W
WELLINGTON at Home
Wanderlust Brings A World Of Furnishings To The Sellmans’ Buena Vida Home STORY BY DEBORAH WELKY PHOTOS BY SUSAN LERNER
Joan and Jim Sellman met on the beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico, were engaged two days later and married within six weeks. That was in 1962. In the years since, they have lived in several states and at least seven foreign countries. “We had wanderlust in common. We wanted to go to other countries — not just to travel, but to live,” Joan said. “I was waiting to go overseas with a government job and this was just so much faster. Jim is an electronics/communications engineer, and whenever something interesting came up, he took it.” The birth certificates of the couple’s three children were issued in Saigon (1963), Rio de Janeiro (1965) and Germany (1967). “They all had dual citizenship,” Joan said, adding that they’ve also lived in Madrid, London and the Bahamas. Looking around their home in Wellington’s Buena Vida community, there is evidence of their travels in the furniture, the accessories and the artwork. “The first four years, we owned nothing but a dog and a car, so we lived in furnished apartments — in five different countries. When we finally got our own unfurnished place, I had fun decorating it,” Joan recalled. The entryway of the home is flanked on the right by a little piano bench from London and, on the left, by a hand-carved mirror from East Berlin (“when there was such a thing”) and its matching marble-topped table as well as twin sconces from the well-known Bermondsey Street Market in London. “The market opens at 4 or 5 in the morning,” Joan said. “It’s where all the dealers shop.” Just ahead is a wall clock with a pendulum as large as its face. “I bought it in America, but it’s from France,” she said. “It’s just wonderful. I love it.” (Left) The Sellman family room is visible from the formal living room. (Right) A tea table (foreground) holds a Vietnamese tea set within, and on top, an Italian lamp with a porcelain flower shade. WELLINGTONTHE THEMAGAZINE MAGAZINE••JUNE JUNE2010 2010 WELLINGTON
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