Tea at Trianon: Farmhouse on Georgia's Vernon River

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Farmhouse on Georgia's Vernon River

From Southern Living:

For some families—especially those with two boys and an adventurous, outdoorsy bent—squeezing into a two-bedroom house with a cramped kitchen (and a single bath!) is an experience to be endured for the briefest possible period. But for accessories designer Winslett Watson; her husband, Justin; and their two sons, Whit and Haddon, the nine years they spent in a fishing cottage (a 1930s number on a gorgeous waterfront parcel on the south side of Savannah) were the perfect testing ground to learn what they wanted in a forever home.

“Our time there taught us a lot of lessons—in organization, for one,” Winslett jokes. “We also found that we don’t want to live in a giant house, hibernating in our own separate spaces. We love being together.”

So when the Watsons were ready to draft the plans for their dream home, finding the sweet spot between spreading out and staying close was key. The family enlisted a like-minded husband-and-wife architect team, Nathan and Liane Brock of Wiregrass Studio, to conceive a functional and reasonably sized home that prioritized togetherness and a sense of place over sprawling suites and spare rooms. (Read more.)