Living Artfully: At Home with Marjorie Merriweather Post

Living Artfully is a beautifully illustrated account of the three main homes of Marjorie Merriweather Post through the 1950s to 1970s. From 1957 onwards Mrs. Post lived in stately Hillwood in Washington, DC for spring and autumn, retreated to Camp Topridge in the Adirondacks for the summer, and enjoyed the winter season at her glamorous villa Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. This book follows her yearly calendar and is strongly evocative of the lifestyle magazines of the period. It offers a vibrant and intimate picture of life in each residence—for Marjorie Post, her guests, and her staff.Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973) was one of America’s most stylish and powerful women, a director of General Foods, Inc., philanthropist, patriot, and internationalist. Her keen interest in art resulted in a superb personal collection, but rather than keeping it stored away from view she decided that she, her guests, and staff would live surrounded by beautiful treasures. Her talent for planning, and huge financial resources, enabled her to create three magnificent homes.Author Estella M. Chung draws on Hillwood’s remarkable oral history collection, archives, photographs, period journals, and ephemera, as well as her own interviews with those who knew Mrs. Post, including her daughter, actress Dina Merrill Hartley. Especially fascinating are the rare and intimate glimpses provided by the staff, such as the interviews with surviving members like Earle Loy, Mrs. Post’s former Head Gardener, now aged 91.