Sunday Harvest; Barclay Butera, Archipelago

Cold weather is finally on its way to us (not that we're looking forward to it) so today Tim harvested the final bounty (though we've still got tomatoes and banana peppers on the vine) of the season from our backyard. His peppers, basil and green beans were added to our Sunday soup (this afternoon it was a sinus-opening hot and sour soup with Chinese dumplings), and the roses, salvia and eucalyptus made a nice aromatic bouquet. Combined with a beautiful profile snapshot of Peanut, I present my "Susan Dickenson Lifestyle" vignette... inspired of course, by the just-ended HighPoint Market, but also by my friend Barclay Butera's gorgeous new book of his interior design work, Living in Style by Assouline Publishing. My biggest question with regard to BB is, is there any style that he doesn't do? Each fall, I look forward to his fall introductions in IHFC's Interhall, knowing he'll be taking me to a completely new place with his furniture, fabrics and accessories. This time it involved the inspirations resulting from his new licensing arrangements with Hearst Castle/San Simeon, and the lifestyle presentations in his new book -- some of which draw from his (former) residences which include Desi Arnaz Jr.'s (preteen heartthrob o'mine) Beverly Hills home, Frank Sinatra's (preteen heartthrob o'mama's) Twin Palms estate in the desert and a cottage Bette Davis owned by the sea. I first learned of the book, and the five lifestyle themes (Beach, City, Desert, Mountain, Town and Country) in a press release I received just a few days after Tim and I returned from the ART Conference in Charleston this past August. The release announced BB's new line of candles, made by L.A.-based Archipelago, the co-owner of which (Gregg Corzine) sat to my immediate right during the big 1920s themed dinner-dance on the final night of the ART conference (the world just keeps getting smaller and smaller). Back to the book -- if ever there were a human design sponge, BB is it - his ability to absorb every detail of every interior he inhabits, impress his own flair upon it, and then put it back out there for all to enjoy and own is beautifully documented in this collection of photographs and interiors that is so purely Barclay Butera... Thanks, BB, for the beautiful book, the inspiration, the sweet note and your insightful contributions as a member of my Designer Insight panel at in the magazine and at http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/.

p.s. to my olivia, jane and sophie pyle -- we saw another great win in Chapel Hill yesterday, OVER Boston College and UNDER late-clearing Carolina Blue skies!