Connecticut: The Anti-Hamptons?

"And then one day in 1976, Billy Baldwin and I were out looking for houses for sale in Connecticut, something we did a lot together, and I saw this wonderful old stone house.  It had such a dignity about it.  The place was built in 1770 as a tavern n the old Albany Post Road.  The house came with six acres, and I bought the adjacent apple orchard, or what was left of it.  Twenty-one acres in all.

The Glamour of New York: A List

"He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion...no, make that: he romanticized it all out of proportion. Yes. To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin." ― Woody Allen, Manhattan. No matter how you feel about traffic, noise, rude people, expensive rents (and hotels), and general

Feeling Pink (and Green) in Old Town Key West...

Escaping to The Village of Islands

I want to say a heartfelt thanks to all of The Library's beautiful readers, and especially those who have taken the time to post thoughtful comments these past two weeks. Reading them has made my heart sing as we've travelled through the US. I also want to apologise for the pathetic lack of posting from this end. It's never nice (or polite) to neglect a blog for too long, but I hope you'll bear

Secrets of Paris, from the Lux to the Lovely

It's midnight here in Melbourne. Autumn has come to the hills. The garden outside is invisible under a cloak of mist and the heater is fighting to keep the first frost of the year at bay.I have spent the past few hours at my desk – overcrowded with the debris of research – writing my novel The Picnic, which is the fictionalised version of the real story behind Joan Lindsay's gothic tale. Those of

Floor Plan Porn, Part 2: The Sherry Netherland

Floor plan porn seems to be a popular post on this blog. Now I don't know whether it's the floor plan part that's attracting all the hits, or the 'porn'? (But if it's the latter, shame on you! The only wickedness around here was the post on The Queen.) Whatever it is, it's prompted me to do another post about the, er, voyeuristic appeal of good lines and a great layout. So to speak.Today, we're