The Collected Traveler

 

                                                        Sakonnet Garden, Little Compton,

                                                                        Rhode Island

Before I turn back to longer posts I have in draft right now, on Portugal, Dublin, and elsewhere, here are a few quick notes to bookmark for the future:

In August, we went with good friends Nancy and Tom to Sakonnet Garden, in the pretty coastal town of Little Compton, Rhode Island.  Sakonnet isn't exactly a secret, but it's also not that well known (though gardening editor Margaret Roach wrote about it in The New York Times in 2022).  The garden is laid out into outdoor "rooms" with native coastal plants, stone walls, woodland areas, a colorful pollinator garden, sculptured topiary and subtropical plants.  It's absolutely incredible!  Sakonnet is only open from May to October and reservations are required and nonrefundable ($25 for parking, which includes the driver; $20 for all other passengers; $20 for walkers and bikers).  A few more photos: 

Nearby Sakonnet, in Tiverton Four Corners, is Groundswell, a great cafe and bakery plus a Garden + Home shop and another shop called Table & Provisions.  The entire compound is incredibly appealing and it's a must-visit if you're anywhere near here.  There's also a nice garden area with benches.  I heard that The Yellow House, down the street from Groundswell, is a wonderful bookstore though we didn't have time to visit.  

                              *

Yesterday was the annual Feast of St. Francis and the Blessing of the Animals at St. John the Divine, the world's largest Gothic cathedral.  St. Francis (1181-1226) is the patron saint of the environment, ecology, and animals, and along with Catherine of Siena, is the patron saint of Italy.  He is said to have started the custom of blessing animals between 1210 and 1215.  I had never been to the Blessing before but have wanted to go for years (not for the service but for the animals) and yesterday was the day!  By the time we arrived, there was a long line in front of the cathedral, which was full to capacity - I don't know how early one has to arrive for the service, which starts at 10:30, but I imagine it's pretty early.  At around 11:30, the large animals were led down the drive on the left side of the cathedral and up the steps to one of the main doors - small animals (which in years past included bunnies, ducks, tortoises, cats, and dogs) were already inside.  It was so fun and rather incredible that these animals were going to be in a procession inside the cathedral.  My photos below are not good but it was hard to take decent pictures from where I was standing. 

  

Goats

Horse and donkey

                Owl, peregrine falcon, and a python!

A most unwilling camel

                                            The group before entering the cathedral

*

My visit to Manitoga, the former home-studio of industrial designer Russel Wright, came about because of my husband's so-called baby cup.  Since I met him, Jeff has had a light green, plastic cup that he has referred to as his baby cup because he has had it since he was very young, and he used for many years as a breakfast cereal cup.  A few years ago a crack appeared in the cup, which didn't mean the cup couldn't be used at all but it could no longer be used for milk and cereal.  I decided to try and find a replacement, and when I looked at the underside of the cup, I saw the name Russel Wright, which didn't register with me at all.  An internet search revealed that Wright was a famous designer of casually elegant furniture, dinnerware, and household items in the middle years of the 20th century...and that his former home was about a 30-45 minute drive away. I couldn't believe that I had never heard of Wright or Manitoga, especially since Wright's Modern America solid-color china line was one of the best selling lines of dinnerware ever made: 250 million pieces sold between 1939 and 1959, when it was discontinued.  Wright's Modern America furniture line debuted at Macy's in 1935 and sold so well that the store had to reorder half the stock only six weeks later.  His plastic dinnerware line was introduced in the late 1940s and early '50s, and Jeff's baby cup was among the items in this collection.  At the time I was searching for a replacement cup, I found one on Etsy for about $7, but there were other cups that were selling for much more.  The replacement cup is not exactly the same as the original in terms of the color and weight (it's slightly heavier, and perhaps less likely to crack), but in every other respect it's identical.  

Wright and his wife, Mary Small Epstein, who was a sculptor and designer when they met, wrote a best selling book in 1950 - Guide to Easier Living - that included details about every aspect of home life.  The Wrights wrote that "Apparently impelled by feelings of inferiority, Americans have until comparatively recently begged or borrowed much of their culture from abroad...But a hard working democracy was poor soil for this aristocratic way of life," and they tried to coax middle class Americans into things like pass-through windows and potluck dinners.  The book was a good marketing tool for Russel's creations, and it exemplified Mary's savvy for marketing Russel's forward-looking designs as well as their shared belief that good design could improve the quality of domestic life and be affordable.  To a great degree, the book succeeded: open floor plans recommended in the book were embraced by many Americans and dining habits and table settings became more casual.  

While Macy's and other department stores sold millions of Wright's dinnerware, most Americans born after 1950 have never heard of Russel Wright, who died in 1976, and fewer still have heard of Manitoga, which is on approximately 75 acres with his home, studio, and "forest garden" that he designed, in Garrison, New York (50 miles north of Manhattan).  Writer Jane Roy Browne wrote in the November/December 2006 issue of Preservation that "Design historians compare the Wrights' influence then to that of Martha Stewart today."

 

The Wrights were among the first to display products in store ensembles that showed how objects worked together, and especially with the Modern America china line, this method highlighted how easily the line could be mixed and matched.  An internet search turned up these old advertisements...

... and a photo showing Mary and Russel demonstrating that the plastic line didn't break:

Manitoga is more about the landscape than about the house, and Russel wrote in 'Philosophy of the House' (1958) that "I love it so much that I wish this shelter to blend with the landscape."  The property has operated since 1984 as a nature-education center run by a often cash-strapped non-profit, and both the buildings and the grounds were falling into disrepair; but new funding was secured to restore the buildings and Manitoga was designated a National Historic Landmark, which should help to secure Russel Wright's legacy.  For anyone living in the New York metropolitan area, Manitoga is a relatively little known gem to visit, and for design lovers from elsewhere, Manitoga is worth adding to a New York itinerary - note that visits may be made only by guided tour and advance reservations are required.  Manitoga is open from mid-May to mid-November (the 2025 season ends on 16 November) and each tour is capped at 12 people.  Refer to the website for details on how to reach Manitoga (by car is the most direct route but there are Metro-North train alternatives, either to Cold Spring or Peekskill).  

Also, the very appealing Manitoga Design Collection Shop is in Cold Spring at 159 Main Street and is open 11:00-5:00 Thursday and Friday, and 11:00-6:00 Saturday and Sunday.