Trade Secrets Returns This Weekend
A display at Trade Secrets 2007; photograph by Lisa Sheble
Trade Secrets is not such a secret anymore. Like a well-tended garden, the rare plant and garden antiques sale grows lusher and more interesting every year, raising ever more money for Women’s Support Services, the not-for-profit agency that provides aid to victims of domestic violence in northwestern Connecticut and nearby New York and Massachusetts. “It’s gratifying to see how it’s become a major event on gardeners’ calendars,” says Naomi Blumenthal of Alford, who helped found Trade Secrets in 2001 at interior designer Bunny Williams‘s property in Falls Village, CT, where she was then head gardener. Trade Secrets is both earthy and elegant—it has the ambiance of the sort of country fair you’d see featured in an English gardening magazine. For the third year in a row, it will be held at Lion’s Rock Farm on Route 41 on the Sharon/Salisbury border. The 50 vendors take great care not only with the merchandise they choose to bring but also with composing the vignettes in their tented booths. “We love participating in Trade Secrets—it’s an annual reunion of passionate plantspeople and experts who we know and admire,” says Bob Hyland of Loomis Creek Nursery. Indeed, Trade Secret veterans “love to reminisce about the second Trade Secrets at Bunny’s house when it snowed,” says Blumenthal. “If I could wish for anything it would be for good weather.”
But cold, wind and rain never deter competitive gardeners like Anne Bass, Carolyne Roehm, Martha Stewart, Oscar de la Renta, and Bunny Williams, who are usually among the early buyers and who ask probing questions of vendors such as David Burdick Daffodils and Glendale Botanicals. You can also shop for country antiques (from dealers such as Dawn Hill and Treillage), rare garden tomes (from Johnnycake Books), handmade clay pots (by Guy Wolff), and outdoor sculpture (from The White Gallery and Battle Hill Forge). The planning committee is especially excited about a new vendor, Barbara Israel, who many consider the authority on antique garden ornaments.
Day Two of Trade Secrets is devoted to garden tours. “We have four this year,” says co-chair Judith Linscott. “Bunny Williams’s garden is always included because it is beloved. People just love going back to it again and again. In Salisbury, there’s Robin Magowan’s rock garden and the grand Twin Maples and Helen Bodian’s wonderful woodlands in Millerton. There’s a realistic element to all these gardens, so you can borrow ideas. You don’t need $10 million and three full-time gardeners to emulate them.”
Trade Secrets
Saturday May 17
Early Buying: 8 AM to 10 AM, $100 (includes buffet breakfast)
Regular Admission: 10 AM - 3 PM, $35
Sunday May 18
Garden Tours: 10 AM - 4 PM, $60 ($50 if purchased in advance)
Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/10/08 at 08:07 PM (0) Comments • Permalink
Privet House: A Shopping “Revolution” in Warren, CT
Scented candles from France are kept under bell jars
If shopping is your recreational drug of choice, then Richard Lambertson and Suzanne Cassano are the dealers of your dreams. Last week, they opened Privet House, which they call an emporium of home goods, antiques and curiosities. They have artfully displayed a wide assortment of things—from antique calligraphy brushes to hotel silver—that you might expect to find on the Seventh Floor of Bergdorf Goodman in New York (where Lambertson was once the fashion director) but not in sleepy Warren, CT (which is on the way to Cornwall, Kent or New Preston, depending on your orientation.)
Cassano has been running Vol 1 Antiques next door for several years, and she was tired of having an empty store as a neighbor. “Selfishly, I told Richard he should open a shop there, because I thought it would bring me more traffic,” she says. “And he said to me, ‘Only if you do it with me’.” The next thing you know, the two (who both have homes in Sharon) were off to Europe, ordering white earthenware in Belgium, scouring the Paris flea market for objets d’art, and having notebooks made with marbelized paper in Florence. They also brought back Cire Trudon candles that they display under bell jars so that the elaborate scents don’t collide and overwhelm the senses. ("Lift the glass and smell it, not the candle” instructs the manager Claudia Kalur.” ) Made by a French firm that’s been around since the 17th century, the candles have poetic backstories and esoteric names such as “Odalisque” (“Enclosed in citrus and wood bar, the orange blossom weaves a painter’s dream from which escapes the pale volute of smoke from a narghile”) and “Revolution” (“Smells of hot and crusty bread right out of the oven, an exulting scent; this wake of hope is ‘the other side of happiness,’ just like a provocation, or a liberal urge moved by childish appetite.”) I guess you might say that Privet House is a “revolutionary” store—at least for northwestern Connecticut.
Privet House
4 Cornwall Road, Warren CT; 860-868-1800
Friday - Sunday 11 AM - 5 PM or by appointment
The shop specializes in dramatic oversized objects like the carved 18th century wooden eagle from England ($16,500) and copper-beaded chandelier ($3,300) .
Privet House is like a primer on how to display disparate objects such as a set of four vintage cutlery molds ($695) and bisque candelabras ($550 each) with pieces of coral and shells.
A shelf of antique calligraphy pens and French masonry jars.
One corner of the shop resembles anold world potting shed with Chinese paper mache pots on the top shelf ($85 and $150).
The canvas dog carrier ($120) is ideal for anyone who travels with a pet on MetroNorth. The doggie rainbreaker ($56) is sold separately.
Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/10/08 at 07:42 AM (0) Comments • Permalink
Mother’s Day: The Rural Intelligence Gift Guide
Mother’s come in all sizes, shapes, and persuasions. Whether yours is an earth mother, a soccer mom, the Queen Mum, as modern as MOMA or as comfortable as an old slipper, the perfect gift for her lies close at hand; no shipping required. Some thoughts…
Early-blooming, bird-pleasing Shad is native to our region. It also has fabulous fall foliage, making it a gift that delivers three seasons a year; year after year; $75-$575
Windy Hill Farm Nursery,787 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington; 413.298.3217
Lynne Bragonier is one of those brilliant retailers who believe that style and value are synonymous—so most things in her housewares-and-clothing shop look more expensive than they are. This environmentally-friendly, hypoallergenic bamboo T-shirt ($50) feels like silk and goes in the washer and dryer.
Agapanthus, 329 Main Street, Lakeville, CT; 860.435.8900
Swedish country is the bent of this shop, but these garden accessories are made in this country from recycled materials. Large (31” x 27") Parthenon bird feeder $600, small Parthenon $450, church birdhouse $325
Hedstrom & Judd, 401 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.671.6131
You may want to take mom with you to Red Hook to pick out her flowers at Battenfeld’s Farm—one of the leading wholesale growers of anemones in the world—because it’s like stepping back in time. The “shop” is run on the honor system so you leave your money in a box and you can snoop around the old greenhouses where acres of anemones are always in bloom.
Battenfeld’s, Route 199, Red Hook, NY; 845.758.8018
If you don’t tell Mom this wire cupola garden ornament is a reproduction; she’ll never guess, $218
Pine Cone Hill, 55 Pittsfield Road, Lenox; 413.637.1996
Aline Sosne knows how to make high fashion work for the Berkshires. If your mother does too, she’ll love this all-weather jacket by Issey Miyake, $1535
Tanglewool, 28 Walker Street, Lenox; 413.637.0900
The perfect bag for the outfit above; so striking, yet so spare, the MaxxNY patent bowler, $168
de Marchin, 620 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.828.3918
Shana Lee hand-forges all of the sterling silver jewelry in her Hudson jewelry store herself; necklaces (top) $264, (middle) $210, (bottom, with turquoise and ruby), $170
Shana Lee, 521 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.828.8789
Is there anything more difficult to find then a good-looking featherlight raincoat that you can wear on a hot muggy day? The stylish minds behind Paper Trail in Rhinebeck carry a selection of toppers ($245 - $310) made of Tyvek— yes, that same water-and-wind resistant material that builders use to protect wood against moisture.
Paper Trail, Montgomery Row, Rhinebeck, NY; 845.876.8060
When they were little, sisters Nina and Sophia played store. Now they’re at it again, and the fun they’re having shows. Throw cushion printed with a detail of Ingres’s Odalisque, $135
MIX, 438 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.828,1707
My blogging buddy Gina Hyams tipped me off to Hammertown Barn’s astonishing line of lightweight, indestructible Melamine dishes and serving platters (size shown, $25) that look like Italian hand-painted pottery.
Hammertown Barn, 3201 Route 199, Pine Plains; 518.398.7075; Hammertown Store, Montgomery Row, Rhinebeck NY; 845.876.1450; Hammertown Store, 325 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington, 413.528.7766
This six-year-old shop specializes in important, contemporary jewelry from top designers around the world. The 18 karat gold hanger earrings, $425
Ornamentum, 306.5 Warren Street, Hudson 518.671.6770
She’ll never misplace them again; this checkbook cover, $24, and passport cover, $22, are so bright, they’ll find her.
Pine Cone Hill, 55 Pittsfield Road, Lenox; 413.637.1996
Joan Cornell designs her own jewelry and also carries reproductions of some of the best stuff in the highest-end Fifth Avenue stores. Aficionadas like your mother will recognize the source for this Italian-made cuff of 18 karat gold with 18 karat white gold appliques set with fine white diamonds, $15,500. They’ll also recognize that its price is a trifle in comparison to the original.
Jewelz, 51 Church Street, Lenox; 413.637.5022
Sheila Chefetz, an internationally recognized authority on the history of table settings, has a world-class collection right in her shop. For asparagus loving mothers, antique French Limoges asparagus plates, $175 - $325 each; individual sterling silver asparagus holders, $65 - $95; asparagus servers, $345 - $495; and an autographed and gift-wrapped copy of Chefetz’s Antiques for the Table, $37.95.
Country Dining Room, 178 Main Street, Great Barrington; 413.528.5050
If you’re a Francophile, you probably know about Basic French in Red Hook, a small storefront which carries an idiosyncratic assortment of imported linens, lotions, children’s clothes, and tableware. The store is so tiny that, if you want to see what their wonderful all-weather deck chairs ($135) look like open, you have to take them out to the sidewalk.
Basic French, 5 East Market Street, Red Hook, NY; 845.758.0399
Karen Allen has moved across Railroad Street into a larger space. Now, in addition to her signature patterned cashmere handknits, you’ll find such delights as this beaded evening bag, $95
Karen Allen Fiber Arts, 8 Railroad Street, Great Barrington; 513.528.8555
These unpolished glass eggs have the subtle coloring and light-capturing properties of beach glass. At $4, $5, $6 each, you can afford to buy enough to fill a bowl.
Kosa, 502 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.828.6620
To prove her claim that this apron is sexy, we asked owner Dena Moran to slip it on. Yup; gives a whole new dimension to the concept of being tied to Mother’s apron strings. $60
Olde Hudson, 434 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.828.6923
The first artisanal maple syrup of the season from Mead’s Farm in Canaan, CT (which taps trees in Norfolk, CT, and Southfield, MA, as well) is available at Millerton Market ($14.95). In addition to using the syrup on pancakes and oatmeal, Robin Helfand, Millerton Market’s owner, likes to pair it with Peter Stephanopolis’s hand-made goat’s milk yogurt.
Millerton Market, 21 Main St, Millerton, NY; 518.789.6677
Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 05/05/08 at 07:08 AM (3) Comments • Permalink
Shopping: Our Lady of The Lamps
We all know someone who grows lettuce for a living and people who spin their own wool, blow glass or bake bread the old-time, labor-intensive way, fashioning a career by keeping craft and tradition alive. When you first walk into Susan Schneider’s lamp shop in Millerton, you wouldn’t immediately put her into this category. But if you peer over the counter into her workshop, you will see something you may have never seen before—stacks of “naked” lamp shades. “I make every shade myself,” says Schneider, who approaches making lampshades like a milliner, consulting with clients about shape, proportion and trims. “You can’t have a plain shade. It’s like having a plain hat.”
So how did a nice Jewish girl from Teaneck, New Jersey, end up as the Lamp Lady of one of the “ten coolest towns in America” (as Millerton was dubbed by Budget Travel.) “I was an antiques dealer and I got into lighting and I could never find shades I liked, so I decided to make them myself,” she says. This was before the Internet, and she could not find any books or instruction manuals for how to make a lamp shade. “So I took them apart to see how they were made, and I taught myself how to make lampshades.” 
She discovered that her high-school geometry came in handy. “You need π for an arc, but I don’t often make arcs anymore,” she says, explaining that a friend uncovered a cache of 8,000 lampshade patterns in a storage locker in Utah, which Schneider snatched up. “What luck!,” says Schneider. “It cost me more to ship them than to buy them.”
While lampshades are her specialty, Shandell’s (the name comes from her Hebrew name, which means “pretty") is a full-service shop and she can transform almost any object or antique (vintage wallpaper rolls, balustrades, vases, iron strap hinges) into lamp or sconces. She will rewire existing lamps, too. “I use cloth cords,” she says, noting that she considers them a subtle status symbol. “I rarely use plastic. In the 19th century, cords were exposed because they were a sign that you could have electricity.”
Mid-century gourd lamps, $750 for the pair without shades; a selection of antique Mexican pottery, $225 and up, is ready to be turned into lamps.
Schneider uses handmade papers, vintage wallpaper, silk, fabric and wood for her shades. You can recognize a Shandell’s shade by the contrasting trim or seams. Indeed, you usually need to be working with a decorator to find someone to design and make custom lampshades, which is why Schneider is such a treasure. (A shade for an average size table lamp begins at about $150.) But not everything in her store is custom made: She keeps a large supply of small shades for sconces and chandeliers ($40), and she’s lately started using vintage sporting prints for tissue box covers ($48), which she hand trims in copper tape. “I’ve sold hundreds of them,” says Schneider, who makes them all herself in the back of the store. “That’s why I am not open every day. I need time in the studio. People are always blown away that I make everything myself.”
Shandell’s carries a wide array of new and vintage finials, which begin at $5.
Vintage wood and brass wallpaper rollers, $500 and up, make unique lamp bases.
Shandell’s
34 Main Street, Millerton, NY; 518-789-6603
Thursday - Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM or by appointment.
Posted by Dan Shaw on 04/29/08 at 08:53 PM (0) Comments • Permalink
Earth Day Plant Sale: April 25 - 27
‘Northwind” Switch Grass
You don’t have to live in Connecticut to take advantage of the Earth Day Plant Sale sponsored by the Northwest Conservation District at the Goshen Fair Grounds this weekend. This annual fund-raising event benefits the non-profit group dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of local natural resources. There are things you probably can’t find at your local garden center, like bare-root seedling of Balsam Fir, Norway Spruce and White Pine ($30 for a bundle of 25). There are ornamental shrubs such as white forsythia ($20 for a 2-gallon container) and non-invasives such as ‘Northwind’ Switch grass ($20 for a 2-gallon container), and groundcovers such as periwinkle ($40 for 100 bare root plants). For a full list of what’s for sale Click here. A spokeswoman for the district advises shopping early on Friday (9 AM to 6 PM) for the best selection.
Tell-a-FriendPosted by Dan Shaw on 04/24/08 at 02:08 PM (0) Comments • Permalink
