A Federal Case: Living, Loving and Learning
The Friends of Boscobel Fall Lecture Series continues at 6 p.m. Friday Oct. 18, when Boscobel welcomes Mitchell Owens to present A Federal Case: Living Loving and Learning.
Photo courtesy of Boscobel
Twelve years ago, Owens purchased a modest Federal Style farmhouse on the outskirts of Sharon Springs, N.Y. Though it was a ruin inhabited by raccoons and riddled with rot, he and his family were bewitched by what remained of the building’s crisp details, elegant proportions and simple grace.
That acquisition has led them on pilgrimages to visit Federal structures both modest and grand, vernacular and refined, private and public – from Homewood in Baltimore to Lorenzo in Cazenovia to Hyde Hall near Cooperstown to Tudor Place in Washington, D.C.
Owens will discuss what they have learned along the way and explore how an architectural style launched more than two centuries ago remains fresh and inspiring today.
All talks in the lecture series take place in the evening, inside the entry hall of the Boscobel mansion. Seating will be on stairs and chairs, and a wine & cheese reception will follow in the Carriage House where guests may chat with speakers and in some cases, purchase their books for signing.
Friends of Boscobel members receive free admission to the lectures and can register at Boscobel.org. Admission for non-members is $20/lecture. For a $20 savings, purchase an Individual Friends of Boscobel Membership for $40 and receive free admission to all three lectures. Memberships, reservations and tickets are all available at boscobel.org.
Owens is the special projects editor of Architectural Digest and lectures frequently on interior design and architecture. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, International Herald Tribune, Departures, The World of Interiors, and other national and international publications. He is the author of In House (Rizzoli, 2009), co-wrote Charlotte Moss Decorates (2011), and edited the design histories Elsie de Wolfe: The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration (Acanthus Press, 2005) and Jansen (Acanthus Press, 2006).
The final lecture in the series takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22. Gil Schafer, architect and author, will present The Ingredients of a Great House: Tradition for the Way We Live Now.
Visit boscobel.org or call 845-265-3638.
