Tours & Day Trips information Spring 2012
Open to Members at All Levels
EXHIBITION TOUR | The Morgan Library & Museum Charles Dickens at 200
Open to members & one non-member guest each at ALL LEVELS
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was Britain’s first true literary superstar, attracting "international adulation on an unprecedented scale." The Morgan Library & Museum in New York has the largest collections of letters (over 1,500) and autographed manuscripts by Charles Dickens in the United States and second only to the Forster Collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Drawing selectively from the extensive collection of manuscripts, letters, books, photographs, caricatures, ephemera and original illustrations, the exhibition Charles Dickens at 200 (September 23, 2011-February 12, 2012) explores the sources of his inspiration and creative energies.
This major exhibition considers his literary output and various activities and collaborations—literary, artistic, theatrical, and philanthropic—from The Pickwick Papers, his first novel, to manuscripts of installments of Our Mutual Friend, the last novel he completed (including one that Dickens saved from the wreckage of a train crash).
Join Royal Oak for a private tour of this exhibition led by Declan Kiely, Robert H. Taylor Curator, where we will look at documents that reveal the social context and the personal and economic circumstances in which Dickens wrote, including his family life; his travels to the United States and Europe; and his activity as a social reformer.
DATE: Thursday, February 2
START TIME: 10:45 AM (meet at 10:30 AM)
END TIME: 12 Noon
MEET: The Morgan Library & Museum 225 Madison Ave (meet in lobby at 10:30 AM)
This tour is limited to 20 people and is open to members at all levels and one non-member guest each.
DAY TOUR | Yale Center for British Art New Haven
THIS TOUR HAS BEEN CANCELLED
Beat the mid-winter blues and join Royal Oak as we visit the Yale Center for British Art and Yale University Art Gallery. Gillian Forrester, Curator Prints and Drawings at YCBA will give us a last look at the spectacular exhibition Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed (closing February 12, 2012).
We will see 70 oil paintings and a selection of drawings and prints—many rarely or never exhibited—as Ms. Forrester will explain how Johan Zoffany used his art to explore the complexities of Georgian society and British imperial rule. We will also tour the newly opened exhibit Making History: Antiquaries in Britain (on view February 2–May 27, 2012) with Elisabeth Fairman, Senior Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at YCBA.
This exhibition highlights treasures from The Society of Antiquaries of London. Founded prior to the existence of national museums and galleries, the Society was long regarded as the main repository in Britain for antiquities, drawings, rare books, manuscripts, and paintings. On view will be key loans including a 1225 copy of the Magna Carta; a 40 foot illuminated "roll chronicle" detailing the genealogical descent of Henry II from Adam and Eve; historic royal portraits from Henry VI to Mary I; and works by William Morris (a Fellow of the Society). Lunch will be at the Union League Café.
We will end our day at Yale University Art Gallery for a private tour of The Furniture Study—a working library of 1,000 examples of furniture and wooden objects (American-made or made for the American market) ranging from 1650 to the present. John Stuart Gordon, the Benjamin Attmore Hewitt Assistant Curator of American Decorative Arts, will show us chests, tables, chairs, desks, clocks and sideboards, among other objects. We will also have a chance to see part two of the exhibit Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, which highlights the diverse and evolving ways America defined itself from the colonial era to the Gilded Age.
WALKING TOUR | Hidden East Side Enclaves — New York City
Open to members & one non-member guest each at ALL LEVELS
In the first decades of the 20th century, the blocks east of Park Avenue and Grand Central Terminal became a fashionable residential enclave. Join Royal Oak as architectural historian Matt Postal takes us on a walking tour of these hidden east side gems, distinguished by converted stables, remodeled Victorian townhouses and picturesque high-rise apartment buildings.
We begin our tour at Sniffen Court, a neo-Romanesque courtyard originally built as stables in the 1850s. Converted into townhouses in the 1920s, we’ll view the flagstone-paved alley where horses once watered at the hand pumps alongside a wall adorned with plaques of Greek horsemen.
We will meander uptown to the historic district of Tudor City (1926-1932), conceived by Frederick Filmore French as “a city-within-a-city.” This charming neighborhood boasts stunning examples of Gothic Revival architecture—gargoyles, dragons and other mythical creatures adorn the buildings’ rooftops. Our tour continues to the magnificent Ford Foundation atrium garden (1963-1967). Designed by Dan Kiley, the atrium occupies a third of an acre within the building and can be viewed from all twelve floors as well as from the street outside.
We conclude our tour in the residential enclave Turtle Bay Gardens. In 1918, Charlotte Hunnewell Sorchan saw potential in a cluster of run-down row houses, purchased them and had them completely renovated. The resulting layout allows each residence to open into a stunning communal garden of trees and shrubs with fountains and statuary and other picturesque details.
DATE: Friday, April 27
START TIME: 11:00 AM
END TIME: 1:00 PM
MEET: SW corner of Third Avenue and 36th St
This tour is limited to 15 people and is open to members at all levels and one non-member guest each. This tour requires extensive walking, standing and stair-climbing.
BEHIND THE SCENES | The Metropolitan Opera | NYC
Open to members & one non-member guest each at ALL LEVELS
Go behind the scenes with Royal Oak for an exclusive look at what it takes to make onstage magic at The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center. The Metropolitan Opera was founded in 1883, with its first opera house built on Broadway and 39th Street by a group of wealthy businessmen who wanted their own theater.
The opera house on 39th Street did not have adequate stage facilities, however. It was not until the Metropolitan Opera joined with other New York institutions in forming Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts that a new home became possible.
The new Metropolitan Opera House opened at Lincoln Center in September of 1966. Today, the Met continues to present the best available talent from around the world and also discovers and trains artists. We will have a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Met, now in its 128th season, including a visit to the wig department and costume shop to see designers working on costumes and wardrobe for current and upcoming productions.
We will also stop by the scenic and carpentry shop where sets are built and painted. We will end our tour with a sneak peak at the dressing rooms, the rehearsal spaces, the massive stage complex—including the backstage wings—and the auditorium.
DATE: Friday May 4
START TIME: 3:00 PM (meet in Met Lobby at 2:45)
LOCATION: Lincoln Center between W 62nd & W 65th Streets at Columbus Ave
This tour is limited to 15 people and is open to members at all levels and one non-member guest each. This tour requires extensive walking, standing and possible stair-climbing.
WALKING TOUR | Historic Fulton Ferry & DUMBO | New York City
Open to members & one non-member guest each at ALL LEVELS
This walking tour will explore the rich history and culture of the adjoining Brooklyn Historic Districts Fulton Ferry and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). The spacious buildings and cobblestone streets that lie in the shadows of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges make up this once industrial area. Join Royal Oak and architectural historian Matt Postal as we depart Manhattan via ferry, winding our way down the East River.
We will pass under the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges to arrive at Fulton Ferry Landing. With the introduction of steam powered ferries by Robert Fulton in 1814, this area became a leading transit hub and mercantile district, crowded with warehouses and factories.
Highlights of our tour will include the Brooklyn City Railroad Building, built in 1860-61 as offices for the City of Brooklyn Railroad Company, one of New York City’s first large-scale transit operators. Designed in the Italianate style, the building’s distinctive façade incorporates granite quoins and cast-iron piers.
We will also view the monumental Empire Stores, former coffee and tea warehouse, along with a collection of impressive reinforced concrete structures that were built for and leased to prominent Brooklyn businesses.
We’ll also enjoy a stroll through a recently-renovated section of Brooklyn Bridge Park (originally called Empire Fulton Ferry State Park) and visit Jane’s Carousel (1922), which just reopened to the public in September 2011 and is housed in a glass pavilion designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel.
DATE: Saturday May 12
START TIME: 10:30 AM
END TIME: 1:00 PM
MEET: East River Ferry midtown terminal: 35th Street & FDR Drive (Exact departure time will be given closer to the tour)
This tour is limited to 15 people and is open to members at all levels and one non-member guest each. This tour requires extensive walking, standing and possible stair-climbing.
DAY TOUR | A Designer Afternoon in Philadelphia
Open to members & one non-member guest each at ALL LEVELS
Designer and loyal Royal Oak member Barbara Eberlein has arranged an afternoon for Royal Oak to explore some of her extraordinary work in private homes around the Rittenhouse Square area in Philadelphia.
We will start with a few residences originally designed by acclaimed American architect Frank Furness (1839–1912). First, we will visit a private house on Rittenhouse Square, designed by Furness and partially restored by Eberlein in 2001, to look at the stunning original staircase and the first floor millwork.
We will walk to the Dr. Horace Jayne House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. This red brick masterpiece—with terra cotta swags and ribbon festoons on the façade—was designed in 1895 by Furness for his daughter and son-in-law, an important Philadelphia physician. The house, which has undergone many alterations through the years, has now returned to its original use as a single-family dwelling for the first time in 100 years.
We will tour the interior and see the period two-and-a-half-story oak paneled central hall, crowned by a leaded-glass skylight, featuring Belle Époque-style furnishing and luxurious textiles. After the 1980s, partitions were removed and a family kitchen was created where the original parlor was. The owner chose to retain the existing window locations within the room and the interior result is stunning!
We will visit one or two more stops before ending our day with a wine reception at Ms. Eberlein’s own renovated 19th-century home on Delancey Street. She will talk about the restoration and decoration including her formal front parlor filled with Italian and French antiques and English treasures. "I love the tradition of European decorative arts with its rich blending of lacquer, gilding, rare woods, and confident colors," explains the designer. Her design exuberance and love of history is evident in all of her projects.
DATE: Monday, May 14
START TIME: 1:00 pM
END TIME: 5:00 PM
MEET: Barbara Eberlein Designs, 1809 Delancey Place
This tour is limited to 20 people and is open to members at all levels and one non-member guest each. Transportation to Philadelphia is the responsibility of the participant. This tour requires extensive walking, standing and possible stair-climbing.
Open to Members at ALL LEVELS
PRIVATE PASSIONS | Exceptional Objects: Clinton Howell Antiques | New York City
Open to Royal OAk members at ALL LEVELS and one guest each.
For almost 40 years, Clinton Howell has reveled in the complexities and eccentricities of English furniture. His education began in 1971 when he enrolled in the London College of Furniture. He confessed in an interview with The Magazine Antiques, "I was not a great cabinetmaker and I couldn’t stand the sound of machines so I took to finishing."
In his free time, he visited some of Britain’s great houses— the National Trust’s Claydon House with incredible carving by Luke Lightfoot; Holkham Hall, where he marveled at interiors by William Kent; and Harewood with Robert Adam ceilings and furniture by Thomas Chippendale. Immediately falling in love with the beauty and value of English furniture, he became an expert on different timbers, their uses in different periods, and when they began showing up from remote parts of the Empire.
With such intense immersion in English furniture’s golden age, expertise became the foundation of Howell’s practice. "This game is all about getting out there and finding things, finding things, finding things," he explains, "but the deal is in knowing what you’re looking at."
Howell believes in sharing this knowledge, which has earned him a reputation as a dealer whose business is based on educating clients. Howell revealed in his blog, “English furniture is about its greatness and about how interesting and beautiful it can be.” Join Royal Oak at Clinton Howell Antiques in New York City for a private visit as we explore the greatness and beauty of English antique furniture and decorative objects.
Among the incredible treasures to be found there are an exquisite 18thcentury giltwood mirror with beautifully carved c-scrolls in a lily of the valley motif, and an extraordinary floral engraved ivory veneered games table with a removable chess/checker board made of tortoise shell and ivory squares dating from the mid-19th century.
DATE: Thursday April 26
START TIME: 5:30 PM
END TIME: 7:00 PM
MEET: 150 E 72nd St
This tour is limited to 25 people and is open to Royal Oak members at all levels.
Join today, or call 212-480-2889 ext. 205.
PRIVATE PASSIONS | A Carriage House Transformed | New York City
Open to SUPPORTING-LEVEL Members ONLY
Relics of New York’s horse-drawn heritage still dot the Manhattan landscape. The carriage houses in the Upper East Side neighborhood harken back to a time when owners of grand Fifth Avenue houses would store their carriages and horses a few avenues away from their main residence. These would include housing for the grooms and/or driver and would be located a short walk from the main house—far enough away that the noise and odor would not disturb the residents.
Later, many of these houses were converted to garages for automobiles or artists’ studios. Today, many surviving examples have been reinvented and reconfigured as residences, doctor’s offices, studios, or other commercial spaces. One such Georgian-style carriage house, dating from the early 20th century, is located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and was used as a sculpture studio for more than 50 years.
When the studio closed, the building was left in a primitive semi-industrial state with no residential space. A couple with a young family, a successful contemporary realist painter and a best-selling young adult and adult book author, acquired the property in 2001.
With New York-based firm Fairfax & Sammons Architects this husband and wife team took on the challenge of restoring this architectural treasure into a 5,000-sq.ft. five-bedroom home with painting studio space and the Water Street Atelier art school on the ground level.
An airy double-height atrium with skylight is featured at the entry to the house and is used as a gallery for the owner’s paintings. Some original details were preserved including a beamed ceiling with decorative tinwork as well as the artist’s studio space. Join Royal Oak as we look at this extraordinary space and speak to the owners about the house’s renovation and their passion for the arts—both painting and writing.
DATE: Thursday April 12
START TIME: 5:30 pM
END TIME: 7:00 PM
MEET: Location given upon registration
This tour is limited to 20 people and is open to Royal Oak supporting-level members only.
Join or upgrade on line, or call 212-480-2889 ext. 205.
PRIVATE TOUR | The New York Yacht Club: Beaux-Arts Grandeur | NYC
Open to SUPPORTING-LEVEL Members ONLY
When asked about the expenses associated with owning a yacht, financial magnate J. Pierpont Morgan famously responded, "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it."
An avid yachtsman and New York Yacht Club member, in 1898, Morgan donated a two-lot site on West 44th Street to the Club on which to build a permanent clubhouse. The resulting building is an extravagant beaux-arts masterpiece designed by Whitney Warren and completed in 1901. The façade of this dramatic homage to yachting mimics the sterns of Dutch galleons with huge windows that spill stone waves over the ledges.
Inside, the theme continues in the lower level dining room with its heavy oak timbers and cast iron bolts replicating the space below deck of a vintage sailing vessel. A visitor in 1905 once said, "Except for the absence of motion, one might fancy oneself at sea."
Join Royal Oak and New York Yacht Club’s Curator of Collections, Lindsay Totino, as we explore the Club’s history, architecture and preeminent model, fine arts and library collections. Founded in 1844, the Club has been the meeting place for such notable men as John Jacob Astor, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., Harold Stirling Vanderbilt and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The New York Yacht Club houses an incredible collection of maritime art from artists such as J. E. Buttersworth and Frederic Cozzens, an extensive model ship collection with over 1200 half models and 150 full rigged models, and richly embellished yachting trophies, including 21 by Tiffany & Co.
DATE: Friday April 20
START TIME: 10:15 AM
END TIME: 12:30 PM
MEET: The New York Yacht Club – 37 West 44th Street
FORMAL BUSINESS ATTIRE REQUIRED
This tour is limited to 20 people and is open to Royal Oak supporting-level members only.
Join or upgrade on line, or call 212-480-2889 ext. 205.
DAY TOUR | Connecticut Splendor: Litchfield
Open to SUPPORTING-LEVEL members ONLY& one non-member guest each
Litchfield County, Connecticut has a rich history. Founded in 1719, it was home to the first law school in the United States, and at the end of the 19th century, Litchfield residents became leaders in the Colonial Revival style of architecture.
Today, carefully preserved or restored 18th-and-19th-century homes share space with contemporary, yet classic, architectural masterpieces. Join Royal Oak on an exclusive day tour where we will experience breathtaking examples of landscape gardens and luxurious estates. We will begin our visit with coffee at Waldingfield Farm, an organic vegetable farm owned by the family of former Royal Oak Executive Director, Damaris Horan and run by the founder’s grandsons. The farm has been in the Horan family since the turn of the century and over 20 acres of land are cultivated with 100 types of vegetables including more than 75 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.
We will lunch at the Mayflower Inn & Spa, an idyllic Relais & Chateaux five-star country house hotel set in Washington, CT. We will also visit the exquisite home of New York designer Robert Couturier and architectural historian Jeffrey Morgan. Their pastoral neoclassical treasure is composed of a series of pavilions, complete with an octagonal library.
Every detail of the home is in keeping with the original—cedar shingle roof, limestone and black slate floors—highlighted by French and English antiques. The home includes a beautiful, classically laid out garden featuring terraced boxwood parterres.
Our visit will conclude at the bucolic country home of Royal Oak director J. Rodney Pleasants and his partner Steve Godwin. This elegant shingled barn house set atop a hill features a two-story living room with stone fireplace and windows which offer beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. We will be treated to a private viewing of Mr. Godwin’s ecclectic collection of unique jewelry dating from 600 B.C. to late 20th-century. We will enjoy a light wine reception before returning to New York. One or two surprise private gardens or estates will be added.
DATE: Friday May 18
START TIME: 8:15 AM SHARP
END TIME: 7:15 PM or later
MEET: SE corner of 72nd & Park Avenue
RETURN: 86th & Lexington Ave; 72nd & Lexington Ave.
Transportation is by motor coach. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to departure. Departure and return locations are pre-determined and will not change. This tour requires walking, standing and possible stair-climbing. This tour requires extensive walking, standing and possible stair-climbing.
This tour is limited to 25 people and is open to Royal Oak supporting-level members only.
