Cauliflowers and Country Life

Every now and then a house comes along that stops you dead in your design-loving tracks. This was it for me. The Bachmann residence, in Oxfordshire, England.

Featuring one of the most extraordinary interiors ever created, it was designed by Mrs Bettina Bachmann, who was the wife of the former Head of MGM Studios in England. Outside, it's a gracious, understated, bordering-on-austere 17th-century manor home. Inside, however, it's a spectacular MGM-style stage set.

The dining room, which was inspired by cauliflowers, according to Mrs Bachmann, features what appears to be a Neo-Classical decor. But look closely. There's a lot of trompe-l'œil going on. The ribbons. the wall. Even the grand black marble table is painted. And there are cauliflowers – CAULIFLOWERS – as a floral display, tied together with black grosgrain ribbon. Genius.

If you think the whole house is going to be monochrome, think again, because the master bedroom and bathroom are circus-inspired delights. Pink and tangerine, to be correct. Mrs Bachmann even painted the television to match.  Mrs Bachmann, you are a woman to like.

This is what I have since discovered about the fabulously talented Bachmanns and their surprisingly stylish country home, courtesy of www.theentertaininghouse.com, whose author is the Bachmann's granddaughter, and Elle Decor, which featured the home.

• Bettina Bachmann preferred to challenge and shock the world of design, even though she mixed among America's high society.

• She was born with polio and lived in a wheelchair for part of her life. Determined to overcome this handicap, she styled her life so it was beautiful and impeccably groomed, but always with an unexpected twist.

• She and her husband owned several homes, including a residence in Paris next to Notre Dame, which was known as the House of Heloise and Abelard. She decorated the house using only orange, coral, purple, and fushia. While the workers were doing the renovations to it, she would greet them at 7AM and give them her orders dressed in her couture night clothes. 

• When her husband was appointed oversee MGM Studios in England, she set out to find a house for them to live in. She found this, which she dubbed The Manor House. She bought it for her 60th birthday, and lived in it for the next 30 years. 

• She decorated in a style that stood in stark contrast to her neighbour, Nancy Lancaster. The bathroom and bedroom were adorned with latticed coral and pink walls, while the formal living room featured bookshelves where the books were catalogued according to colour – decades before anyone else had thought of it. She didn't care what society thought of her new home. As she said: “Nothing they say matters. I am the one who has to live here.”

(Photos from Country Houses of England, published by Taschen.)

A Kennedy-Inspired Weekend

Most people associate Cape Cod and the neighbouring islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket with summer. But autumn (or fall) and spring are also wonderfully atmospheric seasons to be here. The beaches are deserted of crowds, the skies are crisp and clear (with the occasional moody storm to mix things up), the restaurants are easy to reserve a table in and there is a gentle, wistful, romantic beauty to the place. It's the perfect getaway, especially for a weekend trip from New York City.

It's also the perfect architectural vacation for design lovers, with villages and houses that are so sublimely designed, you'll wish you could buy your own Cape escape. Just pack your jeans, some woolly sweaters, some sandshoes and a camera to shoot all the homes, and hop on a JetBlue flight out of JFK to Nantucket or the Vineyard.

I've been to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and the Cape Cod many, many times for work, shooting beach houses for various books, and am often there in either May or October/November. This morning I was watching the video of Gant's HOME collection for 2011, shot at the Kennedy summer house and it brought back the quiet, moody beauty of the Cape.

You can find the Kennedy link here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qyJrXJs1L8&feature=related 

My parents and I were wandering through Hyannis Port and along the semi-private beach in front of the Kennedy compound one morning (a local policeman was showing us around) when we bumped into US Senator Edward Kennedy. He was alone, walking along the same stretch of sand that his brother used to stroll to contemplate his political problems. He was ill by that time so he was quiet, but friendly and gracious. We later visited the Kennedy Museum and paid our respects to JFK. It was a magical day.

So, here, in tribute to the Kennedys and their favourite getaway, is a Guide to the Cape. Oh – and if you miss the Fall, try to book a weekend in May, before Memorial Day. It's only an hour's flight from JFK to Nantucket or the Vineyard and usually around $100. You may need a hire car on the Cape but not on either island. Just rent a bike or take the bus, like the locals do!

CAPE COD

Above: The Kennedy beach and compound at Hyannis, as seen in Gant's summer campaign for 2011. Below: Our view of it. You can almost imagine JFK strolling along here to contemplate his life, loves and political problems.

What to do: If you're on the Cape, hire a car for two days (you won't need one on the islands), and drive around Hyannisport, and then along Route 6A to Provincetown, where many designers such as John Derian now have a weekender. The cape is dotted with gorgeous, gracious old white clapboard homes – just go slow on Route 6A and you'll see them all. Stop for a walk along a beach, grab some lobster for lunch and then find a cute diner to have dinner with the locals. (When we were there we sat next to a famous CNN American newsreader, happily eating among the fishermen and the builders.)

 MARTHA'S VINEYARD

Where to stay: Rent a beach house for a week, like this one gorgeous all-white cottage (pictured above), owned by my friends Jill Katz and Scott Miller. (mermaidboathouse.com/ rental/welcome.html) Then hire a bike from Vineyard Haven village (which also has great boutiques) and cycle the charming country roads, soaking up the island scenes.

What to do: Walk around the beautiful back streets of Edgartown (some of the lanes are pictured above), which is one of America's most enchanting places. Most of the black-and-white architecture is heritage listed and kept in pristine condition. You can also take the ferry over to the island of "Chappy" (Chappaquidick), where Meg Ryan lives. Another must-see place is Oak Bluffs, which – in sharp contrast to Edgartown – is dotted with gingerbread houses painted in pastel shades. 

Where to eat: Alchemy (71 Main Street, Edgartown). French bistro dining in a chic Vineyard setting. 

(In Edgartown, even the churches are chic!)

Best beaches: Many of the beaches on the Vineyard are private, but there are still many beautiful public ones, such as this one above, which was in front of a stunning house I was photographing. You can access these beaches simply by trying to find them on a map (although check if they're private) and then either walking or riding to them. Most are within half an hour's ride. This one was right in the centre of Edgartown. 

Last word: While you're on the Vineyard, keep your eyes posted for the celebs who have houses here. I happened to be photographing a house in Edgartown one day when I was told by the owner that "Lee Radziwill had just stayed over". 

NANTUCKET

Where the Cape and the Vineyard are "old money", Nantucket is very firmly "new money". Lots and lots of it. I was speaking to somebody one day who told me he'd received a phone call from a complete stranger asking if he'd consider selling his beach house. "For a price..." the storyteller said, thinking he'd string the stranger along. The stranger named a price. A big one. Shocked, the storyteller took it. He moved out the next day. The new owner? He was one of the founders of Google. That's kinda what happens on Nantucket.

Where to stay: The Veranda Hotel, Nantucket. Very red, very white, very black, and very, very chic.

Where to eat/drink: At one of the many bars on the harbour. The light and atmosphere at twilight is magic, especially when the boats start trickling in and the sun sets over Nantucket town.

What to do: Walk. Nantucket is made for walking. The town (the main town is also called Nantucket) is small enough to walk around in less than an hour. You can also walk to the beaches along charming island lanes. And when you get tired from walking, you can shop. The town has some of the best boutiques in the USA. (The Ralph Lauren store here is gorgeous: even prettier than the one in the Hamptons.)

Next week: An Architectural Weekend in Miami and the Keys

Six Places Not To Miss in New York City

Night Hotel

I’ve been staying here for years. It’s a sexy little hideaway (pictured above) that's perfectly located mid-way between the cool oasis of Bryant Park, the high-end stores of Fifth Ave and the lovely greenery of Central Park. It’s decorated entirely in black and white and can look a little like a Vogue shoot, but I love it. It’s very New York. The rooms are small but surprisingly luxurious, and I can often get a rate of $150/night. 132 West 45th Street. www.nighthotelny.com

The Strand Bookstore
Most New Yorkers know about this literary treasure trove but many out-of-towners and overseas visitors don't. It's where many stylists, designers, architects and indeed anyone who loves books browses for both new and second-hand titles. I know stylists who come here when they need to 'dress' a store, window, or even an apartment interior with piles and piles of books. It's spread over several enormous floors but despite the cavernous proportions and no-frills approach to interior design it's surprisingly welcoming. There are tables piled with the latest releases, entire sections devoted to architecture, interiors, gardening, fashion and of course classics, and even a mezzanine stocked with all the newest releases from high-end publishers such as Assouline and Taschen. It's not as inexpensive as Amazon, of course, but it still draws people in – and entices them to buy! Once you start browsing the shelves you won't stop, trust me. (Last time I was here I bought 72 kilos of architecture books, and then had to somehow get them back to Australia. In the end, United Airlines didn't even charge: what a lovely carrier.) There are also shelves where you can buy books for only $1. I bought Cecil Beaton, Somerset Maugham, Diana Vreeland, and a book on Vogue, all for $1 each. Well worth a visit. But leave a few hours – you'll lose yourself among the shelves. 828 Broadway, New York, NY. www.strandbooks.com

Paula Rubenstein
Stylist Sibella Court cites it as her all-time favourite store in NY and it’s one of mine too. It’s a little Cabinet of Curiosities with all kinds of lovely vintage things. It’s also just around the corner from The Crosby Street Hotel and Balthazar, so you can have lunch in one or the other afterwards. 65 Prince Street, New York.

Mood Fabrics.
I've mentioned this place before in this blog, so I won't go into detail here, other than say if you want to pick up Ralph Lauren upholstery fabrics for a mere $12/yard (as opposed to the normal $200/yard), then include this address on your next schedule. I'm always buying fabric here – great Ralph Lauren pinstripes, beautiful houndstooths in flamboyant colours, and gorgeous summer silks in shades that would look perfect on vacation in Mexico, or Sydney, or St Tropez... There are three floors of fabrics (the size of the store will astonish you), and the endless aisles are filled with top-end, designer stuff. It's also the kind of fabric you could use for either dressmaking or interior design. Just too, too fab for words. (Pun intended.) 225 West 37th Street  New York. www.moodfabrics.com

Anthropologie 
Another favourite go-to place for a lot of New Yorkers, this store constantly surprises. The window merchandising alone (pictured below) is worth the trek uptown. It stocks fashion and accessories but I prefer the homewares, furniture and books section in the back. Unlike the fashion, which can be a bit bohemian for some tastes, the homewares are beautiful, whimsical, unusual and timelessly stylish. I always buy things here, from cute black-and-white ceramic doorknobs with "In" on them to gorgeous ruffled shower curtains and great books to give friends for Christmas. There's also a 'Sale' section downstairs where they throw all the mostly-sold-out stock, so wander down there for a flick through the bestseller items. 50 Rockefeller Centre, New York. www.anthropologie.com

Fishs Eddys

This store, which is located in that extraordinarily creative neighbourhood surrounding the Flatiron Building, is classic New York. Crazy name. Crazier interior. And filled with Fish fans all hours of the day and night. (And, like them, I never fail to pop in whenever I'm in New York!) It's a back-to-basics kinda store that specialises in dinnerware and other kitchen accoutrements. But it's not fancy breakable plates or the kind you'd be too nervous to bring out. It's simple, whimsical, slightly humorous and entirely memorable stuff. Like these witty Floor Plan plates, which I've fallen utterly in love with and buy whenever I'm Manhattan – very fitting dinnerware for an design journalist! There are also dinner sets with the New York Times crossword, the New York and Brooklyn skylines and dozens of other fabulous iconic images and illustrations. Great for gifts. 889 Broadway, New York. www.fishseddy.com

Next week: Paris.

Christmas Reading, Part 1

A must-have for lovers of fashion, glamour and design, Cecil Beaton: The New York Years chronicles the legendary photographer’s life – and creativity – in New York City from the 1920s through to the swirling 60s. With dozens of sketches, set designs, costumes, letters, and more than 220 photographs and drawings, it’s an extraordinary insight into a brilliant mind. (Who knew he had an affair with Garbo?) As whimsical, as wonderful and as unexpected as Cecil himself, it’s the perfect accompaniment to the exhibition of the same name currently showing at the Museum of the City of New York.

Cecil Beaton: The New York Years.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Avenue at 103rd Street. Until Feb 20, 2012. www.mcny.org

From Dior to J'Adore

The news that the Arts Centre in Melbourne was about to stage a new version of that old classic Grey Gardens, the story of Big Edie (Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale) and Little Edie (Edith Bouvier Beale) started me thinking about the colour grey. Although grey has very little to do with the fascinating lives of these two Hamptons-bound has-beens, apart from the fact that it was the name of their now-famous decaying mansion, it does seem to represent them, in a curious, match-the-colour-to-the-personality way.

Another personality that grey represents – and in a much more stylish and dignified way – is that great, glorious French couturier Monsieur Christian Dior. Dior was so enamoured with the colour dove grey he made it one of his signature colours, if not his brand.

It's perhaps fitting that we're doing a post on Dior because a beautiful new book has just been released on the designer's life. Entitled Dior Couture Patrick Demarchelier, it's a collection of fashion portraits of the world's most glamorous women wearing Dior – all shot by Patrick Demarchelier. Locations inclide Shanghai, Times Square, New York, the grand staircase of the Paris Opera House, and the garden of the Musée Rodin. Published by Rizzoli, it's fashion as art. Just glorious.

Here, in tribute to the master of shape and silhouette, are a few Dior-esque posts...

Suite Dreams

After many years of sartorial woes, including being overshadowed by flashier fashion houses, and bit of a nasty business with John Galliano earlier this year, the legendary House of Dior is finally showing signs of an elegant comeback. One of these signs is this: the glamorous new Dior Suite at the St Regis hotel in New York.

Designed in collaboration with Dior, the 1700-square feet space features spectacular views of 5th Avenue and Central Park, and a decor based on the Dior atelier in Paris – right down to French-style mouldings and a pale dove-grey colour scheme (St Regis calls it  “whispering gray”). There are also framed sketches of Christian Dior’s designs. Yours for the Dioresque price of $8500 a night.

www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis

{Photography by George Chinsee for WWD and St Regis}

Paint Inspiration

Inspired by Dior’s signature sophisticated grey, Benjamin Moore has created a paint that emulates its classic and understated beauty. It’s called 2133-40 Dior Gray, and it's the perfect grey; not too cold and dark and not too washed-out. It's slightly darker than the grey that the Prince of Wales often selects for his suits, and has a distinct Savile Row feel to it. Pair it with white, or black, for a thoroughly distinguished finish.

Classic Design Quotes

“The tones of gray, pale turquoise and pink will prevail.”

—  Christian Dior (French Fashion designer, 1905-1957)

Dior-ettes

DID YOU KNOW:

– The English singer-songwriter Morrissey released a song titled “Christian Dior” as a b-side to his 2006 single “In the Future When All’s Well”.

– American Rapper/Producer Kanye West released a song titled “Christian Dior Denim Flow” as a 2010 Fashion Week single.

More Dior

It’s not widely publicised, but Christian Dior’s childhood home in Granville, ‘Villa Les Rhumbs’, is open to the public. The only ‘Musée de France’ dedicated to a couturier, a this 19th-century, Belle Epoque-style clifftop villa overlooking the sea features hundreds of Haute Couture garments over three floors, including designs by Christian Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré for Christian Dior and John Galliano. There is also a gorgeous garden, designed by Dior’s mother, which is beautiful in the spring and summer.

www.musee-dior-granville.com

Gardens Great and Small

We're approaching summer here in Australia. The spring rains have soaked the soil so much that the garden has that lovely scent of damp fertile earth, and the sun has sent the plants soaring skyward. We have spent the past weekend weeding madly but Mother Nature is far ahead of us. She has already sent out more agapanthus seeds, so the long driveway is now full of their bobbing white heads, and she seems to have given a few words of encouragement to the English box hedges, the beds of hydrangeas, the Chinese wisteria and the beautifully fragrant star jasmine as well. Everything is growing like a teenager with hormones.

Here, as inspiration for all you avid gardeners, is a small selection of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen, photographed for a book called The Modern Kitchen Garden last year. Two months of nothing but shooting flowers and petals and produce and leaves. You can't imagine what bliss that was. (Okay, you probably can.) Next week I'll feature Villandry (WAIT until you see that!), the King's Garden at Versailles, Petersham House and images from Stuart Rattle's and Paul Bangay's gardens, which I'm visiting tomorrow.

Prieure d'Orsan, France

One of my all-time favourite gardens, this garden (pictured above and below) is legendary, and spoken about among gardeners with the kind of reverence that fashion folk speak about Karl Laferfeld's shows for Chanel. It's an extraordinary, medieval-inspired garden in the heart of France, created using hand-made structures made from willow grown on site. Even the herb garden and the Berry Walk (pictured here below) feature intricate supports that look more like art than twigs and bits. With hearts created from ivy and espaliered splendour everywhere, it's the kind of place you walk around in a daze, for hours and hours and hours.  www.prieuredorsan.com

Barnsley House, Rosemary Verey's garden in the Cotswolds  (Below)

I once met the renowned Ms Verey on Media Day at Chelsea. I chatted to her for half an hour about Prince Charles' garden at Highgrove (which she had a hand in) before realising who she was. That's how beautifully unassuming she was. Her own English country home (below), which I was so incredibly fortunate to stay in last year, is a poem to prettiness, with peony borders, a world-famous potager, knot gardens and a stunning laburnum walk. If you stay here, book into the Potting Shed suite (which I did). Accessed via a path through the potager (bottom image), it's one of the most glorious hotel rooms a gardener could ever wish for, with a deep clawfoot bath, a super-luxe living space and your own courtyard garden looking out to the Cotswold fields. Even the lights are made from terracotta pots. Elizabeth Hurley's property borders Barnsley House, so if you're lucky you might see her pottering about as well. www.barnsleyhouse.com

The kitchen garden at Daylesford Organic, Cotswolds (Below)

Daylesford Organic won a lot of acclaim at Chelsea's 2008 Garden Show for this gorgeous garden (below). A superb example of a small walled kitchen garden, it features beds of delicious produce enclosed by woven willow, a modern summer house  (dubbed a "garden kitchen") that's designed to be an indoor/outdoor space, and delightful views of the wheat fields beyond. Lady Carole Bamford has achieved a great deal at the much-visited Daylesford, but this is undoubtedly the best. Love the hearts fashioned out of twigs. And notice how the gardening aprons match? That's how strict the branding is here. www.daylesfordorganic.com