Sadly, the December 2007 issue of House & Garden was the 100-year-old magazine's last issue ever. As a teenager I loved flipping through my mom's copies but I realize now more than ever that the magazine always had a timeless quality. This spread, featuring Aerin Lauder's Greek Revival home, is no exception. Lauder’s weekend retreat, which she inherited a decade ago from her legendary grandmother Estée Lauder, features beautiful blue-and-white Chinese porcelain in several rooms, and many of those rooms remain exactly as her grandmother and decorator Mark Hampton left them.
Lauder honors Estée's love of blue and white with an unexpected and modern twist. The dining room is a lively shade of Donald Kaufman china-blue edged in white trim; a crystal chandelier outfitted with azure candles repeats the motif. That striking color combination appears again, vividly, in what was Estée’s bedroom and another guest room, in fabrics used for curtains, bedding, upholstery, and even on the walls. Lauder describes her style as "heritage with a twist". I think her description is dead on - the home is a lovely example of how you can tweak tradition to create a young, fresh space. Equally beautiful pictures of the East Hamptons home have been published in Elle Decor but there is something about Christmas decorations and a fire burning that really makes a house feel like a home. I'm smitten!
(Images via Habitually Chic and unknown)
