Inspiration

We left the last blog in New York - when I was on my way to Birmingham, Alabama. I had a wonderful few days - but then it was time to come home.  I had a night at JFK airport.

1 . T H E   T W A   H O T E L

Where else to stay but the TWA hotel? The former headquarters building for Trans World Airlines, designed by Eero Saarinen, it was converted and extended in 2019 to form a brilliant place to stay.  Here is one of the crazy red carpeted tunnels leading to rooms and to one of the airport terminals...

From here - a week in London, catching up with things - and then home. What a contrast.

2 . W E S T N E S S

Charlie has been beginning to put the veg garden to bed. There's no doubt the autumn has come much earlier in Rousay than last year - who can believe, it's a year this month that we moved in.

Strong winds some days...

Seed heads drying in the stable tack room.

We had some lovely walks... despite the winds.

Happy Sunday!

Bingo in the pub one night!

The house is so cosy on these autumnal days.

3 .   S A N   F R A N C I S C O

And then... I was away again. My Orkney batteries had been recharged.  I was back to London, for a few days again, before heading off for the second leg of my autumn book tour. This time, San Francisco. I was so excited to go - I can't believe that in all the five years I lived in New York, I never got to really visit the west coast. It was a beautiful couple of days.   I went for some long wanders all over the city!

It was hard to imagine we were in the middle of a huge city on this beautiful evening.

A fun party the night before and I woke early with jet lag. Another walk that morning...

I wanted to see the reconstructed 'Palace of Fine Arts' from the 1915 Panama - Pacific Exhibition - an amazing structure. Like the Parthenon in Nashville, it was built originally in plaster - to be demolished at the end of the show - but such was demand for its retention that in the 1960s it was rebuilt to the original designs, but in cast concrete.  With its surrounding landscape, it was a rather wonderful experience in the misty morning light.

Then down to the waterfront, for this beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge....

Past the marina, filled with classic yachts,

And Knarr class sailing boats, out for a regatta...

(with Alcatraz in the background... I did not have time to visit).

I was speaking at the San Francisco antiques show - with a beautiful lunch held by the ICAA North Californian Chapter - this was our sparkling view.

When the talk was finished, and my book signing complete, I made my way over to Castro which I thought I should see.  Fantastic.

I walked all over and found this beautiful spot to watch sunset in the evening glow.

The next day I was off very early to Washington, and then down to Williamsburg, VA, where I was staying for a few days.  What a contrast to life!

4 .   W I L L I A M S B U R G

For those that don't know, 'Colonial Williamsburg' as it is called, was set up as a living museum in the 1920s, the brainchild of the Rev. Dr W.A.R. Goodwin who then got John D. Rockefeller Jr, and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, excited. It was their funds which paid for the astonishing restoration and recreation of the town as it existed in the early 18th century, pre-Revolutionary (or pre-Independence, depending on your point of view) America.

It's an incredible place to wander and I was lucky with the sunlight that morning.

The Ludwell-Paradise House, the first in the whole town to be restored by Rockefeller - bought in early 1927 and restored by the Boston architectural practice of Perry, Shaw and Hepburn. The adventure was starting.

The Bruton Parish Church, restored by Rev. Goodwin before the main town restoration got underway.

The famous and beautiful George Wythe House, which sits at the centre of Palace Green.

The reconstructed Governor's Palace - such a beautiful building, destroyed by fire in the late 18th century, and built in the 1930s using much evidence from historical plans and engravings. Sadly no time to visit on this trip.

The old outbuildings (this one with its deep eave is a dairy) are one of the distinctive and most beautiful parts of Williamsburg.

The museum is populated by costumed interpreters. Here is someone on their way to work that morning.

My kind of building.

That day I was off to Richmond, VA, to give a talk and book signing - I arrived back in Williamsburg at dusk. A beautiful golden hour.

The next morning we were visiting the site of the small housing development we're designing in Williamsburg, followed by a wonderful visit to Bassett Hall, the fine 18th century house that John and Abby made their Williamsburg home.  It has incredible interiors but my favourite are the bathrooms.

And I was fascinated by the map showing restoration in progress, and the tiny street scenes prepared by the architect's for John to see what the restoration was going to look like as he was driven slowly by in his car.

A great kitchen too.

In the garden...

And in the teahouse, built by John and Abby in the 30s.

It was a brilliant tour - Bassett Hall has been closed for several years, but re-opens this month.

What a few days - a final glimpse of Williamsburg's back gardens.

5 .   D A L L A S

Then I was off again, this time to Dallas.  Here are the sprawling suburbs that denote our approach.

I didn't take many photos of Dallas, because (it being Dallas) I had a lot of driving tours as opposed to walking tours. The old early 20th century streets of Highland Park were a revelation... I guess this is a petrol town, and always will be, but the leafy landscape was pretty astonishing- and not what I had been expecting.

Especially where you could still find earlier houses, it felt rather amazing.

Sadly, the 21st century doesn't seem to be faring so well when it comes to Dallas houses...

Maybe with the notable exception of of Quinlan Terry's rather astonishing Venetian confection built for the Muse family?

I had a wonderful time in Dallas.  I was speaking for two days to a packed crowd. I did my usual effort to try to make people look at the big picture as well as the individual building or interior - which is, I hope, the message really contained in the book. I think people liked hearing it.

6 .   ( N O T   Q U I T E )   H O M E

The weekend travel home did not go well. I arrived in London on Saturday morning, early - and made by my connection up to Edinburgh without any problem at all. So far, so good - but just as we were about to board the little plane to Kirkwall, the weather stepped up in Orkney and the flight boarding was placed on hold. A little while later they very reluctantly cancelled. It was ironically the aftermath of Storm Benjamin that was causing the issues. I was so near - yet too far to make it - with the chaos of so many flights needing to be rebooked - I realised it wasn't going to work. Back to Edinburgh and I caught the train back down to London, feeling sad not to be seeing Charlie and the dogs after my ten days away. Hey ho.

It was so good to get home late last night and to wake up up in our own bed, even if it was the wrong one. A beautiful morning greeted us in London.

Farmers' market in Marylebone.

And a lovely long lunch in the pub with Bridie and Max. There are always silver linings when things don't go to plan. I'll have to wait a little longer for Westness.