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For part two of my series on the Mill, I am leading off with a photo of the dining room, which is my favorite room in the house. Originally slated to be embellished with bold colors, the Duchess decided instead to decorate it in subtle shades. She employed John Fowler and Mrs. Claude Lancaster of Colefax and Fowler to assist her with this room. Fowler painted the room's bulrush and shell mural, which provided a charming backdrop for the Duchess's collection of trompe l'oeil porcelain as well as her painted furniture, while the floor's rush matting was another nice, tasteful touch. As you can see, the room is quite a contrast to the Mill's other rooms, something that the Duchess addressed in her article: "This room is a surprise to everyone- even to me- coming to it as one does from the brilliant colors and homey, chintzy atmosphere of the hall. Sometimes I think the very contrast of the world of one talented decorator like Stéphane Boudin (who worked with me on the rest of the mill) with that of an entirely different talent is more dramatic than anything you might deliberately plan."
Other excerpts from the article that you might find interesting:
"Every house as it is lived in seems to me to take on a personality of its own; the Duke and I have tried to foster for our mill one of serenity and relaxation- with just a touch of gaiety- for ourselves and for our guests."
"I enjoy my own parties but that's usually because everything has been planned down to the nth decimal place."
"Although I can never be casual about entertaining, or about anything in the house for that matter, yet when really terrible things happen, I'm completely calm."
"I am cursed- or blessed, I don't know which- with a photographic eye. I go into a room or a shop and I take in every detail, even without really trying, and can describe it all afterward."
And on that note, let's move on to the photos...
The Dining Room, above and below:
"Even for a small luncheon like this I plan the table setting as carefully as for an important dinner. I like the contrast of the simple Italian pottery, bamboo-handled tableware and basket cornucopias of flowers with the rather elegant French and Italian painted furniture and the taffeta draperies of the dining-room."
Guest Cottage:
"This little sitting-room between the two guest rooms is only about 10 by 12 feet but by using small-scale furniture and rubbing the boiserie with light color, we gave it an air of space. The guest cottage is just one room wide- you enter the small sitting-room from the main courtyard and the French doors you see directly across the room open on the upper garden."
"Trellis bedroom in our guest cottage- we call it this because of the motif in the wallpaper. The dresser and chairs are painted to pick up the pinky-mauves in the paper and the lacquer mirror-stand and Oriental dancing figurines by Tony Duquette give the room a Chinoiserie accent. And notice the wallpaper covered with butterflies in the bathroom- it's my favorite!"
"I love the vibrant red wallpaper in the other guest room. It's cooled off just enough by the tracery of white, the white rug and light blue curtains and bed cover. On the painted Venetian chest are two Lunéville trompe l'oeil dishes- part of my collection of old French faience."
Bachelor Guest Quarters:
"We remodeled the old stables to make the two small rooms you see for bachelor guests. The irregularly shaped room is hung with pictures of the coronation of George IV tying in with the Regency-flavored décor."
"In the other bedroom, woven tapes form the bedspread, cover the bed frame and lend a color accent to an otherwise black and white setting."
Outdoor Entertaining:
"After lunch we often have coffee on the upper terrace just outside the drawing-room. There we not only see and hear the waterfall but we have a wonderful view up the valley of the Merantaise. The Duke and I enjoy most entertaining our friends at the mill in small groups so that we can really talk with each one."
"In late afternoon the trees around the millpond cast shadows across the upper terrace. The wing in the background houses my bedroom and the large door to the right opens into the drawing-room. The stairway in the corner goes down to a little areaway with a door leading to the entrance hall of the mill."
"We turned a small building attached to the old barn into this outdoor dining-room- delightful for entertaining in warm weather. It overlooks a flagstone terrace and the garden; beyond the door in the back wall is a serving pantry. On bad days, the sailcloth curtains are drawn to protect the room's furnishings."
"Our chef, René Legros, who was with the Duke in England, thinks the mill's kitchen much too small as it is, compared to the one in Paris. Here he is preparing a buffet luncheon to be served on the terrace: cold lobster, chicken pie, mixed vegetables, asparagus salad, glacé bananas, little cakes and cheese. The 18 copper pots hanging above are new, but those copper molds under the window are very old ones- they came with the Duke's things from London, and are stamped with the coat of arms of Queen Victoria."
The Duke's Room:
"This big comfortable room, once the mill's barn, is more than forty feet long. Most of the things here came from Fort Belvedere, the Duke's home in England. You can step through French windows to the garden and the Duke's desk is placed so he can look out on it. The small bookcase in the far corner holds the American and British, as well as the many foreign-language editions, of his book, A King's Story."
"The huge map over the mantel is one the Duke had in London of the pre-World-War-II world- now appropriately antiqued. On the bookcase in the corner are folders containing addresses of welcome given to him as Prince of Wales on his world travels- also some more recent ones. The portrait head was done in the Bahamas."
"You enter the room from the main courtyard through the wide French window. On either side of it are Grenadier Guards drums and bugles; on the wall mounted on shields are shoes of the horses the Duke rode in steeplechases he won. The trompe l'oeil painting over the table hid the pipes of an organ in our former Paris house."
"The most historic piece in the room is the table at the left of the fireplace- the one at which the Duke signed the Instrument of Abdication. The map above the mantel shows off his official engagements as Prince of Wales. On the left wall hang three of his collection of ceremonial bagpipe banners; the coffee table is made from a drum of the Welsh Guards."
The Bahamian Bar:
"We call this tiny room off the drawing-room our Bahamian bar because of the map of the Islands over the sofa and the other souvenirs of our five years in Nassau. The ceiling is less than six feet- tall friends have to stoop- but everybody seems to love this room, crouch and all."
Outbuildings:
"By turning left, from the garden you also get this view of the barn with the flagged terrace and awning. Beyond the barn you see part of the guest cottage and upper garden. At the bottom of the slope too low to show here is another small branch of the river."
"Here you see the wing for bachelor guests from the garden. The tall trees behind it- some are weeping willows like that in the foreground- shade the millstream. Beyond the tool house is the old river gate and an old stone bridge over the Merantaise River."
