Magical Maine

Vogue.com posted a photo of this house in Maine in their Best Hostess Gift guide recently and it reminded me how much I love this house.  Some of you might remember that it was published in the first issue of Vogue Living in 2006.  The house known as Mitchell Cottage, was built in 1916 for Philadelphia businessman J. Kearsley Mitchell who had just married the daughter of a partner of J.P. Morgan.  The house sat vacant for many years after Michell was involved in a murder scandal.  What I didn't remember about the house was that Kirstie Alley and her then husband Parker Stevenson bought the house in 1991 and turned it into the Islesboro Inn.  They also managed to hire the legendary retired decorator Sister Parish to help decorate it.  It was later bought by Gwen and John McCaw who hired their friend from Los Angeles, interior designer Windsor Smith who simplified the house.

A photo of the house from Vogue by Arthur Elgort.

A look at the front of the house.

Gwen and her children on the lawn. The property also boats a three bedroom guesthouse, a swimming pool, classic clay tennis court, small boathouse, and deep water pier. 

An old photo of the porch with the striped awnings.

Under Windsor Smith's guidance, the house because much cleaner but definitely not boring.  In the Vogue article, the owner says, "because it's such an architecturally beautiful house, I felt I could decorate in a really clean way-that it didn't need too much. Of course, we also wanted everything machine-washable and kid-friendly."

The chairs are Sister Parish originals that were reupholstered.

The trellis walls are the pièce de résistance of the house and were originally restored by Sister Parish.

One of the girl's bedrooms.

One of Gwen's daughter's sitting on the Chloe Sofa designed by Windsor Smith.

The boy's bathroom is papered in marine blueprints.

Another old look at the house from Gilkey Harbor.  I am really surprised that the house hasn't been photographed for any other publications.  I'd really love to see the rest of the interior and grounds.  There is nothing that says summer more to me than the relaxing magic of Maine.

Photos by Arthur Elgort for Vogue scanned in by moi

Art Filled Abode

You might remember seeing the home of Samantha and Aby Rosen in the premier issue of Vogue Living.  Lauren Santo Domingo has revisited the William T. Georgis designed townhouse for APT with LSD on Vogue.com. The couple are serious art collector's and the home is filled that pieces that so far peacefully coexisting with their two small children.  For more photos and the complete story, check out the feature here.  Bon Weekend!

Photos by Claiborne Swanson Frank

Flower Power

This spring, I am loving anything flowery, especially glazed chintz floral fabrics. I am also desperately missing American Vogue Living and even more so after flipping through the Spring/Summer 2008 issue and seeing this fabulous floral feature. Has it really been that long since it was last published?! So depressing. So glad that I have my back issues to cheer me up! Hope this flowers bring you some cheer today too!

Photos by Steven Meisel

Buh Bye Vogue Living

I picked my five pound Vogue magazine today (do you think they make it heavy on purpose to work out your arms so you'll fit into the fall clothes?!) and was wondering if Vogue Living would also be out on the newsstands. But alas, I found out that it's not meant to be.

NO HOME: Blame the housing market crisis, the dip in advertising impacting every magazine or any one of myriad reasons, but Vogue Living will not publish a scheduled second issue this year. The Vogue shelter spin-off published a spring issue and had planned to produce a fall one, but a Vogue spokesman confirmed Monday that the fall issue has been nixed. "We decided earlier in the year that, given the current ad climate, this wasn't the time to roll out a second issue," he explained. However, said the spokesman, a spring 2009 issue is still under consideration. In all, Vogue Living, which executives have insisted since its inception was not a launch title, has had three issues. The magazine had a 500,000 rate base, including 300,000 copies that were poly bagged to Vogue subscribers with household incomes over $100,000, or a net worth of over $1 million, or a home valued at more than $500,000. The first issue in November 2006 had 134 ad pages; its second, a year later, carried 34 percent fewer, at 85 pages. The latest issue, in April, carried 48 pages. But Vogue Living, published by WWD parent company Condé Nast, hasn't been alone: according to Mediaweek, the shelter category has slid 5 percent in ad pages through July of this year. — Stephanie D. Smith, WWD

I was just thinking that it started out with a bang but seemed to fizzle with each subsequent issue. Such a shame since Vogue prides itself on having access to the best of everything and since there aren't many shelter magazines left. I hope they manage to get it together for a spring issue. And if they need any help, I'll be the first to volunteer my services! Until then, I'll be scouring regular Vogue for the photos of Kelly Wearster's new house since it doesn't look like they're going to be in Vogue Living. Oh well.

Photo borrowed from Design Inspiration

How Come I Didn't Know About This?!

I went out in the rain today to pick up the new Vogue and look for Domino, which I knew wouldn't be there but that didn't stop my from looking anyway. (Note to self...wear shorter jeans the next time it rains.) What I did find though was the new Spring/Summer issue of Vogue Living. It was a pleasant surprise although it's so thin that it looks like something that should have been mailed to subscribers along with regular Vogue. Word on the street is that Anna Wintour isn't happy with the magazine and I don't blame her. It's a disappointing mess of more postage stamp size photos and boring spreads that continue to not live up to the precedence set by the spectacular premier issue. Come on Vogue! You have access to the best of the best! Get it together!