My Dream Terrace

A while back I posted an image of a Manhattan rooftop garden that I found so captivating (that image is featured above). Included in a chapter in Tiffany Table Settings, the terrace seems so evocative of chic 1960s New York- at least it does to me. Well, the terrace that I fancy has turned up again, this time in America's Small Houses: The Personal Homes of Designers and Collectors (1964), and I've learned that said terrace belonged to antiquarian Churchill J. Brazelton.

The first thing that caught my eye was the charming wrought iron furniture and those classical statues and busts that stood guard over the garden. But I think my favorite part of the garden is the small pavilion with a small, marble topped table and striped curtains. If only my balcony were large enough for this!


Brazelton's terrace by day, minus the beautiful Tiffany accoutrements. I wish someone still made that iron swan cocktail table.


A white marble Venus de Medici statue held court within a brick fountain. The trellis provided privacy for the garden.


I wish that I knew what color the striped curtains were; "America's Small Houses" did mention that the outdoor furniture cushions were all in "gay colors".

While I was preparing this post, I came across this image below of an outdoor tent- so chic- on Virgil McDowell's website. Those crenellated edges of the tent top...perfection!



(Image #1- Tiffany Table Settings; #2-4 from America's Small Houses - The Personal Homes of Designers and Collectors; image #5 courtesy of Virgil McDowell)