House and Garden Tour

I love going to weddings, especially when they’re out of town! Love exploring a new place that I probably wouldn’t see if we hadn’t received an invitation. So a few weekends ago we found ourselves at a cousin’s beautiful wedding in Manchester, Vermont.

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The venue was Hildene, the Lincoln Family summer home of President Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln. The Georgian Revival mansion was built in 1905 and was owned by the Lincoln family until 1975. Robert and his brother Tad first came to Manchester, Vermont in the summer of 1863 when their mother brought them to stay at the Equinox Hotel. fullsizerender-4

The formal garden was designed by the Lincoln’s daughter Jessie. Her design was influenced by time spent living in Europe and she wanted the French parterre gardens to resemble a stained glass Romanesque cathedral window. In mid- June more than 1000 peony blossoms from the original plantings fill the garden with color.

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The house has 24 rooms, 8 bathrooms, a pipe organ believed to be the oldest residential one still in use- and played everyday. There is a formal garden, cutting and kitchen gardens, a carriage barn, walking trails, an observatory, and a 1928 Franklin Roadster which belonged to Robert’s granddaughter Peggy who was the last Lincoln to live in the house.

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Whew….we (my son and I) just got back from a super fun conference in Atlanta, “The Design Bloggers Conference 2015.” I went to be inspired and it didn’t disappoint. It delivered inspiration and so much more!

My son was kind enough to come along to learn a bit more about the blogging business as he’s a writer, screen writer; and graphic designer. And it didn’t hurt that he wanted to see some friends in Atlanta too!

So despite his lack of interest in all things interior design, he learned a lot, and I was in seventh heaven!

I loved the day at ADAC and Phipps Plaza, and hearing the super talented Alexa Hampton talk about her design business.

The audience totally swooned the next day with Nate Berkus, who despite his super star status seems to be on the shy side.

Brian Patrick Flynn from HGTV was charming and entertaining.

And one of my all time favorites is Bunny Williams! Her talk was punctuated with great photos from far away places and beautiful design.

I won’t go into the wine tasting…

…or the evening parties (what happened at Pirch stays at Pirch) or the food and drinks, but let’s just say everything was perfection.

I’m so happy we went, and now I’m really happy to have a blog that can be my outlet for everything I daydream about, ie. pretty gardens, gorgeous rooms, knock out accessories. I love everything that makes for a pretty home, and so do the friends I met at this conference. A big shout out to: Nancy Swanson “Life inspired Design”; Hillary McKoin from I.O. Metro; Amy Spencer “Amy Spencer Interiors”; Elle Gibson “Splendid Habitat”; “Nous Decor”; Mary Etta McCurdy “Mary Etta Designs”;David Calle “the Good Garden”;”Chairish”; Nick and Allison McCullough “Thinking Outside the Boxwood”; Tony at Sucuri, Inc.”Perezbox”; Taylor Burke Home; Huff Harrington; Return to Home Interiors; 90 Plus Cellars; Tinybots; and Mindy Lavin “Mindy Lavin Interiors” just to name a few!