Kykuit

One of my favorite houses I've ever visited is probably Kykuit. Owned by 4 generations of Rockefellers, the home is now a museum with an extensive collection of modern art from Nelson Rockefeller. Designed by Aldrich & Delano and finished in 1913, the house is 6 stories tall but surprisingly cozy and a family home inside. No architectural formalities here. Interesting also that while the family was one of the richest in the world, no fancy fine furniture here -good quality reproductions. Like I said -a family home!closeup of sculpture on front of houselight over the front doorone of a pair of lampposts at the entrancethe elaborate entrance canopy
view of front entrance court from front door the dining room
the center hall which doubles as the music room

The first and 2nd floor of the house are open for tours but the top few floors remain guest suites (I wonder how you get to be lucky enough to stay there!). The basement was turned into an extenstive art gallery and is one of the main tours through the house. The grounds are home to as much art as the interior; besides the usual garden follies there is an extensive collection of modern sculpture in the extensive gardens(which are VERY well maintained). A side view of the house from the pool area (now lawns) view of the Hudson River from the back terracea japanese lantern in the garden view of an artificial stream in the japanese garden one of the fake grottos which hide fountain pumpsa column once owned by fabled architect 'Stanford White' behind the teahousetrellis along the rose gardenview of the house from the rearview of the house from the rose gardenviews from the back gardens of the extensive estate

I loved these garden chairs -they are from Paris from around 1900

2 views of the temple

And now I save the best for last. My favorite part of the estate was the teahouse. This little jewelbox was right beside the house and seperated the former pool areas from the italian gardens (where stanford white's sculpture was). the front and back of the teahouse. The front of the teahouse fronted the pool and had this CHARMING fountain: green striped marble with little gilded creatures. The inside was very small -maybe 10' wide by 15' long and had an old-fashioned soda fountain and the most chic furniture on the estate! The urn behind the chaise is by Picasso. The ceilings are painted Pompeiian style.

This was a long post -you can see how much I loved the place! Definitely worth visiting. All of the pictures were my own except the 2 interior shots of the house which I took from the architect's website.