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Trade Secrets Garden Show 2025, Connecticut

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Martha Stewart has been quoted as saying “There are a few events that go on my calendar each year that I consider sacrosanct: my family’s birthdays, my summer vacation in Maine, my Christmas party, my Easter egg hunt and Trade Secrets.”

Having attended the the Trade Secrets Rare Plants and Garden Antique Sale this year, on May 18, 2025, in Salisbury, Connecticut, I can confirm that Martha did make an appearance, although she was just leaving as we arrived. But we did have a nice chat with famed interior designer Bunny Williams, who had taken Martha’s spot in the book sale and signing tent.

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Belle da Costa Greene: exhibit at The Morgan Library & Museum

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Several years ago I read a book – labeled historical fiction – entitled The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. Published in 2021, the dust cover describes the book as “the remarkable story of J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation.”

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Overnight at Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck with Mirbeau spa visit

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Periodically, my longtime friend Miss E and I (friends since seventh grade at Robert E. Bell Middle School) get together, stay a night or two at a nice inn, and if available, pair it with a spa visit. We’ve had wonderful stays at the Inns at Aurora (New York’s Finger Lakes region), the Woodstock Inn (Vt.), the Red Lion Inn (Stockbridge, Mass.), and as of this week, the Beekman Arms, in Rhinebeck, NY.

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Highlights from the Shelburne Museum — a few of my favorite things

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Every few years I make it a point to visit the Shelburne Museum, in Shelburne, Vermont. Spread over 45 acres on the eastern side of Lake Champlain, several miles south of Burlington, the museum primarily houses the eclectic collection of its founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888-1960). The property is close to Shelburne Farms, the estate and large farm developed by the Webb family.

The Shelburne Museum has one of the best collections known of late 18th and 19th century Mochaware.
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Open Day at Christopher Spitzmiller’s Clove Brook Farm

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by Sandra Hutchinson

I’ve long been a fan of the The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program, which arranges for public visits to some of our country’s most inspired and beautiful private gardens. There are usually a number of great options in New York’s Hudson Valley each spring and summer, as well as in neighboring northwest Connecticut.

Earlier this summer, through the Open Days program, I visited a stunning property near Millbrook, NY, in Dutchess County, that has been transformed by Christopher Spitzmiller and Anthony Bellomo. Called Clove Brook Farm, the current 5.5 acre property was originally part of a 200 acre working farm. The name comes from the stream that runs along the edge of the property, called Clove Brook.

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Bunny and Paul Mellon’s Little Oak Spring

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by Sandra Hutchinson

We recently had a rare opportunity to visit the Upperville, Virginia home of Paul Mellon (1907-1999) and Rachel “Bunny” Lambert Mellon (1910-2014), two of the most prominent American art collectors and philanthropists of the 20th century. The property, called Little Oak Spring, is part of what was the much larger Rokeby Farm, where Paul Mellon raised many famous thoroughbreds, including Sea Hero, who won the 1993 Kentucky Derby.

The main Mellon residence, Upperville, Va.
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2023 spring garden and home tours to consider

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Now that it’s officially spring, I’d like to suggest several upcoming home and garden tours to consider attending. These are my favorites! Please remember that popular tours sell out early so it is always best to try and secure tickets early.

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Visiting Edgewater, a Classical American Homes Preservation Trust property in New York’s Hudson Valley

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by Sandra Hutchinson

The Classical American Homes Preservation Trust owns four historically significant 19th century homes — two in South Carolina, one in North Carolina, and one in New York’s Dutchess County. The trust was founded by the late Wall Street investment banker Richard Hampton Jenrette, who had a passion for 18th and 19th century American architecture, and who had purchased all the properties as homes. They are notable not only for their architecture, but for their impressive collections of fine and decorative arts. Three of the homes are open on a limited basis for public tours. This past fall, I secured tickets to Edgewater, near Barrytown, in New York’s Dutchess County, and toured the property.

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Visit to Simon Pearce & King Arthur Flour

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by Sandra Hutchinson

A couple of my favorite destinations are located in the vicinity of central/east Vermont — Simon Pearce, with two locations, and King Arthur Flour headquarters. I recently was in the area for a few days and was happy to be able to stop in.

The original Simon Pearce glassworks, in Quechee, Vermont.
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A holiday visit to Gardenworks, Salem, NY

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by Sandra Hutchinson

Last Sunday, we headed out to Gardenworks Farm, in Salem, NY, to visit with our good friends and the farm’s owners, Meg and Rob Southerland, and to select our Christmas tree. It was just like old times, piling into the car with our two sons, worried about whether our younger son would feel car sick on the drive over hill and dale to get to the farm. Surprise — our “boys” are now in their mid-twenties, having returned home during the pandemic to work from our home, yet both were enthusiastic about accompanying my husband and me on our tree venture — and no one got car sick! Indeed, I had hoped to go to the farm a few days earlier, but my sons complained that their work schedules didn’t allow them to go then, and how could I even consider not including them in such a classic family tradition?

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