Dovecote Decor's Most Popular Posts of All Time

Happy New Year!! While we take time in the New Year to make resolutions and choose direction, we also reflect upon highlights of the past. So.... looking back on the blog, here is a round-up of our most popular posts of all time. Thanks to the magic of Pinterest, these are the articles that get pinged with delightful regularity.

#1:Fashion and Decor Boldly Collide - Equestrian Style endures

By Liz Morten 

and Christine Storch

#2: Bobby McAlpine: A Sense of Place

#3  Nieuw Neo Georgian! Ruard Veltman's Mountain Masterpiece

House Beautiful has a fantastic spread on this beautiful mountain retreat in the April issue. We posted this article in August of 2010 and thought you would enjoy our thoughts on the subject as well.
Ruard Veltman collaborated with my friend "Mrs. G.," creating a spectacular home for her family of 6 in the English country vernacular of Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens:  "Sir Edwin, father of  neo-Georgian architecture, please meet Dutch born, Ruard Veltman, of nieuw-neo-Georgian architecture!"

#4: Devotion: The Country Farm Estate of Blitz and Dick Reynolds

As many of you know, I live across the street from the Historic Reynolda House Museum, Gardens and village. Our pastoral, small city is highly cultural and well preserved greatly, by the perseverance and generosity of the Reynolds family. I noted in my last post, on the Reynolda Estate,  that R. J. Reynolds was a highly progressive thinker who married an educated and energetic wife, to whom he accorded a great amount of personal autonomy. The estate was purchased in her name and Kate had full control over the vision, execution and management of this self sufficient enterprise--in 1917.  R.J. Reynolds died soon after the house was completed, which was a terrible loss.

#5:  Old Long Island Estates: A surviving James W. O'Connor Playhouse

Long Island is famous for its Gilded Age Estates, immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald and chronicled, with vigilance by Zach L. in his blog Old Long Island.  The American Country house movement was propelled by the tremendous fortunes earned in steel, railroads, shipping, coal and oil. Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Phipps, Morgans, Pratts, Graces and Hearsts, to mention a few, erected spectacular weekend estates in Nassau County as private country clubs. Palatial homes in every idiom sprouted with architectural stables, polo fields, and Playhouses. Architect James W. O'Connor  cornered the Playhouse market. A Playhouse is a separate house, containing an indoor tennis court, occasionally a swimming pool, guest rooms, and a large gathering living room overlooking the tennis courts. This Playhouse survives today, and is one of the few private Playhouses remaining in the country.

#6: 17th and 18th Century Prints Leap from Old Volumes onto Lamps, Furniture and Fabrics

#7: Luther Lashmit's Adamsleigh: The Junior League of Greensboro and Traditional Home's Showcase House April 2013

 #8: Glorious Palm Beach and Shopping the Dixie Highway

I have been following fellow blogger, Jane Schott of Empress of the Eye, since she had her Fortuny pillow giveaway. I'm still sulking, since I was not the winner, but I've gained a bird's eye view into, literally, some of the best shopping in America. Jane is The Dixie Highway Chick, no question. Like High Point, it is a great jumble of shops and junk with some serious steals, but... you need to know where you are going. Jane knows.

#9:  High Point Market at Hickory Chair with Alexa Hampton--Video Tutorial

We have been saving the highlights from last April market to get everyone geared up for October! Watch our video of the always inspirational Hickory Chair space and listen to Alexa Hampton's take on the importance of scale in furniture selection.  We are touring with Pat Bassett who has taught me every thing I've ever needed to know about shopping High Point. 

#10: "A" List Design Destinations in L.A.: Hutton Wilkinson's Casa Contessa

The Bloggers conference was a glorious excuse to visit L.A. at the end of February. Daughter number 2 and I arrived early to see some of our favorite haunts.  The highlight was visiting Hutton and Ruth Wilkinson's new masterful Hollywood Regency Palazzo, Casa Contessa. It is next door to Tony Duquette's iconic Dawn Ridge which Hutton uses as a design studio for his fabulous jewels and his HSN reproductions.

A fantastical chandelier floats down the stairwell beneath the skylight at the roof level, like a magical underwater creature. This shot is actually looking down the stairs and the skylight is reflected in the high sheen of the floors.

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Cool Mood Boards at High Point April 2012

I'm processing a million images of fabulous product from the furniture market, but I want to  send you some of the inspirational designer mood boards from the showrooms. I always lead with Hickory Chair, so why change things? The Hable Construction textile line for H.C., is their fresh addition. Sisters Susan and Katherine Hable keep the oxygen flowing.

The mood boards are the gestational phase of creation. Disparate elements can ebb and flow, until the designer's vision starts to coalesce. Of course this is why we are all crazy for Pinterest.

Kate's original painting when applied to traditional upholstery loosens up the buttoned down vibe. It is impossible to match seams lending an artistic, hand touched element. 

Suzanne Kasler's board convey's images of the type of person who would inhabit this room--Holly Golightly meets Scarlet Johanssen. Playful sophistication is the message, and there was a "Wow" echoing through the space, not to mention a little elbowing around the good camera angles.  

The ultra talented Britt Albright, creative director for HFI Brands, had large mood boards scattered around the Lilly Pulitzer Home space. We literally made a scene--twice. HFI Brands founder Steve McKee, has the hottest new line in High Point, with the Lilly Pulitzer and Barclay Butera brands. Once you see the price points and the quality, few other companies can stand up to the heat. Steve laughingly told us: "This is a happy place." 

Heck Yeah! 

I had the best time with blogger Stacy Bewkes of Quintessence who shared my enthusiasm for our antiques vendor, The Wind Rose, posting wonderful images of Ned and Cary's European and British treasures and bespoke line of furniture.  

Lynn Byrn is always sparkly company, so I thank Hooker Furniture for bringing her down. Her informative blog: Decor Arts Now has long been a favorite. Lynn has a beach house on her mind, and her round-up on Coastal looks, picked up on a few things I entirely missed. Some of the Stanley Furniture Coastal Living group's pieces are perfect to mix up in an eclectic scheme. 

More Later!

By

Liz Morten 

and

Christine Storch