Noble Gestures
July 1, 2008
In 1956, while on holiday at my parents’ vacation house in Fort Lauderdale, my mother introduced me to a very old lady who seemed quite infirm and may even have been in a wheelchair. Sometime thereafter, my parents attended an American Bar Association banquet at the Guildhall in London at which they met Winston Churchill. They explained that Churchill was the nephew of the lady I had met in Florida and that her name was Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsam, the American-born Duchess of Marlborough. Years later, I came across her name in a school history book under the now-famous Sargent portrait of her and the Duke. The painting—from 1905—bore no resemblance to the lady I had met, but when I met Henrietta Spencer-Churchill 20 years ago, I thought that the painting had virtually come alive.
The famous long neck, awash with pearls, the thin, elegant figure, the raised head set slightly to one side, the poised, delicate shoulders, fair skin, and dark hair—almost all the features were the same. Henrietta is Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsam’s great-granddaughter. Her engaging, warm personality, dry wit, and casual air are in marked contrast to the somewhat haughty atmosphere of Sargent’s painting. These characteristics, combined with a design style that can be either informal or grand Anglo-American, confirm her preeminence as an interior designer on both sides of the pond.
Although Henrietta likes "working on new built houses because they give a greater chance to be creative," the three houses featured are each in part or in whole 18th-century Georgian and are all clearly designed for entertaining. She believes that "strong colors work well in a dining room." The Oxfordshire house not only has Chippendale chairs, and curtains and walls of a similar deep red, but also a design scheme that complements the strong architecture. Eighteenth-century plaster moldings by the Adam family cover the ceiling of the North Hamptonshire dining room, where upholstered back chairs encourage long dinner conversation. The Wiltshire drawing room was mostly redone adding architectural elements. The curtains are a major tour de force.
"It is interesting and challenging," Henrietta adds, "to incorporate different clients’ cultures. I designed for a New Zealand and Persian couple whose house is Jacobean, Palladian, and Tudor. All these tastes and styles must be incorporated."
Henrietta’s peers have acknowledged her design accomplishments by appointing her to leadership of national and international professional design organizations. She is the author of eight books, has businesses in Woodstock near Blenheim palace—the family pile—as well as in London and America. Her charity work is extensive. She has appeared on television guiding viewers through the great American mansions of Newport, R.I., many of which were built by her ancestors.
On her own entertaining, Henrietta says that she has "lots of wonderful silver and flatware in the safe at Blenheim, and it comes out at special occasions."
In the 1980s, I attended a party at Blenheim. Among the guests were the preeminent businessman, Milton Petrie and his beautiful wife, Carroll. I often remember him because he was always helping victims of injustice or unfortunate circumstances. Only later in life did these anonymous gifts become more public. He, like Henrietta, had a wry sense of humor, having once said, "I hope they have a decorator in the family."
They do. One with impeccable taste, and who, like Mr. Petrie, is always doing thoughtful—and beautiful—things.
Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, +44.20.7731.8399, www.spencerchurchilldesigns.com
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