Inspired by Sofia Coppola’s excellent mini-doc of Lee Radziwill for The New York Times, I decided to revisit some old favorite “Lee” images in my archive. While I was doing some additional research to round out an homage to her, I discovered something even more pressing – pictures of her houses from the last few decades. She had many houses, from many phases of her life, during the administration of many husbands, throughout a handful of countries. There’s the London flat in the 60’s, the 17th century Queen Anne house called “Turville” in Oxfordshire, England, the New York City penthouse duplex on Fifth Avenue, the smaller apartment a bit later on Park Avenue, and her most recent flat in Paris. Many houses, spanning many decades. Yet there are pictures from each place in this post, and shown together they show a concise history: a love of print (mostly florals and paisleys), and a combination of formality and freedom, traditional and bohemian. The overall effect? Beyond chic.
dying over all the prints/wallpapers!
The mini-doc was so great. When I was maybe 15 years old I read a biography of Lee Radziwill, "In Her Sister's Shadow" – I am sure she hated it, it was kind of a hack job. But I have been interested in her ever since so I love this sort of revival of her.
I love her ankle boots in the pug photo. Back in the day maybe they were rain or snow boots? At any rate, she is fabulous in that fur collar , bare legs and boots.
I've read biographies and find her life so interesting, but I've never spent any time admiring her beautiful interiors, only her style. They really reflect the period. But my favourite is the one of the stables. Very Jilly Cooper!
Thank you so very much.
These are truly inspiring pictures. I guess it takes a more or less trained eye to appreciate these interiors; I wouldn't necessarily want to live in any of these apartments (oh wait, I would, actually. But I would redecorate first.), but I dig the way she uses prints and those careless details like the bird cages and plants.
Lovely.
Marvellous – thank you!
Love your blog, your style and your insights. But, these interiors are horrendous…
You have the most lovely blog of them all and this post was beautiful!
These are such lovely interiors!
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