Manse

Like decorators, fashion designers are masters of taste & creativity, ever providing us with an accessible means by which we can express our personal style and share it with others. I was so charmed by the title of Lela Rose’s new book Fresh Air Affairs: Entertaining with Style in the Great Outdoors; I knew it would resonate with Private Brokerage’s splendid new listings. Especially now that summer is here and our impulse is to entertain loved ones al fresco! Ms. Rose, whose fresh take on romantic silhouettes appeals to the likes of Kate Middleton, makes a point of staging outdoor fashion shows. “There’s enchantment in every puffy cloud,” she observes. Similarly, she says, “When you host under the open sky, you provide the dinner and nature provides the show,” just don’t skimp on imaginative table settings and good conversation!

Each of the properties featured in this issue of The Luxury Space has an outdoor living area as carefully curated as the interiors. The party never ends at Killearn, the Tristram Coffin-designed Greek Revival in Millbrook where the elegantly furnished covered terrace includes antique side tables and brick fireplace—with candelabra on the mantle, naturally. And imagine guests on the terrace of Belvedere House, the masterpiece of stone and glass with panoramic pastoral views of Kinderhook: everyone soaking in the Jacuzzi, sipping Kir Royale and listening to birdsong. A solar-powered farmhouse on 33 acres in Chatham—featured on the cover of this newsletter—boasts an exquisite stonewalled herb garden with a pergola-covered dining courtyard. Name a better place to savor a Caprese salad with basil you reach down and pick yourself! Embrace the whims of nature when entertaining en plein air; your guests couldn’t ask for more than a delicious meal, a gentle breeze and a butterfly floating by.

Tony Cutugno Senior Vice-President Private Brokerage

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Raze the Roof

Fresh air boosts mind, body and soul and does wonders for creativity. Think what it did for Impressionist painters. Picture lunch and pomegranate gimlets poolside under billowing canopies. The Tuscan villa vibes are enhanced by the trickling fountain of a stone grotto. Splendido !