Social Diary• January 21, 2022

Revisiting and returning to the collection of a friend

Looking at the life of a friend, Pierre Durand, who died last year and whose estate is going up for auction at Christie’s next Thursday, January 27th...

Kayel De Angelis

House• May 7, 2010.

Kayel De Angelis, is the third generation to work in his family’s high-end custom curtain and furniture firm founded over sixty years ago by his grandfather, Guido De Angelis. He’s a grounded man family man who knows the importance of patience when serving the often exacting requirements of a design trade with clients who expect […]... READ MORE

Friday, April 30, 2010

Duane Hampton

House• April 30, 2010.

From the very start of my interview with Duane Hampton, widow of renowned decorator Mark Hampton, I felt like I was chatting with an old girl friend. She’s a witty, charming woman with a keen sense of humor who sees life for what it is and makes it work. After the early death of her husband in […]... READ MORE

Friday, April 23, 2010

Paige Peterson, revisited

House• April 23, 2010.

A year ago last January we interviewed our friend, artist/writer Paige Peterson in her Central Park West apartment for NYSD HOUSE. A few weeks ago she sent us pictures of her apartment but after a makeover. It is a perfect A Before and After story, and it looked so different that I couldn’t help asking her why she […]... READ MORE

Thursday, April 22, 2010

SS Andrea Doria

Social History• April 22, 2010.

I was initially drawn to the Andrea Doria at the age of 14 after reading the book, Collision Course, by Alvin Moscow. The book tells of the Andrea Doria’s birth, her brief but glorious life, and her tragic end, in the summer of 1956. To me the Andrea Doria embodied the hope and optimism that Italy was searching for after the War. I w... READ MORE

Friday, April 16, 2010

Federico de Vera

House• April 16, 2010.

There is a hushed, serene feeling to Federico de Vera’s downtown apartment. The space, which Federico shares with his partner, Randy Saunders and his pet Chihuahua, Diego, is filled with intriguing and beautiful objects that have been almost obsessively selected and placed by Federico, owner of De Vera on Howard Street. Much like the environm... READ MORE

Friday, April 9, 2010

Clinton Howell

House• April 9, 2010.

Clinton Howell of Clinton Howell Antiques clearly loves to read and talk, and he writes an entertaining blog at www.clintonhowell.com, all of which made him great for an interview—even better because what he says isn’t canned, and we’re always striving for the authentic in these interviews. The ‘authentic’ in antiques is, of course, up f... READ MORE

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Washington Social Diary’s countryside getaway – Blackberry Farm: Sleep Away Camp for Rich People

Across the Nation• April 6, 2010.

Oh, to be a lottery winner, Goldman-Sachs executive or newly rich! I would peel off a wad of fresh green and jet back to the even greener hills of Tennessee and the pastoral fields at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains. I would be pampered, but with a veneer of roughing it: good food, […]... READ MORE

Friday, March 26, 2010

Jacqueline Coumans

House• March 26, 2010.

The brownstone parlor apartment of Jacqueline Coumans, designer and owner of Le Décor Français is without a doubt the essence of all that intrigues us about French style. It’s a confluence of fabrics and furniture, most purchased years ago, which have somehow all landed in the right place. Mind you, this is not a haphazard mix but […]... READ MORE

Friday, March 19, 2010

Bill Brockschmidt

House• March 19, 2010.

Bill Brockschmidt, an architect, designer and partner (with Courtney Coleman) of Brockschmidt & Coleman shares a cozy studio with his partner of 20 years architect, Richard Dragisic (pictured left). They also have a house in Sicily, which they have almost finished renovating. Their New York studio is warm and stylish and filled to the brim wi... READ MORE

Friday, February 26, 2010

Ron Wagner and Timothy Van Dam

House• February 26, 2010.

Ron Wagner and Timothy Van Dam have been partners in life and their respective design business for more than two decades. They took the leap from their Chelsea residence to their now fashionable Hamilton Heights townhouse in 1985 at a time when just heading north of 96th street was not the norm. Trailblazers all the way, […]... READ MORE

Friday, February 19, 2010

Carlton Hobbs

House• February 19, 2010.

Carlton Hobbs (pictured with managing director, Stefanie Rinza) is one of the foremost antique dealers in the world, and it is an astonishing experience to walk through the rooms of the Vanderbilt mansion that are graced with beautiful, museum-quality antiques. Although his connection with such pieces is obviously driven by passionate interest, h... READ MORE

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Washington Social Diary: The White Out

Across the Nation• February 11, 2010.

The Washington blizzard of last weekend was dense and intense, and even beautiful, but the white out of the last 24 hours was brutal and a challenge even for those skilled in winter weather extremes. This was not a storm made of only fat flakes falling heavily from the sky. It had the heavy snowfall […]... READ MORE

Friday, February 5, 2010

Okamoto Studio

House• February 5, 2010.

Shintaro Okamoto and his father Takeo Okamoto are the owners of Okamoto Studio, an ice sculpting enterprise based in Long Island City. Shintaro was born in Japan and raised in Alaska, then moved to New York where his father opened the business while he finished his education .(BA from Brown University and an MFA from Hunter College) He […... READ MORE

Friday, January 29, 2010

Sondra Gilman

House• January 29, 2010.

Sondra Gilman (photographed with her husband, Celso Gonzalez-Falla) owns, arguably, one of the world’s finest photography collections and it is one of the big treats of this job, that we were able to see part of it in her lovely Upper East Side townhouse. The house is also filled with paintings and sculpture—in passing she pointed out [&helli... READ MORE

Friday, January 15, 2010

Sixx Design

House• January 15, 2010.

Robert and Cortney Novogratz are self-taught designers (Robert was originally a stockbroker and Cortney trained as an actress) who have been enviably successful at finding bargain properties, reading the taste-zeitgeist very well while renovating them and then selling them on for fat profits. But there is another dimension to their lives that grab... READ MORE

Friday, January 8, 2010

Gerald Bland

House• January 8, 2010.

Gerald Bland has, for most of his life, specialized in selling fine English furniture, having trained at and worked for Sotheby’s. Lately he has shifted gears somewhat and in keeping with our eclectic times, has started to put fine furniture together paintings, ceramics and custom pieces into his showroom. He has a wonderful eye and the [&hellip... READ MORE

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Palm Beach Social Diary: Another Look at Lost Palm Beach

Palm Beach• January 3, 2010.

“We were so young and gay then and we thought we had all the money in the world. It will be sad if the great houses vanish and the Mizner period becomes only a memory and part of Palm Beach’s past rather than its present.” — Billie Burke Despite the heart-felt sentiment, many of the Mizner […]... READ MORE

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Washington Social Diary – GEORGETOWN’S HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Across the Nation• December 24, 2009.

Georgetown is Washington’s most talked about neighborhood for many reasons. Its historic past, the beautiful 18th and 19th century homes, a buzz factor as the city’s social hub, and the fact it is the capital’s most walkable neighborhood. The residents embrace the spirit of all the holidays, but especially the Christmas season when, regardles... READ MORE

Friday, December 11, 2009

Benjamin Bradley

House• December 11, 2009.

Designer Benjamin Bradley unequivocally adores Christmas. He makes no secret of the fact that he is re-living happy childhood memories when he creates Christmas in his apartment using his collection of over two thousand ornaments, many of which are antique ornaments he has been collecting since high school and college days. Unfortunately he had t... READ MORE

Monday, December 7, 2009

This Was Then

Social History• December 7, 2009.

One of the most popular society of fashion photographers in New York of the past quarter century has been Mary Hilliard. Mary started her career after her marriage and her children got to a certain age. Coming from the same part of town in life as many of her subjects, she may have been the […]... READ MORE

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