On tour

I just got home from the Bayard Taylor Library's annual Home & Garden Day and, as always, I had a great time. I volunteered for a few hours at one of the sites and had fun schmoozing to my heart's content. During my time off I got to visit two Unionville homes that have recently undergone major updates: Brooklawn (the Hannum estate) and Upland House (where horsewoman Betty Bird lived for many years). Both have been beautifully redone and were filled with family and equestrian memorabilia. I loved seeing the famous painting of Mrs. Hannum on her horse surrounded by her beloved foxhounds and, at Upland House, a stunning portrait of the current owner's grandmother as a young girl.
Mrs. Hannum's grand-daughter, Nancy Davidson Wood, was on hand at Brooklawn, which is now her family's home, and when I was there visitors were keeping her busy explaining various Stewart, Harriman and Hannum connections. One guest asked her to explain the purpose of an inches-wide door on the side of the dining room fireplace. A plate warmer? The liquor cabinet? She opened it to show that it concealed nothing more exotic than some pipework.
Despite predictions of stifling heat and thunderstorms, the temperature was in the mid-80s and there was a slight breeze that kept the day comfortable (except for possibly the second floor of the house where I was volunteering). The gardens were lovely, full of irises and peonies.
This year I noticed a lot more men on the tour; usually groups of ladies make up the majority of the guests. The hostess at one house offered a plausible explanation for this phenomenon: both Lou Mandich's Last Chance Garage and Doug Mooberry's Kinloch Woodworking were kind enough to open their doors to visitors.
A highlight of the tour is always the food. At the houses I visited I got to sample The Mushroom Cap's mushroom salad (and had a nice time chatting with owner Kathi Lafferty), the Kennett Square Inn's tomato flour tortillas with tapenade, and biscotti from Sinclair's Sunrise Café. A friend raved about the portabella cheesesteak from Portabella’s and the homemade raviolis from La Verona and predicted that "anyone not familiar with those restaurants" would "book reservations immediately!"
Having served on the library's Special Events Committee for many years, I know all the hard work and endless tiny details that go into pulling together this tour. Very impressive indeed!