Susi Stone My bad. I am guilty of trying too hard to make Christmas perfect. For years, I went to the limit for my children, my husband, my aging parents, my guests; plagued with the lasting impact of letting anyone down. For years, I stressed about the perfect decor, meals, gifts, and parties. I stressed […]

My castle kitchen is my favorite place in the house. It’s a workplace, a sanctuary, a gallery, a museum, and a gathering site.  My favorite kitchen items, chosen carefully, inspire me in so many ways.  Some items exude quality, while others give me comfort and delight.  A handful of others have provenance either steeped in […]

  As the months of social distancing tick on, and the “new normal” sets in, one element of my life has proven to be more valuable than I ever imagined. It is my growing awareness of the   importance of belonging to my tribe.    I actually have a few tribes that I hold very dear […]

Centerstage is always the star. The jewel of the property, the Central Courtyard has been a focal and gathering point for the Castle at Cornwall for a century.  It is back-dropped by the castle on one side and pine-covered mountains and waterfall on the other.  The dark greenish blues of the pines and the gray-green […]

The Gold Standard   The builder of the Cornwall Castle, Charlotte Martin’s, first foray into architecture was Turtle Bay Gardens, a series of 19 brownstones in New York that she bought in 1918 to turn into an enclave for New York’s artistic and literary set. Her creation still stands today along East 49th street, and […]