I've Got a Crush on You...House Dreams

There are days as I meander around Camp Moneypit and see the projects that I MUST undertake while imagining those that I so want to see happen that I wonder....is it time to start anew???  I easily could be a professional house hunter.  Not a real estate agent, but just someone who spends each day house hunting... poking in and out of fabulous jewel boxes, or like my Camp Moneypit, jewel boxes that are hiding under tons of neglect.  I adore popping in and out of Open Houses, rearranging the furniture, stripping them down to the good bones in my head, redesigning and bringing them back to life and then some.  I do love my nest, but I have never stopped house hunting and every so often one stops me in my tracks...and starts me dreaming.

This week just such a spot popped up on one of my favorite places to house hunt...CIRCA.  If you have never visited this site-RUN and sign onto their newsletter....a treasure trove of wonderful historic properties for sale...not to be missed!   

THIS beauty is located in Quogue New York.  6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and 4500 sq. feet of Magic for just under $5 million :)  The house was purchased in 1936, according to the listing details, by the Duchess of Richelieu who added her French style by moving an 18th century grist mill to the property  along with two old barns to create a U design... like every gracious French Country house.

The Duchess would later add a 1700s ice house to create a guest cottage.  According to the listing "The home features hand hewn beams, original diamond paned windows, brick & wide planked floors and four fireplaces."   Sigh!   You can see how this crush is deepening!

The house was renovated by the current owners between 2005-2007.  "Walls of windows & French doors integrate the indoor and outdoor living spaces…with all major rooms opening to private terraces & breathtaking views of the exquisite “three seasons” gardens."  Clearly great care was taken to showcase the glorious details of the structures while enhancing its charms and treasures.

 “Secret paths can be found behind gardens and gardens are found in secret places”  Drop me here!

Simply scrumptious!  Sorry Camp MP...I love you, but sometimes a girl just gets her head turned... I may start packing now!

All info and images via CIRCA

Knocking on Oscar's Door-Houses from Academy Award Winning Movies

Mary Poppins, 1964

How many times have you sat in a dark movie theatre watching a film when a fabulous house comes on screen-  You forget all about the plot and concentrate on the wallpaper--well at least I do!

The Great Gatsby,2013 via

So often the homes that a movie is set within can be as important to that movie as any actor or actress.   In Under the Tuscan Sun, 2003 the transformation that wonderful house goes through mirrors Frances' own.

  The Holiday (2006) centers around the storyline of house swapping and how the women who exchange houses actually transform the spaces they move into to reflect the changes they go through.

With Oscar Night here I decided to visit some Movie Sets from Oscar Winning films---now most of my favorite movie homes were never in the running for Oscars so it was interesting to look through Oscar history to see where Oscar lives-very often  rooms and places that not only expressed the personality of the characters in the script, but also locations that became key characters in their films--Can you imagine Downton Abbey without Downton Abbey

or Rebecca, Best Picture 1940 without Manderley?

Grab the popcorn and enjoy and Happy Oscar Night!

It Happened One Night-Best Picture, Best Actor Clark Gable, Best Actress Claudette Colbert, Best Director Frank Capra, 1934-It may not be the most glamorous set in film history but it is certainly one of the most memorable and key to the story line... one of my favorites.

The Awful Truth -Best Director Leo McCarey, 1937-I love this film and all the sets

 Mrs. Miniver-Best Picture, Best Actress Greer Garson, Best Supporting Actress Teresa Wright, Best Director William Wyler, 1942-This wonderful film about a family shattered by war has at its center the warmth of the Miniver home which would also become a victim of war.

All About Eve-Best Picture,Best Supporting Actor George Sanders, Best Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1950

Roman Holiday-Best Actress Audrey Hepburn-Of course the city of Rome is the true set for Audrey's debut.

My Fair Lady- Best Picture,Best Actor Rex Harrison, Best Director George Cukor 1964

The Sound of Music- Best Picture, Best Director Robert Wise 1965

 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner- Best Actress Katherine Hepburn, Best Screenplay 1967-Ninety percent of the film was shot on one set-the Drayton family home in San Francisco--this set/house remains one of my favorite Movie homes ever -I was surprised to discover that it was for the most part created on a sound stage

Out of Africa-Best Picture, Best Director Sydney Pollack 1985

Moonstruck-Best Actress Cher,Best Supporting Actress Olympia Dukakis, 1987-So much of this movie comes back to that kitchen table

 

Driving Miss Daisy, Best Picture, Best Actress Jessica Tandy, 1989-The sets of this house captured  the Southern style of the late 1940s and also the changes taking place not only within that house but also within society

The Queen -Best Actress Helen Mirren 2006-a castle for for The Queen of course-

The King's Speech -Best Picture, Best Actor Colin Firth, Best Director Tom Hooper 2010

Great Sources on Movie Interiors:
Cote de Texas
Hooked on Houses
Silver Screen Surroundings
AMC Filmsite

Can the Cave! Head for the Shed...The She-Shed!

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 Since the dawn of time man has taken refuge inside a cave...seriously, a cave!  Notice how I said "man"...how thrilled do you think women were about sheltering in a dusty dirty cold cave??  and they had to figure out how to cook and clean and raise children in that cave...I contend the reason we no longer live in caves is because women, in the animal skin version of Oscar de la Renta, figured out that outside would be a good spot -under that nice tree... over there- to build  ...a house!  Windows, doors, gardens...all thanks to women I know it! Check out Wilma Flintstone's abode...

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 Yet, men have decided to return to the cave...  I get the whole Man-Cave thing...you know that spot where the guys go--humungo HD screen, well stocked fridge, pool table, over- stuffed sofas, high school awards on the walls...but how welcome are women in the cave--actually how welcome have women ever been in caves :)  

We need a place to hang, chill, decompress, veg, kick-back,read, knit, garden , breathe... as Virginia Woolf requested "A Room of One's Own".  I want a She-Shed!  These are fabulous...

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Maybe Camp Moneypit's carriage barn filled with lots of "nothin" would make the perfect She-Shed!

...and look at these fab ideas from Lilly for Target to furnish it all ...

...and There's a Moat!

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Every designer muscle in me is itching of late.  I think everyone should redesign their life on a regular basis-even if it is just flipping pillows, moving furniture about or buying yourself a new set of sheets.  You need that infusion of something new-it helps clear the cobwebs literally and figuratively.   As much as I love my 19thc little stone caretaker's cottage of a Moneypit I thrive on a challenge and am always on the hunt for my next project...think I may have found it!

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It seems that famed French actress, and timeless beauty, Catherine Deneuve has put her 18thc Normandy Chateau on the market. Of course it is sublime, a reflection of its owner indeed.  

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Ms. Deneuve's elegance, grace and enduring style are the stuff of legends ...and a legend should live like one! 

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 With a truly cinematic facade, and its movie-set perfect gardens, Catherine Deneuve's home outside Paris, along the banks of the Eure River, has four master suites, a sauna, naturally many guest rooms and of course a cinema.  One can only assume that there are closets galore filled with Hermes bags, Chanel Jackets and decades of Dior, Yves Saint Laurent...

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When you close your eyes and imagine yourself living in France...well, this just might be what you envision- everything one could dream of for a French Country Chateau. 

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 It certainly would be for me...did I mention there's a moat?!!  I'm in love.  Call Air France!

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