Do you ever spend your morning trying to decipher the exact lyrics to the songs that the neighborhood birds are belting out? I do, and I don’t find it easy at all. Sometimes I get to the point of actual pains in my skull. The good news is that I am making progress. Here’s what I’ve figured out so far:
“Your ladyship, ladyship. Your ladyship, ladyship.” “SEEECRET secret secret SEEECRET secret secret.” “Your panties, your panties show. Your panties, your panties show.” “She thinks she thinks she’s coooool.” “Tony Duquette, Tony Duquette.”
Speaking of Tony Duquette, it was such a treat to be invited in for a private tour of the elaborate, fantastical, richly worked in/lived in/played in Clayton House at Festivall Hill. You remember Festivall Hill, home to the Festival Institute and where all of Round Top spends its summers listening to exquisite classical concerts.
Duquette called his interiors “celebrational environments” and man-o-man that is exactly what these rooms are, each completely overflowing with joy and creativity and culture and travel and craftsmanship and curation and playfulness and history and love of a good story or song.
And in that rich tradition of Schroeder at the piano, the house is chock full of busts, including, even, one or two of Festival Hill’s founder and Clayton House resident James Dick himself.
The home was moved from nearby La Grange and is everyone’s dream of a quaint old Victorian in the country. In the early years, before the immense concert hall was built, performances were held here. Today it’s a private space, used as a residence and for lessons. So how do you get to the William Clayton House? Practice!
The Herrings are well-known around these parts as gifted creators, collectors, promoters, and presenters of their own and others’ artistic endeavors. Their Red & White Gallery in Fayetteville is the headquarters for most of those activities, but that one fabulous vintage building isn’t nearly enough space for all they’ve got going on. Today I’m taking you around their Blackbird Farm which does multi-duty as the Herring’s home, a BnB property, a gallery/event space, a music venue and an incredible art and framing studio.
Let’s start with the cedar-iffic Blackbird Cabins, loaded with folk art and posh amenities.
Did you just say, “Wait a minute there, what the heck is that?” Well it’s just what it looks like, a huge fantastic photo of Nina Levy’s Big Baby sculpture made of resin, fiberglass and auto paint.
Sidenote: Be very sure you’re prepared for what you’re going to get when you Google Images search “baby sculpture huge.” It’s been 30 minutes since I did it and I’m still kind of disturbed.
Next we walk past the pond to the Herring Hall Gallery and Event Center. Live music performances, exhibits, private parties, just squint a little and I’m sure you can see it all happening.
That last piece (and the blue shadow box house in the cabins) is by an outsider artist I also collect, Missionary Mary Proctor. We have one of her famous Doors like the one above and a Fat Lady Sings painting, both acquired decades ago at an art fest in South Florida. What a fun surprise to see her work way out in rural TX.
Finally, we’ll go to the Herring’s private studio/framing workshop/dreamiest creative space ever. Half of the wonder is in the incredible architecture and volume of the barn itself, the other half is in the incredible collection of things. Y’all can sleep in the cushy beds over in the cabins, I’ll just sleep on the floor here.
The good news? You've discovered The Crush List. The not so good? I haven't been actively posting here for a few years now, which means the never terribly reliable details about my crushes are even more unreliable. Antique vendors have switched venues, shops in town have moved or passed on, donkeys may or may not be in the same front yards... In spite of the risks of massive misdirection I've left the site up in hopes that it still achieves its goal - to inspire you to visit Round Top for the Antiques Show or any time you have the time.
With that said, I leave you to explore this random list of my very favorite things about my very favorite place. I’ve tried to capture the area’s special pieces and parts. Some are big deal, some are small gestures, some are legendary and some are just tiny pip and squeak.
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