Halcyon House Antiques

Just north of Baltimore City, in the heart of the beautiful Greenspring Valley, lies Halcyon Farm. Owner Stiles Colwill has opened Halcyon House Antiques in one of the farm’s former tenant houses to share with friends and others the genius of his extreme good taste and keen decorating eye. I’ve peripherally known Stiles for years, dating back to when he was on the staff at the historical society and I was on the staff at the museum of art, and have always admired him from afar.
I got a glimpse of how wonderful Halcyon House Antiques would be at the Ladew Garden Festival a few weeks ago, and when I got there, I was not at all disappointed. As you come down the driveway, you see the house nestled in a garden in front of you. The porch is filled with flowers and baskets, creating a charming entry. A small porch to the left in the image above has some garden terrific antiques, many of which were on display at Ladew.

Each of the rooms in the house, including the kitchen, is filled with antiques and accessories appropriate to the room. The paint colours are rich and beautiful and you realize that a lot of thought has gone into choosing them. Naturally, I forgot to get the names of the paints!

The front hall, with beautiful fresh flowers.

There are beautiful beamed ceilings throughout the house.

The sunroom off the back of the house looks out to the gardens and the woods on the property. The green is such a super cheerful colour and must be terrific in the heart of the winter.

This cheeky monkey keeps an eye on the comings and goings of visitors to the shop.

A variety of majolica pieces echo the green from the painted walls.

Halcyon House is one of the few places in the area that sells John Derian’s plates. I love the center one with the geraniums.

Not only does the kitchen showcase a selection of glass and china, it’s fully-functioning, as well. I’d be happy cooking there.

The dining room, with its pale yellow walls and the silver and drinks on the sideboards, makes visitors feel at home. The horse paintings reflect the history of the Greenspring Valley and its tradition of horse racing, including the Maryland Hunt Cup.

Another line that Halcyon House carries exclusively is Bunny Williams’ Beeline furnishings. They just arrived at the shop last week!

The living room at Halcyon is another sun-filled room, with paper that looks like yellow bead-board.

One of my favourite things in the living room was the pagoda set in the corner.

This fireplace with its green glass vases, dogs, porcelain boxes and landscape painting is just perfection.

All of the fabrics in the master bedroom are from John Robshaw.

Who could resist this little guy perched on some pillows in the lap of luxury?

This chocolate brown room, echoing another Baltimore decorator, was filled with lots of treasures, including this shell-covered mirror, one of several scattered throughout the house.

Although I would never, ever want one mirror right in the shower, let alone two, I did love this treatment!

A beautiful bulls-eye mirror with a carefully curated selection of blue and white china, which I adore, hangs over another of the house’s fireplaces.

The little porcelain starfish in a majolica bowl comprised another lovely tabletop vignette.

Thanks so much to Stiles Colwill, and to store manager Eric Walch, for letting me come out and spend the morning wandering around and taking photographs.

**UPDATE** Weekend Update III

Whew! The weekend's nearly over and I managed to accomplish a lot! I had a few major things on my list and got nearly everything accomplished and then some.

On Friday, I visited Halcyon House Antiques and spent a wonderful time wandering through the house and checking out their gorgeous wares.

I also stopped by to see college friends who own the Floral Studio a terrific flower shop and studio just outside of Baltimore. I couldn't take any pictures because they are moving to a new location in a sweet little stone cottage across from their current space.

As I drove back into the city, I caught up with Deborah Gore Dean, whose Gore Dean is a favourite place to shop for people in Washington, DC and Baltimore. She's such fun and we've made plans to spend a day together so I can show her some of my secret Baltimore haunts.

On Saturday, friends and I hosted a Preakness party for about a dozen people, complete with betting on the feature race. Each person picked a horse's name from a bowl and we all cheered on the winner!

On Sunday, we went to the Farmer's Market, which was rainy and dark, with few local foods on offer... it's still too early and we've had a long spring.

This afternoon, I went to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Decorator Showhouse. I was more curious to see its location than to see the over-the-top rooms that the decorators had created.

I also found some time to design a new header for blogging friend, An Aesthete's Lament, but it's not exactly right, so another one is in the works.

UPDATE: This is the header that turned out exactly right. Perfect for the Aesthete and his diverse writings.

More details on Halcyon House, Gore Dean and Arden House this week!

I'll Take This...Manor House

The Battle of Evesham was fought in 1265 in the grounds of this manor, and a tower and obelisk were built to commemorate Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who was killed in the fighting. Today it is a quieter spot presided over by a Gothic manor, now divided into three homes. This enormous portion includes a beamed and vaulted drawing room, an orangery with views to the Cotswolds and Malverns, three bedrooms and a loggia, all set in 30 acres of parkland. Cost: £695,000.

From: The Guardian's Snooping Around section.

Mrs. John L. Strong???

A little birdie told me today that the stationery firm, Mrs. John L. Strong, is closing. I heard that they laid off all employees and are no longer shipping to their suppliers. I can't confirm this, so it's just rumour and conjecture... Have you heard anything?

Coming Attraction

I had another major grant due today, so thing have been quiet around here. But I thought I'd let you know some coming attractions:

• Another gorgeous house from this neighbourhood.
• A visit to catch up with Gore-Dean and it's charming owner, Deborah Gore Dean
• A trip out to the beautiful Greenspring Valley, just north of Baltimore to see Halcyon House Antiques, whom I saw briefly at Ladew.
• A small party for the Preakness on Saturday. We're all very excited about Rachel Alexandra taking on the boys!
• A trip to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Showhouse.

Talk tomorrow!

Preakness Week

It's Preakness Week here in Baltimore, our celebration of the second leg of horse-racing's Triple Crown. At the Preakness, there's always a huge sense of anticipation - can the winner of the Kentucky Derby win the second race and be a possible contender for a Triple Crown? By the time the Belmont Stakes rolls around in three weeks, much, if not all of that anticipation is gone, because there has not been a Triple Crown winner since 1978, when Affirmed won.

There were three Triple Crown winners in the 1970's, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Prior to that, the last Triple Crown was in 1948! Only 46 horses have won two legs of the three races, and of those, 16 have won in Kentucky and Baltimore, only to be beaten at Belmont.

This year is the 134th running of the Preakness, which is named after a horse, who may have gotten its name from the Native American word for quail woods.This year's race should be very interesting with Rachel Alexandra, the winner of the Oaks, which is held the day before the Kentucky Derby, and Mine That Bird, the Derby winner, competing head to head. Post positions are being pulled this afternoon. Calvin Borel has said that he will ride Rachel Alexander on Saturday. Stay tuned!

My Dog

My dog Connor is so strange.

I live in a house that was built in the 1880's and I am never quite confident of the water pipes, as I am sure they are lead-lined. So I tend to drink bottled water. It becomes a battle of wills between me and the dog. As I drink, he sits and stares at me. All he wants is the bottle.

Once I am finished, I throw the empty bottle down the hallway and he romps after it and begins the process of taking it apart, bit by bit. Once he's gotten the plastic pieces off, then he starts on the label. It's a great source of entertainment for him.

This dog has quite a selection of toys, including several iterations of "Lambie" and a pink pig. But what he likes the most is a plastic water bottle. That counts for recycling, doesn't it?

An Acquired Taste

I skidded into the Book Thing on Sunday, a scant seven minutes before they closed for the day, but managed to find more books/magazines than on some days when I have all of the time in the world.

As usual, I zipped to the decorating/design section and instantly spotted Dorothy Rodgers' "My Favourite Things, A Personal Guide to Decorating and Entertaining", an exhaustive volume of her favourite things, including some incredible recipes that reflect the time when the book was written. The Peak of Chic reviewed the book here. I have someone in mind to send this book to, but if he doesn't want it, I will give it to one of you, as I have a copy already.

The other book I found is called "An Acquired Taste, American Houses, Rooms and Gardens (Explained in a Rapid Primer)" by Mary Knowles Pierce. The chapter headings are unusual, beginning with How to Use This Book -- And Why, and continuing through with explanations of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century architecture and furnishings and illustrations to help the reader understand her points. There's an almost 30 page glossary of design/decorating terms and a bibliography of suggested reading matters.What I found funny was the fact that she offers suggestions for collections and hobbies, as if one could not figure this out for ones self! Things to collect include blue-and-white pottery, swords, guns or pistols, rare books on architecture, interiors or gardening,and framed samples of antique fabrics and wall-coverings.

As for things to make your hobby, she suggests dressing costume dolls and making lamps from odd, discarded old utensils.
I think that in between the strange suggestions, there will be some nuggets of interest!

Happy Mother's Day

Even though I am only mother to Connor-pup, all of the older men and women in my neighbourhood wish me a Happy Mother's Day, probably thinking that I should have children by now!

My mother's been amazing since my father died two years ago. She's taking college classes, playing bridge with old and new friends, gardening and doing a lot of socializing. I am so proud of her and love her so much.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

A. Aubrey Bodine, Photographer

The building where I work is 150+ years old, and the organization where I work is 211 years old. That means that there's a lot of history within these walls. Recently, a colleague brought some old photographs to my office and I started to research them. I thought they might be by Baltimore photographer, A. Aubrey Bodine (1906-1970).

I took pictures of the three prints and e-mailed them to Bodine's daughter, Jennifer,who is the keeper of the catalogue and copyrights for her father's work. In typical Baltimore fashion, she and I have several connections - same school, fathers who both were newspapermen, and her ex-husband!

Bodine's work was in black and white or sepia-tone. His work reflects the Baltimore and Maryland that doesn't exist anymore - skipjacks on the Chesapeake Bay, tobacco farms in Southern Maryland, and Baltimore in the mid-20th century.

As I was scrolling through the catalogue that Jennifer Bodine has put on-line, I have found Bodine's classic images of many of the places I've shot, including an elusive image of the Library at Ladew!

One of the signatures of Bodine's work is his framing of scenes with clouds and trees, both of which you can see in the images here.

Numerous books of his photographs have been published, and his work is in the permanent collections of some of the top museums in the country, including the Smithsonian and the George Eastman House.For more information and to see hundreds of Bodine's images, click here. All of the pictures here are from the site and copyrighted.By the way, Jennifer Bodine said the images we found at my office weren't by her father...