by Skip Moskey Pierre Lorillard’s houseboat “Caiman”, pictured here in a watercolor published in 1893 in The Illustrated American. (Source: Google Books.) We often associate yachts and steamships with Gilded Age vacations and recreation, but did you know that houseboats were also once the “in” thing for wealthy boaters like Pierre Lorillard, Alfred Gwynn Vanderbilt, […]
On Easter Monday, March 28, 1910, Larz and Isabel Anderson attended a field day for children at Randle Highlands in the District of Columbia. Known now as Washington Highlands, the area was first developed by Col. Arthur E. Randle (1859-1829), a prominent Washingtonian. The children of Randle Highlands petitioned Isabel to attend their festivities and help give […]
“Open the Door of Your Heart” from Isabel Anderson’s operetta Marina (1932) Words and music by Grace Warner Gulesian Performed by Antoine Palloc (Paris, France) [Sheet music for “Open the Door of Your Heart” is linked below.] Open the door of your heart dear, For love stands waiting outside. Pray leave the portals ajar dear, […]
When Larz and Isabel Anderson acquired a summer home in Brookline (MA) in 1899, Larz had a vision for the estate’s gardens and landscapes. It was no accident that their first major project was an Italian garden. Larz had an extensive knowledge of and deep appreciation for classic Italian architecture and decorative arts, and that interest shaped the design and decoration of the […]
By Skip Moskey Ambassador and Mrs. Larz Anderson, 1924, by Philip de László. The Andersons were among Washington’s most glamorous couples. Everything about them was glamorous: their homes, their clothing, their art, and their style. (Photo by Skip Moskey.) In Part 1 of this two-part series, I reviewed the relationship between the architectural form and […]
Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC., 1905, designed by the Boston architectural firm of Arthur Little & Herbert Brown. (Photo by Skip Moskey.) Did you know that, like people, buildings have their own “genealogy”? I’m not talking about the style of a house (such as Gothic Revival, Art Deco, or International), nor am […]
My thanks to everyone who responded so favorably to the first installment of Anderson Architectural Antecedants about the English homes of William Waldorf Astor. In what I hope will become an ongoing and perhaps weekly feature, today I present Wrest Park in Silsoe, Bedforshire, England. At the time of the Andersons’ visit in early December 1911, it […]
As someone who researches a wide variety of topics related to the intersection of art, architecture, and society during America’s Gilded Age, I have come across something that has confused and perplexed the small community of people who read, write, and think about such things. And that is whether the Bar Harbor “cottage” of George […]
Books, Gardens & Horticulture, Italy August 25, 2017 skipmoskey By Skip Moskey Edith Wharton, ca. 1889 Edith Wharton is known in American cultural history primarily as the author of Gilded Age novels that for a century have captivated and entertained readers. Her works The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, and Ethan Frome have been adapted as […]
By Skip Moskey Ambassador and Mrs. Larz Anderson, 1924, by Philip de László. The Andersons were among Washington’s most glamorous couples. Everything about them was glamorous: their homes, their clothing, their art, and their style. (Photo by Skip Moskey.) In Part 1 of this two-part series, I reviewed the relationship between the architectural form and […]
