Lee Radziwill: Then & Now

I've been fascinated by Lee Radziwill ever since I bought my copy of Happy Times, her photo album and notebook of life in the 60's. Filled with images and memories of beautiful vacation homes, encounters with icons of the time like Truman Capote and Andy Warhol, parties at the White House with Jackie and JFK, and much more, it's an incredible peak into the fabulous and sometimes tragic lives of the Bouvier sisters. It also happens to include images of Lee's various homes during that time. When I picked up the April issue of ELLE Decor, I was immediately reminded of these when I saw their beautiful story on her current homes in Manhattan and Paris. I thought it called or a little then & now moment. 

Turville, Lee's seventeenth-century Queen Anne bakehouse outside of Oxfordshire, was decorated with floral silk panels and her Anglo-Indian botanical watercolors. 

(Image: Happy Times, Horst)

When her children were older, Lee moved from her apartment on Fifth to a smaller penthouse on Park Avenue. She brought with her the same watercolors that hung in her home at Turville.

(Image: Happy Times, Derry Moore)

Lee's current apartment in Paris is now the home of her beloved watercolors, which are revealed in the ELLE Decor article as having been a gift from the Duke of Beaufort. This just goes to show you that the things you love will always look at home in your space, wherever that may be. 

(Image: ELLE Decor, April 09, Eric Bowman)

In the mid-sixties, Lee moved from Turville to a place on Fifth Avenue to be near Jackie. Decorated by Renzo Mongiardino, the living room was done in a cherry-red velvet, red and black lacquer, and tons of gold gilding. 

(Image: Happy Times, Richard Champion)

The dining room walls were covered in a dark orange moiré with contrasting chairs and sideboard. 

(Image: Happy Times, Richard Champion)

The walls of Radziwill's current sitting room in New York are covered in a vintage Rubelli stripe, which was also used for the daybed and curtains. 

(Image: ELLE Decor, April 09, Eric Bowman)

Radziwill's current New York dining room was given a similar treatment, only using a Milanese silk. Again, the dark dining chairs really add contrast. 

(Image: ELLE Decor, April 09, Eric Bowman)

Lee Radziwill's most famous quarters, her Ottoman-inspired drawing room in London designed by Renzo Mongiardino, was created using divans and blocked Indian cotton. Amazing!!

(Image: Happy Times, Cecil Beaton)

It seems Radziwill can't do without these fabric blowout rooms, and has a few in both her Paris (above) and New York abodes. Here, she chose a Le Manach chinoiserie print for the library's upholstery, walls, and curtains. 

(Image: ELLE Decor, April 09, Eric Bowman)

For her New York library, she also chose a Le Manach fabric for the upholstery, walls, and curtains. I have to admit, Lee Radziwill has me a bit obsessed with upholstering walls at the moment (not that I needed any help). I have to go measure my bedroom and figure out yardage now. 

Bon weekend!!

(Image: ELLE Decor, April 09, Eric Bowman)