While we would usually be in Newport mid-August, a lovely invitation prompted a re-consideration. So off we went to visit Edinburgh and then cruise the eastern shores of Scotland and a…| Private Newport
And just like “that”, Coaching took over the island the weekend of August 15-17. With 2 separate “drives” on Friday and Saturday and one Sunday morn, the number of people enjoying this panoply is remarkable…from the spectators lining the routes to the Whips, their out of town guests, and Newport participants in the social moments. | Private Newport
Living in Newport, with its many exceptional homes, gate houses, stables and carriage houses, complemented by grand specimen trees on manicured landscapes, gives one the sense of existing in another…| Private Newport
Though late to bloom this year given our wet and wonky summer, these Newport signatures never fail to make their statement…and complete many a landscape’s je ne sais quoi. Look…| Private Newport
This is a follow-on to last week’s post on “Evening at Home,” with its views and landscapes that are at the heart of the success of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust’s summer fundraiser…making dining around the island that much more compelling. Aquidneck Island’s renown owes a great deal to its beauty. What makes it so distinctive? The rocks, the topography, the vegetation, the light, the wave action, and honoring open space. This is a ledge island, these views will be here forever;...| Private Newport
“On the Avenue, By the Sea, and Off the Beaten Path” well captures the spirit of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust’s signature fundraiser, “Evening at Home.” Congenial gatherings that take…| Private Newport
Mid-July in Newport is a merrie marathon of galas, dinners, events, dances, luncheons, and parties galore. How appropriate that kicking off this week is the Newport Art Museum‘s exhibition of artist Howard Gardiner Cushing (1869-1916) and a nod to Honorary Chair, Minnie Cushing Coleman, the artist’s granddaughter, for whom this commemoration represents 10 years of devoted efforts. | Private Newport
Nothing says Summer like a cutting garden! Here at Parterre where green reigns supreme…cool, always in good taste, soothing to the eye, and supportive of the design tenets of a…| Private Newport
The Newport Flower Show at the end of June always signals that the “Summer Season” has begun (though the earlier weeks of the month can make one wonder). And here…| Private Newport
Last December while in Paris, I revisited one of the most captivating, fanciful spots in a city of many elegant shops…Ladurée on rue Royale. Could I have imagined then that six months later I would meet, and sip champagne in my garden with, the person responsible for the recent restoration and re-invention of this beloved former Belle Epoque bakery? Such is serendipity…in which Cordelia de Castellane is also a big believer. Her bonafides~ambassador of French lifestyle, interior designer,...| Private Newport
From the Blog| privatenewport.com
Today, the Newport Flower Show opens officially at Rosecliff! The three days in this idyllic oceanside setting are a much-anticipated event on the summer calendar… June 20th to 22nd, 2025.| Private Newport
This recent trip to England reminded me of the ever-so-true saying…”So many gardens, so little time.” And how very happy I am that I opted for a new part of England (rather than returning to the Cotswold area), the Peaks in Derbyshire. Three hours north of London on the way to Yorkshire, it is famous as the site of the centuries-old stately home, Chatsworth, where we spent 2 1/2 days. But venturing beyond Derbyshire introduced us to Biddulph Grange, Haddon Hall, Melbourne Hall, and Reni...| Private Newport
As a gardener, imagine that you lived in the Victorian era when men and women were in the enviable position of having a wealth of new and totally unknown plant options from all the corners of the earth. How exciting is that!! When James Bateman began Biddulph Grange in 1842, the “world was his oyster,” as the saying goes. Each garden was a stage-set, offering endless possibilities…shelter or exposure, moisture or dryness; plants were selected AND importantly, sited by their growing needs.| Private Newport
While only two centuries old, Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire, England was a horticultural wonder of its time, benefiting from the exciting possibility of global plant exploration in the mid-19th century. James Bateman, on whose family property the grounds were developed, belonged to a coterie of men, and women, who shared interests in botany, zoology, horticulture, geology, and plant science: Nathaniel Ward, designer of the Wardian case, a large wood and glass “terrarium” that made it p...| Private Newport
Writing this as I sit in the perfectly named “morning room” at our comfy country house hotel, Fischer’s Baslow Hall, in Derbyshire.| Private Newport
Life‘s special moments are a reason to come together! For a town that celebrates for so many reasons, and in so many ways, a timely hospitality concept has just opened in Newport, The Royce, comprising two historic colonial homes, gracing a beloved, quiet tree-lined Street on Historic Hill. | Private Newport
The first trees on the property to leaf out or bloom, this variety, Cherry ‘Hally Jolivette,’ produces the most exquisite small, single blossoms in a soft shell pink, clustered together so they give a bountiful appearance to the pruned shape of a fully opened parasol. | Private Newport
Hurray! It’s the Merry Month of May! Spring is popping (after a too cold, too windy winter). And I’m off mid month to England. But when I return this is what awaits…Home Sweet Home, surrounded by the anticipation of summer 2025 in the Newport I love. “Let me count the ways…”| Private Newport
It is perhaps difficult to believe that behind this formal chateau (above) is a sunken garden that in its simplicity provides the lessons for creating your own version. But indeed it is so, and right here in the heart of Newport! The grounds of the Elms are one of the great landscapes of the Gilded Age, designed in the Classic Revival style of gardens of the Italian Renaissance and eighteenth century France.| Private Newport
From Avenue Montaigne to the Place de la Concorde to Le Marais, the “City of Lights” takes on a new meaning at Christmas! Trees sparkle all over Paris (much more so than I’ve seen in London and New York).| Private Newport
On my recent trip to Atlanta I had a singular goal in mind…to capture the sumptuous beauty and history of Swan House, one of the most elegant (former) private homes in our country and a treasured landmark of this city. As one of many volunteer docents over the years I developed an affection for this residence, and its architect. Through these images I’ll weave the tale of that esteemed architect, Philip Trammell Shutze, whose noteworthy neo-Renaissance Revival talents made this house poss...| Private Newport
