Caramoor is an 81-acre former country estate where art and music enthusiasts Lucie and Walter Rosen built an Italianate-style villa and gardens to entertain their friends from around the world. In 1946, the Rosens opened their property as a performing arts center, which hosts seasonal concerts, historic house tours, educational programs, and other outdoor affairs and performances. And now for the first time in more than 30-years, guests can view the bold garments Lucie wore and treasured from the 1930s to the 1960s - the shimmering silks, elegant patterns, and vivid color palettes - and learn the captivating stories behind them.
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located in the picturesque hamlet of Katonah, New York and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If you haven’t been, Caramoor is a wonderful place where one can hear exceptional music, enjoy interesting and informative programs, and walk through beautifully maintained and historic gardens.
The Rosens built the estate and restored the grounds gradually during the 1930s, importing many architectural and decorative items from Europe. The Caramoor became a center for the arts and music following the World War II death of the Rosens’ only son.
The gardens are meticulously manicured and maintained. Some of the original gardens were planted around 1912, making them one of the oldest native features of the estate.
This is a family portrait of Lucie Bigelow Rosen and her children, Walter and Anne. This was painted in their New York City townhouse and is now displayed at Caramoor along with the green desk in the painting.
This is the Music Room at Caramoor. This room seats 170 guests and is known for its Renaissance furniture, Gothic tapestries, and stained glass elements. Depending on the time of year, the room is sometimes configured with theatre seating for views of the stage.
The Music Room is used for intimate musical performances, recitals, opera and lectures. My nephew, Christopher Herbert, performed here in 2018 with his musical group, New York Polyphony, an amazing a cappella vocal quartet that sang both early and new music.
Here are Gillian Fox, President & CEO of Caramoor and Gayle Greves, Director of Guest Experience.
This year, the main exhibit is the Rosen House Focus Tour: Inside Lucie’s Wardrobe. It offers guests an interesting look at Lucie Rosen’s fashions through the years – some of which would still look radiant today. This is an evening coat made out of Fortuny stamped silk velvet.
This evening coat is made of orange-red silk velvet with metallic embroidery and trim. Lucie loved to use bold colors and rich fabrics for her capes.
Lucie often used feather hand fans. She had them made in an array of different colors to match her clothing.
This silk satin hostess dress is flocked with velvet accents. While Lucie loved color, she often used some black for dramatic effect.
In the Spanish Alcove, a small space in the Music Room reserved for intimate gatherings and family games, were these costumes. On the left is a hand-painted Flora costume made of silk chiffon, silk organza, silk linen flowers, and metallic thread. It was what Lucie wore to the February 1924 Beaux Arts Ball, a high society fundraiser for the Beaux-Arts Architects. The costume was inspired by the painter Sandro Botticelli’s, Primavera.
Also in the Music Room, a pair of Lucie’s shoes. Shoes of this era had elongated silhouettes to emphasize narrow foot shapes. Decorative elements were also used and required snug fits to maintain structure.
Full skirts, cinched waists, and shapely bodices were characteristic of evening gowns in the 1950s. This gown shimmers in silvery gray satin.
This is one of several day-dresses on display inspired by Christian Dior’s “New Look” after the war. These dresses included floral prints, long, full skirts and fitted busts.
Here is another example of one of Lucie’s floral day-dresses.
This wine-colored evening coat features a wide-collar with a pomegranate pattern stamped in gold, a signature pattern of Fortuny.
Lucie was more fond of finding her own fabrics and having them made into dresses than purchasing ready-to-wear garments. The fabric for this gown is made from magenta silk stamped with a silver pigment by Fortuny. The actual dress is said to be made separately with a custom fitted bodice and train.
Displayed here – a two piece ensemble used for lounging and a light tiger-lily patterned shawl, a gift from designer Ethel Wallace.
This dinner dress with matching stole lined in magenta was a favorite silhouette style for Lucie. She wore versions of this in the 1930s and 940s.
The dress is displayed at the end of the Southwest Wing, which was completed in 1974. It includes three period rooms from the Rosens’ New York City townhouse and features many of the items taken from that home.
There is so much to see and learn at The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. A visit offers a unique blend of world-class performing arts, historic architecture, natural beauty, and now an inside look into the wardrobe of Lucie Rosen. Caramoor is open all year round. Check out its calendar at caramoor.org or stop in for a pleasant walk through the historic gardens.
Enjoy this encore blog posting which originally ran on September 27th, 2022. It features my visit to a wonderful and historic garden.
I love visiting gardens around the country and around the world - especially when they are as enchanting and as beautiful as Wethersfield Estate & Garden in Amenia, New York.
Wethersfield was the country home of philanthropist, conservationist, and banking heir, Chauncey Devereux Stillman. In 1937, he bought two abandoned farms where he designed and developed his estate and eventually expanded the property to its current size of approximately 1,000 acres. Situated at the top of a hill with breathtaking mountain views, the home and land includes a three-acre formal garden, a seven-acre wilderness garden, a working farm, a carriage house and museum, and miles of woodland trails for hiking and horseback riding. Over the weekend, I toured the gardens and attended a lecture on Wethersfield hosted by the Institute of Classical Architecture Art - a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving the practice, understanding, and appreciation of classical design. Wethersfield Estate & Garden is described as the finest classical garden in the United States built in the second half of the 20th century - I do hope you take the opportunity to visit it someday.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This is the historic front gate at Wethersfield Estate & Garden. The leaded urns are topped with camels from the Stillman Family crest.
Visitors to Wethersfield Garden are able to view the property map, showing the formal garden near the main house.
Wethersfield’s Director of Horticulture Toshi Yano greets guests and thanks everyone for attending the ICAA’s Bunny Mellon Symposium.
Here, a tall limestone urn in the distance marks the boundary between the working and designed landscape. One can see the Taconic mountain range beyond.
This is the Tempietto at the Belvedere. From here, one can see distant views of the Berkshires and the Catskills. It was important to Chauncey that the design of his stately Georgian-style colonial home include sweeping views of the area.
Here, weeping beech trees are pruned into columns to mark the four corners of the East Garden. Look closely, and one can see Fuchsias overflowing from the leaded urns.
Fuchsias were among Chauncey’s favorite flowering plants. Fuchsia is a genus of tropical perennial plants that produce exotic-looking, two-toned flower blossoms.
Here is another view inside the East Garden with its handsomely manicured hedges.
This statue shows Cupid riding a dolphin in a lovely niche of shale and bluestone. The wall doubles as a rock garden filled with alpine plants.
This is a limestone finial atop a brick column at the Cutting Garden.
This is the “Schooling Field” where Chauncey would train his Hackney horses for four-in-hand carriage driving. A field that also has sweeping mountain views.
This statue is of a panned piper on one side of an arch cut into an arborvitae hedge.
This is a very well-executed ha-ha – a “blind fence,” or a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier. In the distance one can see the slight change in color toward the end of the lawn marking a four foot drop meant to keep the livestock out of the garden.
The swimming pool at Wethersfield has been converted into a reflecting pool.
The curvature of the oval reflecting pool is echoed in the steps where masses of scented geraniums fill the air with perfume.
I admired the cherub with a finger to his lips. Toshi says it suggests to visitors that “silence is golden.”
This is a living rug in bluestone and turf grass. It marks the entrance to an arborvitae allée. The Naiad fountain at the very end is by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles.
Wethersfield is filled with unusual limestone and lead ornaments – this one also caught my eye.
Urns designed by Stanford White are filled with Artemisia mauiensis, or Maui wormwood – a perennial plant native to the island of Maui with mounding, soft silvery foliage.
It also looks so beautiful in this parterre.
This is the goldfish pool at Wethersfield’s Pine Terrace. The shale retaining walls in the garden are made of stones from the farm’s historic field walls.
Sweet autumn clematis, Clematis terniflora, flows over a fence with its white fragrant blooms. The hills of the Taconic range can be seen in the distance.
This stone step mounting block shows visitors entering or exiting that the owner had horses, and in this case, a collection of riding carriages.
And this is the west side of the main house at Wethersfield, beautifully maintained inside and out. The entire property is now managed by the Wethersfield Foundation. Go to the website at Wethersfield.org to learn more about this fabulous estate and garden.
Remember this one? This fun blog post was originally published on June 06, 2025
I always enjoy entertaining at my farm, but it is even more memorable when my guests are the enthusiastic, creative and loyal devotees of the Martha Stewart brand.
Yesterday, I hosted a day celebrating 30 individuals who have not only followed this blog but have also read my magazines, watched my television and radio shows, cooked and baked my recipes, purchased my products, and shared their experiences and all they've learned with so many others - true ambassadors and influencers. The day began with a breakfast on my Winter House terrace parterre, then a walking tour through my gardens, followed by a delicious paella lunch prepared by my friend Chef Pierre Schaedelin of PS Tailored Events. In the afternoon, several longtime colleagues and friends presented their thoughts on the brand today, shared their stories, and offered more ideas and inspirations. The day's events concluded with an interesting session of "Ask Martha" and my parting advice to heed one of my own favorite sayings - "learn something new every day."
Here are the first of many photos, enjoy.
The day’s forecast called for a hot day in the high 80s, but that did not dissuade any of those who came to my farm for this “super fans” celebration. Guests came from across the country to spend a day at Cantitoe Corners.
The morning began bright and early at 9am sharp. Everyone was on time and ready for a full day of activities. Here are just some of those gathered during the start of my garden tour.
I led them behind my main greenhouse to the berry patches. This is my large strawberry patch. We’ve already picked boxes and boxes of delicious, sweet red strawberries.
Strawberries are among the easiest berries to grow. They’re cold-hardy, adaptable, and can be planted in both garden beds and containers. Do you know why it is called a “strawberry”? One theory is that woodland pickers strung them on pieces of straw to carry them to market. Others believe the surface of the fruit looks embedded with bits of straw. Still others think the name comes from the Old English word meaning “to strew,” because the plant’s runners stray in all directions as if strewn on the ground.
I showed them one of my rose gardens. This is a more formal garden I planted two years ago. It is looking so stunning this year.
I also walked the group through my perennial flower garden, which is also blooming wonderfully right now. I hope you saw my blog earlier this week.
The group proceeded up the carriage road past my long and winding pergola and this stand of stately bald cypress trees. I told the group most of the trees they see during the tour are ones I planted since moving to the farm.
I like to serve some kind of refreshments during my garden tours. On this day, I had croissants and cinnamon buns from LMNOP Bakery in Katonah, New York.
I prepare everything in my kitchen first, making sure we have all the essentials before taking them out to the terrace.
Trays of my nutritious green juice are also prepared fresh that morning. Everyone must have a glass of green juice to start the day.
The food is brought out just as guests walked up to the terrace. I also hardboiled lots of farm fresh eggs earlier in the morning.
All the beautiful eggs are from my chickens, of course. Everyone loved them.
Kevin Sharkey took this photo from the second floor of my home. Everyone was having such a good time despite the very warm weather.
The group presented me with a collection of gifts – each one personally selected or handmade. I was very touched and excited to see everything up close. I placed them all out on the kitchen counter to take photos.
The tour continued after breakfast with a walk down to my half-acre vegetable garden. Everything is growing so nicely.
Look at the kale – lush and green.
And the fava beans – already knee hight.
Along the tour, Ryan and I shared stories about how each garden was developed and what they contained. Everyone was also given a map of the farm that shares its history.
Next I had the group walk through my living maze without any assistance on how to find the way to its center. They all did very well meandering up and down the rows, looking for the right paths – there is only one correct one.
And the end is my great eagle in the middle of an open space about two thirds of the way through the maze. In my next blog, I’ll share photos from our delicious al fresco lunch, and the rest of the tour. Stay tuned.
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