Tag Archives: International Garden Club

Fit for a Lord of the Manor: A Tester Bedstead Attributed to Duncan Phyfe

Posted on September 28, 2019 by mansionmusings

On November 29, 1955, Justine Bayard Erving—an unmarried descendent of the Van Rensselaer lords of the manor—died in a New York nursing home at the age of 73. The following year, a classical tester bedstead—later attributed to the influential cabinetmaker … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Bed curtains, Bed hangings, Charles-Honoré Lannuier, Classical furniture in New York, Classical style, Classical taste, Cornelia Paterson Van Rensselaer, Duncan Phyfe, Duncan Phyfe tester bedstead, Florence Van Rensselaer, French beds, High-post beds, International Garden Club, Isaac Bell, Justine Bayard Erving, Lannuier and Phyfe, Lannuier French bedstead, Phyfe bedstead, Stephen Van Rensselaer III, Tester beds, Thomas Hope, Thomas Sheraton, Van Rensselaer family, Van Rensselaer manor house, Van Rensselaer patroons | Leave a comment

Alice Vaughan-Williams Martineau: An Englishwoman’s Crusade to Cultivate American Gardeners

Posted on June 26, 2019 by mansionmusings

On September 24, 1913, the British writer and garden designer Alice Martineau (ca. 1865–1956) set sail from Southampton for New York on the White Star Line’s legendary RMS Olympic, the enormous luxury ocean liner that was the sister ship of … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings, Mansion Musings | Tagged Alice Martineau, Armsea Hall, Cottage gardens, Edith Wharton, Frances Benjamin Johnston, Garden clubs in the early 20th century, Gardening in Sunny Lands, Hurst Court Berkshire, International Garden Club, John Munro and Mary Beecher Longyear, Margaret Waterfield, Martin C. Ebel, Mattie Edwards Hewitt, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Mrs. Philip Martineau, RMS Olympic, The Herbaceous Garden, Wellsbridge Cottage, William Robinson, Zelia Hoffman | Leave a comment

A Botanical Paradise: Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London

Posted on January 6, 2019 by mansionmusings

One summer day in 2009, while rummaging through some uncatalogued volumes in Bartow-Pell’s collection of antiquarian gardening books, we unearthed something unexpected—seven large editions of the lavishly illustrated publication Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London. The title is businesslike, … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings, Mansion Musings | Tagged 19th-century botanical prints, 19th-century horticulture, Alice Martineau, Barbara Cotton, Charles Francis Greville, Charles John Robertson, Chiswick, International Garden Club, John Braddick, John Lindley, John Wedgwood, Joseph Sabine, Royal Horticultural Society, Sir Joseph Banks, Thomas Andrew Knight, Thomas Maitland Cleland, Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, William Bulmer, William Hooker, William Say, Zelia Hoffman | Leave a comment

Hats, Gloves, and Pearls: Fashion Promenade in the Garden, 1960

Posted on August 26, 2018 by mansionmusings

Runway twirls and a peek of frilly petticoats. Pearls. Women in hats and gloves. And a radiant bride in a tulle veil, of course. On a gloriously sunny Wednesday in May 1960, smiling models—most of them wearing gloves, the era’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged 1960, 1960s fashions, Carrie Donovan, Charity fashion shows, Charity fashion shows in New York, Crinolines 1950s and 1960s, Garden parties, Hats and gloves, International Garden Club, Spring fashions 1960 | Leave a comment

Sea Breezes and Business as Usual: Mayor La Guardia’s Summer City Hall, 1936

Posted on June 13, 2018 by mansionmusings

New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia smiled broadly at photographers as his motorcade reached the historic Bartow mansion at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 1936. The diminutive dynamo arrived for his official duties at the new summer city … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Aymar Embury II, Bartow mansion, Bronx Borough President James Lyons, Buck Street Bronx, City Hall Bus 1936, Fashions in New York City summer 1936, Gilmore D. Clarke, Historic American Buildings Survey 1936, International Garden Club, James J. Lyons, La Guardia Summer City Hall Brons, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Michael Rapuano, New York City demonstrators 1936, New York City Hall press corps 1930s, New York City in the 1930s, New York City Summer City Hall, New York City WPA projects, Orchard Beach, Orchard Beach Bronx, Pelham Bay Park, Pelham Bay Park subway, Robert Moses, Russell Owen New York Times, Russell Owen Pulitzer Prize, Seddon Street Bronx, Summer of 1936, Teletype machine, WPA Bronx, Zerega Avenue Bronx | Leave a comment

Fresh Farm Milk from a Historic Estate: How a New York City Garden Club Helped the War Effort in 1918

Posted on March 25, 2018 by mansionmusings

It was time to step up. One hundred years ago, America had entered the First World War, and patriotic civilians were eager to contribute on the home front to help defeat the Germans. Meanwhile, milk prices in New York City … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Alice Lakey, Dairy farming, Edward Burnett, Frederick Law Olmsted, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Infant and Maternal Health in World War I, International Garden Club, James Hamilton, John F. Hylan, Mayor's Committee of Women on National Defense, Milk Price Fixing in World War I New York City, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Nevis Estate, Nevis Irvington, New York City Tenements, New York Nursery and Child's Hospital, Theodore Roosevelt, Union Settlement, Vanderbilt Clinic, World War I, World War I Convalescent Hospitals, World War I Hospitals in Country Houses, World War I Milk Prices, World War I War Efforts New York City, World War I Women's Work, Zelia Hoffman | 2 Comments

Sleeping Beauty: A Romantic Ruin Awakes

Posted on January 27, 2018 by mansionmusings

In 1914, the beautiful old Bartow mansion was falling apart. Overgrown ivy crept up the walls and over the windows of the derelict old stone building. Broken glass panes allowed rain, snow, wind, dirt, insects, and small animals to enter … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Alice Martineau, August Moebus, Bartow mansion, Bronx parks, Day Home for Crippled Children, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, Gardening clubs, Gardening in the early 20th century, Historic houses, Historic preservation, International Garden Club, International Sunshine Society, Joseph Hennessy, Little Mothers, Motoring Excursions, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Mrs. Philip Martineau, Pelham Bay Park, Philanthropy in the early 20th century, Royal Horticultural Society, The Herbaceous Garden, Treaty Oak, Turnbull mansion, William Turnbull, Zelia Hoffman | 2 Comments

The International Garden Club Goes International: The Barra School Children’s Garden Competition, 1936–1952

Posted on February 4, 2017 by mansionmusings

The Isle of Barra, a remote windswept island in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, is a world away from Bartow-Pell and New York City, but there is a fine story to be told about these two places and their forgotten connection. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings, Mansion Musings | Tagged Barra Hebrides, Barra School Gardens, Barra Scotland, Bartow-Pell Children's Garden, Children's School Gardens, Eve Balfour, F. Marian McNeill, International Garden Club, Isle of Barra, Kisimul Castle, Marie Macneil of Barra, Mrs. Eliot (Mary) Tuckerman, World War II | Leave a comment

The Irrepressible Zelia

Posted on April 23, 2016 by mansionmusings

International Garden Club founder and Bartow mansion preservationist Zelia Hoffman (1867–1929) was definitely not a shrinking violet. The hard-charging Newport hostess, transatlantic horticulturalist, country house chatelaine, philanthropist, and political candidate was described by the pseudonymous Old Guard gossip columnist Cholly … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Alice Martineau, Armsea Hall, Blickling Hall, International Garden Club, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Zelia Hoffman | 3 Comments