We Didn't See Martha But She Was There

Did we mention that Martha Stewart was on the Modern House Day tour?

She wasn't on my bus or Gina's, and she wasn't at the morning symposium or the evening cocktail party. But there were several Martha sightings, including one by Katherine Markiewicz, whose house was on the tour. She said it was fairly intimidating to have Martha Stewart giving the once-over to her furniture and rugs, but Martha herself was very polite and quiet.

For gossip purposes, that's the best we can do. But there were other people worth noting on the tour.

Cristina Ross, for example. Cristina owns the Alice Ball House, in New Canaan, which Philip Johnson designed, and gained great notoriety when she threatened to demolish it. That threat dissipated and now she wants to sell it and to build a new house behind it. Some people on my bus expressed the wish that Cristina's relatively new-found interest in modern architecture might prompt her to design and build a modern on the site, instead of a McMansion.

The tour was also notable because the offspring of three notable architects were there: Fred Noyes, the son of Eliot Noyes (although there was no Noyes house on the tour); F. Taylor Gates III, the son of Taylor Gates, who designed the older section of the Markiewicz house; and Kathy Christ-Janer, Victor Christ-Janer's daughter. - ta