From the Shelburne
Museum
website:
The Brick House was the Vermont home of Shelburne Museum’s founder
Electra Havemeyer Webb and her husband James Watson Webb from 1913 to
1960. Located about two miles from the Museum, it is a 40-room
masterpiece of the Colonial Revival style with sweeping, awe-inspiring
views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
The house was a wedding gift to the Webbs in 1913. Over the next decade
Mrs. Webb directed two additions to the building to transform what had
been a modest early 19th-century farmhouse into an understated yet
imaginative and romantic country home.
At first the house was used
primarily as a retreat for fox hunting, but as Electra Webb’s
collection grew she used the house’s rooms to experiment with different
ideas for displaying art and decorative arts. The Brick House was in
effect a proto-museum, and many of its decorating and exhibition themes
were transferred to Shelburne Museum in the late 1940s and ’50s.
Creative combinations at the Brick House of early-American furniture,
textiles, English ceramics, historic wallpapers, and a range of folk,
fine, and decorative arts influenced not just the development of
Shelburne Museum but also the tastes of major collectors of the period,
including Henry Francis du Pont, the founder of Winterthur, who
credited a 1923 visit to the Brick House with his decision to begin
collecting American antiques.
The Brick House is unique both as an influential example of the
Colonial Revival style and as a rare surviving home of a major American
museum founder.
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Sarah Frei. lived at the Brick House in the summer of 2009 as part of her Dartmouth arts study program.
This summer, Char's bookgroup toured and had dinner, then their book group chat. Read Charlotte's article in the Burlington Free Press. Click the image below.
Webb family cemetary, Shelburne Farms
August 28th 2010
By Charlotte Albers
SHELBURNE -- From September to June my book group shares thoughts about authors, writing styles, characters, plots and film adaptations. We take turns hosting the group in our homes, sometimes evoking the theme of a particular book by pairing food and wine.
For Julia Child's memoir, "My Life in France," and Jacques Pepin's autobiography, "Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen," we sampled cheese tarts with French wine and wondered how we could ever learn all there is to know about cooking. Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea" and "Kabul Beauty School" by Deborah Rodriguez led to intense discussions about culture, faith and politics.
This month we signed up for a special program at the Brick House, the Vermont home of Shelburne Museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb, to talk about our summer reads over dinner in an elegant setting.
The Brick House opened its doors last year to a limited number of area book groups. For a nominal fee, participants get a 30-minute tour of the historic home followed by a catered buffet dinner. There's a suggested reading list made available to groups who want to learn more about the Vanderbilts and the Gilded Age (see sidebar, Page 3C).
"People love it," said Bonnie Ferro, who coordinates the program. "The majority of people who come to the museum never get to the Brick House. It's just the most magnificent place. In spite of its elegance and beauty, there's a comfort to it."
Ferro was instrumental in getting the program started and her own book group from Burlington came last year. About 14 groups have come so far this year and the word is out -- there's a waiting list for 2011.
Aimee Marti, a museum member, read about the program in the member newsletter. She'd previously toured the property with her mother and grandmother and fell in love with the house. Her neighborhood book group, based in South Burlington, signed up right away. One of the members is a museum volunteer and suggested they purchase "To Collect in Earnest: The Life of Electra Havemeyer Webb," available at the museum's gift shop, to read before they came.
They also chose the J.D. Salinger classic -- published in 1951 -- to discuss at dinner. "We thought it would be fun to do a classic like "Catcher in the Rye" because the house and decor are also period classics," she said. They sat on the screen porch to take advantage of the expansive views of Lake Champlain.
"People were really surprised," she said. "Most members of our book group hadn't been here before and didn't know what to expect." For Marti, the house is a local treasure and she admits to having porch envy.
Following the tour, led by two docents at the Shelburne Museum, my book group gathered in the dining room and sat in reproduction Queen Anne chairs around the magnificent tiger maple dining table in the glow of the setting sun.
Salmon dressed with a garlic, cucumber and yogurt tzatziki sauce was served with a melange of zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, tomato, asparagus and portabella mushrooms sauteed in olive oil. A spelt and wheat berry salad flavored with honey, lime and lemon rounded out the main meal, prepared by Sarah Anderson who runs Dinner Belles catering in Charlotte.
True to the character of the house and the passions of its owners, food was served on plates decorated in a traditional fox hunt pattern.
Anderson, who formerly ran a specialty foods shop in Chicago, loves the challenge of cooking with fresh seasonal foods and delivers dinners cooked in her farmhouse kitchen. One of her most popular desserts is a simple lemon or lime curd served with fresh berries from local farms. "The simpler the better" she said. "Let food speak for itself."
Dessert, a fresh blueberry crisp, was savored on the porch as we talked about our summer reads.
Charlotte Albers is a garden writer and designer. Visit www.paintboxgarden.com to find out about her workshops and design services.
Public invited to explore history of Brick House
SHELBURNE -- Long ago the original 1844 Federal-style brick farmhouse and 700 acres were a wedding gift bestowed to James Watson Webb and Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1913 by William Seward Webb, father of the groom and owner of Shelburne Farms.
Boarded up and desolate, the farmhouse was transformed that year and expanded again in 1919 to fit the lifestyle of the Webbs who lived on Long Island and once used the property as a fox hunting retreat.
Examples of the Webb's English hunt print collection can be seen in the Shelburne Museum's exhibit Tally-Ho! which also includes Electra's navy blue wool hunting jacket and skirt, custom made in England by Roberts & Carroll in 1938. Rare film footage from the 1920s and 1930s shows packs of hound pups and well-dressed riding groups setting off from the Brick House.
Looking over the pastoral landscape, you can almost hear the sounds of days gone by -- wagon wheels and work horses, hay carts, delivery trucks, baying hounds and the arrival of guests to the great house.
The house was extensively restored through the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Save America's Treasures program following the death of J. Watson Webb Jr. in 2000. It is now used in a variety of ways. Museum interns in the conservation and education departments share the north service wing. Visiting curators from other museums and historical institutions visit as do artists and writers.
Karen Webb, a family member and Museum docent, feels the house is Electra's autobiography. "She loved American originals and was fearless in using color and pattern," she said noting the bold raspberry paint that restorers found beneath the wall paper in the dining room and the deep mulberry colored hallway where Electra's first folk art purchase, a carved wooden Indian she named Mary O'Connor, is displayed.
According to Webb, the house is dignified but very American. Electra disliked chandeliers and preferred wall sconces and candlelight in the dining room. She had lamps made from olive green demijohns, used decorative band box paper for lampshades, and arranged items in unusual compositions, filling the house with what she loved.
In one bedroom, called the Quilted Room, she wallpapered the room with old quilt fabric from floor to ceiling. For the vintage fabric lover, reproductions of these fabrics are commercially sold through Windham Fabrics (www.baumtextile.com).
The Pottery Barn has reproduced a hooked rug as part of its Museum Craft Collection, available by catalog and online (www.potterybarn.com). The original is located at the base of the main staircase.
At most historic properties, the past is sacred ground. Rooms are off-limits, viewed from a safe distance. At Shelburne Museum's Brick House, the public is welcomed inside. The next Open House is scheduled for 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Oct. 11. For more information or to reserve a ticket, call 985-3346 ext. 3377 or e-mail brickhouse@shelburnemuseum.org.
By Charlotte Albers
SHELBURNE -- From September to June my book group shares thoughts about authors, writing styles, characters, plots and film adaptations. We take turns hosting the group in our homes, sometimes evoking the theme of a particular book by pairing food and wine.
For Julia Child's memoir, "My Life in France," and Jacques Pepin's autobiography, "Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen," we sampled cheese tarts with French wine and wondered how we could ever learn all there is to know about cooking. Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea" and "Kabul Beauty School" by Deborah Rodriguez led to intense discussions about culture, faith and politics.
This month we signed up for a special program at the Brick House, the Vermont home of Shelburne Museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb, to talk about our summer reads over dinner in an elegant setting.
The Brick House opened its doors last year to a limited number of area book groups. For a nominal fee, participants get a 30-minute tour of the historic home followed by a catered buffet dinner. There's a suggested reading list made available to groups who want to learn more about the Vanderbilts and the Gilded Age (see sidebar, Page 3C).
"People love it," said Bonnie Ferro, who coordinates the program. "The majority of people who come to the museum never get to the Brick House. It's just the most magnificent place. In spite of its elegance and beauty, there's a comfort to it."
Ferro was instrumental in getting the program started and her own book group from Burlington came last year. About 14 groups have come so far this year and the word is out -- there's a waiting list for 2011.
Aimee Marti, a museum member, read about the program in the member newsletter. She'd previously toured the property with her mother and grandmother and fell in love with the house. Her neighborhood book group, based in South Burlington, signed up right away. One of the members is a museum volunteer and suggested they purchase "To Collect in Earnest: The Life of Electra Havemeyer Webb," available at the museum's gift shop, to read before they came.
They also chose the J.D. Salinger classic -- published in 1951 -- to discuss at dinner. "We thought it would be fun to do a classic like "Catcher in the Rye" because the house and decor are also period classics," she said. They sat on the screen porch to take advantage of the expansive views of Lake Champlain.
"People were really surprised," she said. "Most members of our book group hadn't been here before and didn't know what to expect." For Marti, the house is a local treasure and she admits to having porch envy.
Following the tour, led by two docents at the Shelburne Museum, my book group gathered in the dining room and sat in reproduction Queen Anne chairs around the magnificent tiger maple dining table in the glow of the setting sun.
Salmon dressed with a garlic, cucumber and yogurt tzatziki sauce was served with a melange of zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, tomato, asparagus and portabella mushrooms sauteed in olive oil. A spelt and wheat berry salad flavored with honey, lime and lemon rounded out the main meal, prepared by Sarah Anderson who runs Dinner Belles catering in Charlotte.
True to the character of the house and the passions of its owners, food was served on plates decorated in a traditional fox hunt pattern.
Anderson, who formerly ran a specialty foods shop in Chicago, loves the challenge of cooking with fresh seasonal foods and delivers dinners cooked in her farmhouse kitchen. One of her most popular desserts is a simple lemon or lime curd served with fresh berries from local farms. "The simpler the better" she said. "Let food speak for itself."
Dessert, a fresh blueberry crisp, was savored on the porch as we talked about our summer reads.
Charlotte Albers is a garden writer and designer. Visit www.paintboxgarden.com to find out about her workshops and design services.
Public invited to explore history of Brick House
SHELBURNE -- Long ago the original 1844 Federal-style brick farmhouse and 700 acres were a wedding gift bestowed to James Watson Webb and Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1913 by William Seward Webb, father of the groom and owner of Shelburne Farms.
Boarded up and desolate, the farmhouse was transformed that year and expanded again in 1919 to fit the lifestyle of the Webbs who lived on Long Island and once used the property as a fox hunting retreat.
Examples of the Webb's English hunt print collection can be seen in the Shelburne Museum's exhibit Tally-Ho! which also includes Electra's navy blue wool hunting jacket and skirt, custom made in England by Roberts & Carroll in 1938. Rare film footage from the 1920s and 1930s shows packs of hound pups and well-dressed riding groups setting off from the Brick House.
Looking over the pastoral landscape, you can almost hear the sounds of days gone by -- wagon wheels and work horses, hay carts, delivery trucks, baying hounds and the arrival of guests to the great house.
The house was extensively restored through the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Save America's Treasures program following the death of J. Watson Webb Jr. in 2000. It is now used in a variety of ways. Museum interns in the conservation and education departments share the north service wing. Visiting curators from other museums and historical institutions visit as do artists and writers.
Karen Webb, a family member and Museum docent, feels the house is Electra's autobiography. "She loved American originals and was fearless in using color and pattern," she said noting the bold raspberry paint that restorers found beneath the wall paper in the dining room and the deep mulberry colored hallway where Electra's first folk art purchase, a carved wooden Indian she named Mary O'Connor, is displayed.
According to Webb, the house is dignified but very American. Electra disliked chandeliers and preferred wall sconces and candlelight in the dining room. She had lamps made from olive green demijohns, used decorative band box paper for lampshades, and arranged items in unusual compositions, filling the house with what she loved.
In one bedroom, called the Quilted Room, she wallpapered the room with old quilt fabric from floor to ceiling. For the vintage fabric lover, reproductions of these fabrics are commercially sold through Windham Fabrics (www.baumtextile.com).
The Pottery Barn has reproduced a hooked rug as part of its Museum Craft Collection, available by catalog and online (www.potterybarn.com). The original is located at the base of the main staircase.
At most historic properties, the past is sacred ground. Rooms are off-limits, viewed from a safe distance. At Shelburne Museum's Brick House, the public is welcomed inside. The next Open House is scheduled for 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Oct. 11. For more information or to reserve a ticket, call 985-3346 ext. 3377 or e-mail brickhouse@shelburnemuseum.org.