The water feature in the gardens of Villa Trianon, Versailles, France, circa 1920.
If a group of young French decorators is coming to America to spruce up The Mount, why not send a group of talented Americans over to Versailles to put on a showhouse at the threatened Villa Trianon?
Somebody needs to reach out to Paul-Louis Weiller's heirs le tout suite. The family includes his widowed daughter-in-law, Olimpia Weiller, and his granddaughters, Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg, Béatrice Correa Do Lago, Cosima Weiller, and Domitilla Weiller. If I am not mistaken the fate of Villa Trianon is in their hands or the hands of their representatives. Should you have success at this, let me know.
UPDATE, 8.41pm: A source tells me that the Weiller family may no longer own Villa Trianon. More anon.
10 comments:
Interesting ongoing conversation among the AL followers. If memory serves (and is often a poor buffet at best), wasn't Versailles saved by American money? Perhaps this is an attempt (not unknown territory) to incite stupid Americans to pay to reclaim France's treasures. And since you KNOW EVERYTHING THERE IS TO BE KNOWN and I speak in the reverent voice of the acolyte, what's up with the designer choices for The Mount. Did Wharton leave in her will, "No American decorator can ever, I mean ever, touch my digs?" Just wondering.
Dear Home, Wharton sold The Mount in the early 1900s, so had no say about who or what would be done with the property in the intervening years. But I honestly do think Villa Trianon is being torn down; the Weiller family has owned it since the 1940s (Elsie was a tenant for life once they took ownership), and apparently the house is in very bad repair. Am trying to get to the bottom of this. As for The Mount and the designer choices, I think it is merely a publicity stunt, ie Wharton was inspired by France so let's have some young French designers come over and decorate some rooms to raise money.
be our Ambassadress. I will follow- lady in waiting, carry the cape, whatever you need. la
I am very upset to hear of the VILLA TRIANON becoming extinct..try to get in touch with Hutton Wilkinson, since he is the prez of the ELSIE DE WOLFE FOUNDATION and has reaped much money from his association thru TONY DUQUETTE inspired silks, furnishing and book royalties. I would also get in touch with Bernd Dams and Andrew Zega of ARCHITECTURAL WATERCOLORS, who live in Paris and are WONDERFUL GENTLEMEN OF THE ARTS, with friends as diverse as Charlotte Moss to Hubert De Givenchy.
I own Elsies' portrait by Dietz Edzard that hung in the Salon at the Villa Trianon..so I will drop a prayer to her right now to pull her magic strand of pearls and make a miracle happen..love your site. I have restored and sold homes in Los Angeles that were termed Tear Downs to buyers such as Madonna, and have worked with Gwen Stefani and others to find them homes..whether by famous architects or not, people worldwide when confronted with BEAUTY and STYLE in all forms of neglect must rally to bring it back. Art you live in is ARCHITECTURE of ANY century.
Dear - well, all. The Mount, along with most 'house museums' currently, is in such poor financial trouble that they may close, their endowments being not only devastated, but revenues from tourists down dramatically - most face closure and/or auction, and The Mount is top of that list.
To 'anonymous,' I've emailed Hutton Wilkinson as well, just in case. Dear aesthete, I was Tony Duquette's design intern, then assitant, having lived at The Studio in my youth, and Hutton and I are very much in contact. I believe you have my email address as well if there is anything you would ask of me concerning this; we don't want Villa Trianon following the fate of 5000 plus country houses in the United Kingdom. Thank you, Robert
I am afraid for Miss Edith's decorative legacy if the French are coming to town, even though I would hate even more for the Mount to close due to financial trouble. I have not read On the Decoration of Houses but feel like I have a personal stake in her aesthetic legacy after reading Hermione Lee's excellent biography of Edith Wharton, which went into depth on the subject of her aesthetic and architectural preferences. I don't know anything about French designers, never mind those named at the link, but I just hope that they feel as much love for Wharton's tastes as she had for the Mount, in her lifetime, and that the Mount will be bettered by this rather than simply given a smattering of mismatched rooms.
Dear Jesse - It isn't merely The Mount, but the hundreds of 'House/Museums' nationwide that are in serious financial trouble, and are already shuttering their windows. Lack of municipal support if these properties are city owned, tax bases eroding, endowments evaporating or seriously endangered. Further, there simply are no tourist dollars; people aren't traveling by car as they did in the post war years with gas so inexpensive. So while visits to Biltmore House in Asheville seem a constant, for example, houses best reached by car suffer greatly, especially if the local township can no longer afford to support them with sales tax or real estate tax dollars. We're in trouble far beyond The Mount. Alexander Hamilton's house, my own ancestor, is another token example. Robert
Hi!! dying to hear your decorating - historical analysis of the famed MJackson ppllleeaassee do lament!!!
Devastated by this dire news out of Versailles, and indebted to you for bringing it to the public's attention.
Your devoted reader,
1904
http://georgesnyder.org/2009/07/08/loving.aspx
Didier Rickner of the "Tribune de l'art" who informs people about this kind of destruction (he follows the affair of the Hôtel Lambert ( Rothshild's mansion)) has no information about such a project of destruction !
Post a Comment