite lucky to have it so close by, and so easily accessible. I’m not sure I would agree with the statement though. It certainly does, as I have said before have a very eclectic mix of stores, both quirky independent boutique types and well know chains, but it has a European style charm that I have never experienced in L.A. and certainly didn’t pick up on when I was on Rodeo Drive- for one thing I do actually purchases goods and services when on Newbury Street! For me, and it was a few years ago, Rodeo Drive felt much more polished and sure of itself.
By Saturday evening it was definitely summer in the city mood, as the Fenway Civic Association are holding a series of free concerts in the park. The first one was this week, and it was by a group called Buffalo Soul, who describe themselves as a mix of futuristic reggae fusion. I would love to tell you more about the music, but having checked out the website before hand and deciding that it maybe wasn’t the way I envisioned my evening going I sat myself down in the park with a book instead and passed a very pleasant half hour in the evening sun. If however, you are intrigued by futuristic reggae fusion I’m sure they would be more than happy for you to check out their website http://www.myspace.com/tu33ylove
Sunday morning saw the brilliant blue skies and summer sun continue so I set out to Newport RI to play in the summer cottages, wander along the cliff tops and gaze longingly out to sea, wishing I had the time and the money to do this every day. Newport stands on the southernmost tip of Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay. It was established as a colony in 1639 and with great harbors quickly grew as a port. Despite growing quickly and becoming a prosperous town it suffered huge losses during the War of Independence, many of the population fled and the original town was mainly burned to the ground. Having said this, it does still have a few examples of eighteenth century architecture. This isn’t so much what it is known for today, as the Bellevue Avenue mansions. I have talked about these before, the summer homes of the American “aristocracy” from the late 1880s through to the 1920s. This is where the Vanderbilts, and the Astors spent their six weeks away from New York.
Having been here before I wanted to visit a different house, so today it was Rosecliff, the summer home, for five years of Theresa Fair Oelrichs, a silver heiress from Nevada, and her husband. She bought the land in 1891 from George Bancroft and precede to tear down his log cabin and construct a house that cost $1.2 million to build and took four years to complete. Her brief to her architect was, apparently, to create a summer house suitable for entertaining on a large scale- and they certainly met that brief. This house has the largest ball room in Newport and a very impressive sweeping heart shaped staircase on which to make an entrance. The basic layout is similar to the Grand Trianon at Versailles, and if you are going to steal a design idea Marie Antoinette is a good a person as any to borrow from, and incidentally she is carved into the marble above the fireplace in the dining room. While keeping the feel of the columns and arched windows from the Trianon (and again it has been a few years, so correct me if I’m wrong) a second story has been added to the house for the bedrooms and the bathrooms. A third story has also been, in my opinion, cleverly concealed behind the roof line to contain the servant’s rooms and the laundry. With all this at her disposal Mrs. Oelrichs did indeed become one of the best know hostesses in Newport, and even created her own navel harbor scenes for her parties! What I would give to have been invited to one! I was born to have floated around these houses in swooshy, sweeping dresses and sit on porches drinking long island iced teas in the summer.
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