Fauxology: Studying the Visual Magic of Faux Finishing and Interior Design (brought to you by Garay Artisans)

There I am zipping along in my life and I realize I haven’t posted the Book-of-the-Month.  Horrors!  Curses!  It might be serendipity because due to our blue post, I started thinking of how beautiful the Newport Mansions were and then I remembered I had bought a book about them.  (I don’t think I can travel anywhere without buying a decorative painting book or two.)  So, I go to my adored studio library and there it was, jostling for space with the other books.  I was immediately transported right on back to those amazing…homes.  (I hesitate calling them homes.  They’re more like zip codes.) So jaw-dropping!  So over-the-top!  So…oh, I’ll just get on with it.   The March 2008 Book-of-the-Month is Newport Mansions: The Gilded Age and is written by Thomas Gannon and distributed by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

The hubster and I took a trip to the New England area back in 2003.  I had been in Newport, RI in 2000 with my best friend and couldn’t wait to get back.  You know when you see those pictures of castles in Europe or the grand homes in England or France with the 70+ rooms and the beautiful, lush gardens? The ones in the Merchant Ivory films or a Jane Austen production? That’s the scale we’re talking about here.  The Newport Mansions (there are 11 properties – 7 of them historic landmarks and about 80 acres of gardens and grounds) are Spectacular and you definitely need that capital S. The homes were owned by many of the titans of the 19th century, such as the Vanderbilts and the Astors, and were used as summer residences.  Today, they are preserved and protected as historic house museums by the aforementioned Preservation Society.   Despite their exclusive history, today these opulent homes are open to the public.  Here are a few pics:

On the left is the entrance to The Breakers, generally considered the grandest of the homes. Notice the size of the gate as compared to the woman. On the right is the Dining Room.

On the left is the Morning Room in The Breakers, used for informal daytime gatherings.  On the right is the lower loggia.  I’m not embarassed to say that when I walked into the 45-foot high Great Hall (not pictured) for the first time, tears ran down my cheeks.  I had never seen such extraordinary decorative painting, stenciling and gilding in my life.  Something to aspire to!

Here we have the grand staircase of The Elms on the left.  On the right is part of the, umh, backyard.

On the left is a carved mantel from Chateau-sur-Mer and on the right is the Rosecliff ballroom.  The Great Gatsby and True Lies are two movies which have scenes filmed in this location.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “tour” and a peek into the book.  There are more stunning photographs to be found within its pages along with a great amount of history from the turn-of-the-century in addition to design and architecture.  It’s a wonderfully stimulating book for the eyes and the mind!