OVER THE MOON
Hollywood in Hunt Country The National Sporting Library and Museum hosts the premiere of “Summer in February” BY VICKY MOON
National Sporting Museum and Library guests Wilhelmina Holladay, Melanie Leigh Mathewes and Jacqueline Mars. ( Photo by Saskia Paulussen)
CAST CALL IN MIDDLEBURG: There is a
subtle unspoken dichotomy when it comes to Middleburg style. Horsewomen wear their best jewels and well worn jeans to ride and muck stalls. Men who possess hundreds of acres and countless cattle are blissful when bumping along on a tractor. Katty Kay, the brilliant blonde British television journalist, is spotted tossing trash at the county dump on a Saturday morning. At the recent wedding of Lt. Col. and Mrs. Oliver North’s daughter, Dornin Ann, to Peyton Randolph Tochterman, guests were seated on bales of straw for the ceremony at Narnia Farm in Bluemont. Drinks were served in Mason jars at the reception which included dinner and dancing. No matter the occasion the objective is unpretentious. Such was the case recently when the National Sporting Library and Museum produced a dinner and a movie gala that will go down in local lore. British Amb. Sir Peter John Westmacott was honorary chairman and Jacqueline Mars and Clarice Smith (plus NetJets) were sponsors. The evening included a peek at the exhibition of “Munnings: Out in the Open” by the revered British artist Sir Alfred Munnings. The film, “Summer in February,” set in Cornwall in 1912 portrays a tortuous love triangle involving Munnings, his
74
wife Florence and their close friend Gilbert Evans, played by Dan Stevens of “Downton Abbey” fame. The Old Guard came out: Ohrstroms, Mathesons, Wileys and Fouts (Virginia Fout flew in from L.A. to add her magic touch as event planner), former Sen. John Warner, Mimi Abel-Smith and her sister, Phyllis Wyeth plus Monica Greenberg, Dielle Fleischmann, Charles Fleischman and Richard Viets. With more than 450 attending, the parade just didn’t stop … Manuel Johnson, the library/ museum’s chairman, greeted Sheila Johnson (hosting her own Middleburg Film Festival in late October) who strolled the museum with husband William Newman Jr. Turner Reuter, a major force in pulling the magnificent event together, introduced the new director, Melanie Leigh Mathewes. From the world of the horse came George Strawbridge, Helen Groves (of the King Ranch), Robin and Gerry Parsky (from Rancho Santa Fe) and Olympic Gold Medalist Joe Fargis. Other locals and neighbors included Luciana and Robert Duvall, Joe Perta, Jim Thompson and Tracey Weinberg, Lucy and Brian Conboy and Trevor Potter. Ann and Bill Nitze, Susan and Michael Pillsbury, Grace Bender, Sylvia deLeon (chairman of the Washington Ballet) and April Gow came out from Washington. Finally, everyone settled in for a dinner of salad and game pot pie. The table decorations included vintage paint brushes and boxes of oil paint tubes, sugar horse cookies and M&Ms (courtesy of Mars) And, in true Middleburg style, popcorn with truffle oil. REAL ESTATE NEWS: Recent transactions in hunt country include the sale of 152-acre “Chilly Bleak Farm” by Jennie Darlington to Jim Fitzgerald of Lexington, Ky. John Coles
of Thomas and Talbot handled the $2.5 million sale. Mrs. Darlington is the widow of Harry Darlington, whose mother, steel heiress Ethel Shields Garrett, was noted for saving the circa 1828 columns from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol and then installing them at the National Arboretum. For those interested in joining the hunt country life, agent Cindy Polk of Washington Fine Properties in Middleburg is offering
The ceilings at “Rallywood” are high enough to include a horse as well as the horsey set. (Washington Fine Properties Photo)
the 115-acre “Rallywood,” designed by local architect Thomas Beach, who has also done work for Bunny Mellon. A horse lover’s dream, it features a magnificent 12-stall center aisle stable, two-level attached owners apartment with cathedral ceilings and a living room with a gorgeous stone hearth flanked by French doors opening to an expansive terraced slate patio overlooking the 150-by-300-foot outdoor arena. The indoor arena is ideally located with direct sheltered access from the stable. Additional appointments include two lovely residences, a two-bedroom guest apartment, a one bedroom apartment, a professional office and a spectacular site to build your dream home, if desired. Price: $5,999,000.
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| M AY | washingtonlife.com