SHANGRI LA, DORIS DUKE'S ISLAMIC TREASURE (c) By Polly Guerin

Many people may dream of creating an imaginary paradise on earth, a faraway haven of idyllic beauty and tranquility, but no person could have done it as well as Doris Duke, the quintessential heiress who built her exotic utopia in Honolulu, Hawaii. She filled it with Islamic treasures and patterned its ambiance with rare tiles, textiles, ceramics and artifacts. I regret that I never visited Duke’s Shangri-La but MAD; the Museum of Art & Design on Columbus Circle in New York City has remedied that desire. The exhibition explores the synthesis of 1930’s modernist architecture, tropical landscape and Islamic Art Doris Duke achieved at Shangri La. It is open to the public through next year, February 2013.
SHANGRI LA AT LAST Opening during the centennial year of Doris Duke’s (1912-93) birth this is the first major exhibition about Shangri La to be shown outside of Hawaii. It tells the story of her transformative engagement with the Islamic world that brings her work at Shangri La to national audiences. Doris was ahead of her time in collecting Islamic art and the exhibition is a breathtaking presentation of the spectacular Honolulu home of this philanthropic art collector.
DORIS DUKE’S PASSION Shangri La reflects Doris Duke’s aesthetic passion for collecting rare and historic Islamic art. The impressive home incorporates carved marble doorways, decorated screens, coffered ceilings, floral ceramic tiles, and everywhere exuberant color. Inlaid mother-of-pearl wood furniture reminds me of the beautiful bedroom suite in her house at Rough Point, Rhode Island, for I once visited this mansion and wrote a previous story about it. Duke was an accomplished swimmer and was known to into the ocean, off the cliff at Rough Point for a daily swim. No wonder she engaged in competition surfing in Honolulu.
SHANGRI LA TODAY Structured around five acres of interlocking terraced gardens and pools, Shangri La overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Honolulu’s Diamond Head. The home itself is a wonder of unique architecture and much of its construction was supervised by Doris herself. The interior weaves together artifacts such as silk textiles, jewel toned chandeliers and rare ceramics. Most astonishing are the huge retractable windows in the living room which can be lowered to reveal the breathtaking outdoor panorama of the gardens and Pacific Ocean. Today Shangri La is open to the public with 2,500 objects many collected during her extensive international travels. To promote Islamic art to its fullest there is a scholar-in-residence and artist-in-resident program.
AN AMERICAN HEIRESS Throughout her life Doris Duke’s generosity was legendary and her largesse extended to many known philanthropic causes, and others rarely mentioned gained her support. She was the only daughter of an immensely rich tobacco tycoon, James Buchanan Duke, who lavished large on his child. An oversized portrait of Doris at Rough Point attests to her blonde beauty and attractiveness, yet she was a down-to-earth realist, a great hostess and never bored but continued to explore, create and make a difference in the art world.
JOIE DE VIVRE LIFESTYLE Doris Duke may have been born into a life of wealth and privilege, but she embraced it with a love for life on many levels. For one thing, I remember that she was an accomplished jazz pianist who befriended jazz musicians and held music sessions in her home at Rough Point and even sang in a gospel choir. She spoke fluent French and at one time early on she was a journalist for Harper’s Bazaar. Doris loved animals, particularly her dogs and pet camel, and later in life became a wildlife conservationist. Many of the rare holdings at Shangri La were acquiring during her 1935 honeymoon around the world with her husband, James H.R. Cromwell, the son of a Palm Beach doyenne. They had one child, a daughter Arden, who sadly lived but one day.
THE MAGNIFICENT OBJECTS IN DORIS DUKE’S SHANGRI LA DEMONSTRATE JUST WHAT AN ACTIVE AND SENSITIVE APPRECIATION OF ISLAMIC ART AND OBJECTS SHE HAD. NOW THESE TREASURES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC COLLECTIVELY TANTALIZE OUR IMAGINATION WITH THE IDYLLIC ISLAMIC-INSPIRED PARADISE SHE CREATED.

MOUNT VERNON HOTEL MUSEUM, QUEEN OF COLONIAL ERA (c) By Polly Guerin

As a traveler in Colonial America I often wondered, “What must have been the hazards of the road and where could a respectable woman find a safe haven in New York City?” Solution could be found in the 1799 building at 421 East 61st street, the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Gardens, where today modern seekers of historical knowledge can tour the nine period rooms, attend lectures or linger in the pleasant gardens, an oasis in the bustling metropolis. Originally the building was a carriage house and stables and from 1826 to 1833 it operated as a hotel and then it was a private residence.
A ‘DAY’ HOTEL It was common in those days for the members of the upper and middle class to take ‘day trips’ to the country, the then rural setting that is now Manhattan. “Up north some might say,” but it offered a respite from the dirt, noise and bustle of city life. Remember, in the early part of the 19th century New York City only extended as far north as approximately 14th Street. In 1924 the Colonial Dames of America, a historical and genealogical organization bought the house and by 1939 it was opened to the public as the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden. However, the museum was formerly called the Abigail Adams Smith Museum, in  honor the woman who once lived there.
QUEEN OF COLONIAL REVIVAL It is sad to note that references of Jane Teller are rare in American furniture books, yet auction catalogs and other sources list nearly 1,000 objects that she bought widely for in 1922 she put up items for sale including bedspreads, whale oil lamps, pine tables, spinning wheels, butter churns, sugar kettles, cheese molds, lard squeezers and enough additional pieces to revive appreciation for all things Colonial that turn up at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum.
COLONIAL CRAFTSMANSHIP Jane Teller singularly sought to revive all aspects of Colonial culture, including the furniture and decorative arts of her 18th-century stone house headquarters at 421 East 61st Street where she began giving classes in handcrafts and advertised for a few bright women to learn hand spinning and weaving whilst self-appointing herself as the secretary of the Society for the Revival of Household Industries and Domestic Arts. Jane regretted that clothes were lacking of individuality and the finer artistry of old hand work. It is suffice to say that that very thought permeates many women’s thoughts even today.
WHO WAS JANE TELLER? She was born Jane Crosby and made a fortuitous match in 1902 and married Myron Teller, an architect who restored houses and was interested in things antiquarian. At her headquarters on East 61st Street Jane taught women to spin or to take raw flax or wool home and spin it there. Jane Teller may not be a household word today, but we acknowledge with gratitude that she helped to popularize the arts and crafts of the Colonial period. By the 1920s she was running a antiques shop offering work of old Colonial design.

THE MUSEUM TODAY The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum is the only surviving example of a ‘day hotel.’ Its period rooms are furnished with historic pieces that reflect how guests would have been accommodated and a kitchen of the era recalls how meals were prepared, while social rooms for card playing  and music, and a Colonial bar attest to the conviviality of the place. The museum offers a variety of lectures and educational programs of the circa 1830 hotel and in the Abigail Adams Orientation Center visitors can view a video about New York City in the 1820s and 1830s. Musical programs in the gardens are scheduled, weather permitting.
THE MOUNT VERNON HOTEL and GARDENS ALLOWS US TO STEP BACK IN TIME TO THE COLONIAL ERA WHEN HAND MADE AND CRAFTSMANSHIP WERE TREASURED COMMODITIES AND A VISIT TO THE ‘DAY HOTEL’ GAVE US RESPITE FROM THE GRITTY CITY, EVEN TODAY.

WOLCOTT, THE MOST GRAND HOTEL IN NYC (c) By Polly Guerin

I invite you to step back into a bygone era when grand sweeps of architectural splendor made hotels the quintessence of elegant living. Such is one fine Victorian lady, The Hotel Wolcott. Skirted with grace and brimming with old-world charm, this hotel takes its place with pride as one of the unique treasures in the Murray Hill section of New York City. In the 1850’s when the Victorian swells moved up from downtown Old New York, they chose Fifth Avenue and so did the Hotel Wolcott at Thirty-first Street and Fifth Ave. The historical value of this hotel deserves to be recognized for the hotel fortunately has been restored with modern amenities so that travelers may be able to stay in a luxurious environment like the cognoscenti of yesteryear's.
SOME HISTORICAL ACCOUNT The impressive interior and exterior of the hotel, with gold cherubs caressing the sweeping staircase inside was the work of American architect, John H.Duncan, who counts among his achievements as the architect of Grant’s Tomb and also the Soldiers’ and Sailor’s memorial Arch in Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, NY. The 1904-built hotel was named after a brother of the ex-Senator of Colorado and the current steward, is Scott Erlich, whose family has owned the hotel since 1975 and has carefully restored the structure with a great sensitivity towards authenticating the original plan.
A GRAND BUILDING “If only we looked this good at one hundred years old!” is an appropriate statement when it comes to describing this beautiful Manhattan hotel. Like the grand lady, that she is, the building still maintains the structure’s original architectural details. The lobby is restored in perfect detail with gorgeous crystal chandeliers, marble columns and ceiling colors that match the magnificent period-looking carpet, as pictured in the image above.  Keeping up appearances, so to speak, the hotels warm service also harkens back to a long-past era of hospitality.

MODERN AMENITIES Each of the 200 private rooms have modern amenities like TV and Internet access, but tempting sights nearby beckon as well. Close by is the famous Empire State Building, Madison Square Park and the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. Downtown past Twenty-third Street there are lots of trendy restaurants and a quick hop on the Madison Avenue bus and you are whisked up to Museums along the route such as MOMA and the Whitney or the Metropolitan. Cross town on 34th Street you can hop the Select Bus to the Javits Center.
A LADY AUTHOR As for me I think I would find the ambiance of the hotel so inspiring that I would sit right down and write a romantic novel there. That’s what America’s most beloved writer Edith Wharton did in 1907, she penned the book, “The Fruit of the Tree,” and I cannot wait to read it. Surely in the past discreet ladies on the town found the hotel’s warm and elegant ambiance to their liking as do the ladies and business women today who might find it likewise an appropriate home away from home.
FAMOUS GUESTS Recalling the hotel’s heyday, Titanic survivors took refuge there as did important businessmen. Musicians including Buddy Holly and Everly brothers were guests as were numerous other celebrities even including Fiorella H. LaGuardia and his family. Nonetheless, the Wolcott has come full circle and today it’s a destination place attracting fashionistas and travelers, not only because it is such a living treasure, but with all of its historical ambiance, the Wolcott, my dears, is quite affordable.

THE WOLCOTT HOTEL, 4 East 31st St., Between Fifth Avenue and Broadway. Tel: 212.268.2900