Michael Pelkey

I met Michael Pelkey years ago when I had my design business in New York. I was always looking for good crew people, and he was introduced to me by Cheri Wagner. She brought him to my brownstone on 15th Street. I was still working from home then, and the dining room table was the work table.
We were hand wiring a zillion flowers, and I asked Michael if he could do this, and he said sure. So I asked him to make a dozen corsages for a wedding, and he made the most beautiful ones. From that day on, he became a part of my A-team, and a friend forever. Later he confessed that he had never hand wired a thing, or made a corsage, and that is so typical of this man with a myriad of natural talent.

Michael in his kitchen in Key West with a portrait someone did of him

Michael lived off his innate talent (we used to call it living by the seat of our pants). A rough childhood resulting in dozens of foster homes, he learned to use humor as his calling card. And uber generosity. And a tremendous capacity and joy for hard work.

The door to Michael's deck revealing the shell encrusted folly he made

He started collecting antiques when he was sixteen. He lived in the Boston area, where the pickings were fine. He always had a the eye for the hidden gem, the treasure buried under the grime. Eddie Ross and Michael are cut from the same jib when it comes to this.


Besides working for me for many years, Michael was a personal chef before those words ever became trendy. He worked for many interesting wealthy clients, and this took him all over the world, traveling with the people he cooked for. In every port and city, he dug out little treasures to bring home. He had several warehouses over the years of beautiful things.


In every home he worked in, he often did a little redecorating, along with planning and executing the most fantastic parties for his clients. He often used things from his collections, and the word got out. Eventually he accumulated an impressive list of interior design projects and dedicated clients.
Michael eventually made Key West his home. He bought a derelict Conch House and turned it into a show house, and nearly every style editor from Mary Emmerling to Martha Stewart used his home for a photo shoot.
The book Key West, A Tropical Lifestyle, features his home on the cover, along with a great spread inside.


Michael was so ahead of the time, as often is the case with original thinkers, and those with true talent. He was collecting alabaster lamps twenty five years ago. His ironstone collection is dedicated to pudding molds, and is legendary. He also used old ironstone bowls as vessel sinks long before the words vessel and sinks were used together in design jargon. The farm house sink was another one of his ideas that pre-dated it being a catalog item.

He was also first in using Carerra marble, rain shower heads, and so many things that became mainstream in bathroom design.

Note the black and white stripe gross grain ribbon used to extend the length of the shower curtain
The fan light window is an antique especially fitted into the shower

He collected windows and doors of all sizes, always knowing he would find a perfect place to build around them.

This little old stained glass window is hinged to open

When I lived in New York, Michael and I saw one another every day, yakked on the phone, hung out. He moved away first to Key West, then I moved away to New Orleans. We see each other every couple of years, and it is not nearly enough.
Recently he bought a new house he is re-doing in North Carolina. He is working for the design firm Tanda Design, who currently specialize in luxury projects all around hunt country. He seldom gets back to his Key West gem of a house, and often rents it out now. Once in awhile a buying trip will bring him to our open arms in New Orleans.

I don't have many photos of Michael's house. BB, Before Blogging, taking photos of houses was just not something we did ha ha. I found these in a folder tonight, and it made me miss Michael more than ever. Alberto took the bathroom photos the last time we visitied Michael in Key West, as an idea notebook for our bathroom renovation in New Orleans.

Alberto appreciates Michael on every level, but he is enchanted by all the little built-in cabinets in Michael's tiny 600 square foot house.

Michael and Alberto one Christmas in Key West-
I spy a clock that you all seem to love these days
Michael has had this clock for as long as I know him

I hope to do a book on Michael's body of work one day.
Michael doesn't do the internet; he doesn't blog; he doesn't twitter. He rarely uses the cell phone, except for work. So I doubt that he'll ever see the posts I've done about him, but I hope he feels my tenderness reaching out to him where ever he's making beauty today.

Happy Weekend!

More Grey Gardens slide show HERE

East Hampton Style 2 - Thank You Sally Quinn

I just got an e-mail newsletter from Architectural Digest with photos of Grey Gardens as it is now, and an article talking with Sally Quinn. Best of all it's photographed by my favorite guy Peter Vitale! So I had to hop to and share some of the photos with you all! You can go HERE to read the article and see more photos.

The house looks wonderful! A happy ending after all.

Rose chintz is used throughout, a nod to the roses planted in the gardens.

Simple coir rugs are used, that look very much like the kind you can pick up at Pier One, or Cost Plus World Market. I like that the house doesn't look overdone and over decorated. It looks like the houses I remember, including my own little Victorian cottage on Springs Fireplace Road.

This vintage newspaper poster kind of brings back the happy early days that the Beales spent in Grey Gardens, the 1930's.

What a pretty bouquet of cosmos! And the table setting is delightful too.

This is a little sitting room off the kitchen. I love the old stove! I had one like this in my house. I also love all the old quilts Sally Quinn uses throughout the house. This is something I saw alot of Hamptons ladies do, including Lauren Bacall.

The master bedroom is so pretty. The iron bed is making me smile. They are so out of fashion now, and I like that Sally uses one anyway! Again, my master had a white iron bed! I guess the houses in the Hamptons dictate all the tried and true touches that decorators have used for a zillion years ha ha.

Thank you all for taking so many trips to Grey Gardens with me. I can almost smell....the sea air!

They Were Collectors

I feel like visiting a Paris apartment today. It's the home of a devoted couple, devoted to each other, and devoted to collecting.


Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge co-founded the Yves Saint Laurent couture house in 1961. It closed in 2002, the year in which the Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation was established. Berge became the sole owner of the collection in 2008, following the death of Saint Laurent in June, aged 71. Earlier in the year the two of them had formed a civil union.



What a life these two had together! And what a home they made!
Their lifelong collection has been auctioned off to great success in spite of the current global cooling in the financial markets.


Pierre Bergé: “The sale of the collection that I had built in partnership with Yves Saint Laurent draws to a close and has been a triumph. My expectations have been fully realized. I thank Christie’s for the organization of both the preview exhibitions and the sale itself in the setting of the Grand Palais. I offer my gratitude to the public who came in huge numbers and were prepared to queue patiently for many hours. The results of the sale exceed our highest expectations and confirm the potential of the Paris marketplace to rise to such an occasion. The results also demonstrate that even in a difficult economic climate, works of art of great quality preserve their power and their value.”


The proceeds will go to the Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, and a new foundation that will be set up for scientific research and the fight against AIDS.


Here are a few photos of how they lived in Paris.


The art collection is staggering: Degas, Monet, Matisse, Gaugin, Picasso, Cezanne and Mondrian, Brancusi, Duchamp, Ensor, de Chirico, Gèricault, Dominique Ingres and Jacques-Louis David.


The furniture collection equally awesome: Eileen Gray, Emile Jaques Ruhlman, Gustave Miklos, Edgar Brandt, and Pierre Le Grain. But don't you love the white slipcovers Joni?


There is mystery about the identity of the final buyers. Those at the auction have included Bianca Jagger, Lord Linley and Roman Abramovich, but they are not thought to have purchased much. Most of the running has been made by two young, French, New York-based dealers, Philippe Ségalot and Franck Giraud, working on behalf of unnamed clients.


I love the mix of Impressionist and Modern art, and Oriental, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and French Furniture.


There are also old masters and 19th century drawings, 20th century decorative arts, Asian & Islamic Art and antiquities.


And don't forget the silver, miniatures, and objet d' vertu.


These are images from their Paris homes on rue de Babylone and rue Bonaparte.


The sale was held in one of the world's largest and most prestigious exhibition halls, the Grand Palais, off the Champs-Elysées. A staggering 33,000 people queued to see the collection. Access to the auction room had been strictly controlled, with potential buyers having to prove they had access to at least one and half million dollars in ready cash.



New artist records were set for Henri Matisse, Constantin Brancusi, Piet Mondrian, Marcel Duchamp and James Ensor. Christies reported that 70% of the buyers at that session were European, 30% from the US, and one individual from Asia; Russian collectors bought at least one of the most expensive lots.



Whew and Ooh la la!


I kiss a prayer up to them both.

Grey Gardens, The Last Word

Well I loved it. And I promise you this is the last post about it ha ha. If you were not able to see it leave a comment and email me, and I will take care of you.


Like many things one loves, and one digs deeper looking for things to use in a post, one goes down a delightful rabbit hole. One of the sites I found is Grey Gardens Online.
It is filled with so many wonderful articles. The exclusive interviews are the best. Please spend some enjoyable time there.



One of the things on my wish list is this book: Edith Bouvier Beale, A Life In Pictures. The Gray Gardens Online site will tell you where to get it. It's limited to an edition of 2000, so I hope Alberto is doing some early shopping for my birthday ha ha.



I want to thank Alberto for arranging the viewing of the movie for me at the home of our friends Jessica and Jon. Not only did they give up their evening, not talk during the movie, provide cocktails, etc., they also had the most delish crawfish boil for us for dinner. Thank you J & J!


The movie was all I hoped it would be. Some surprises regarding the sets, like the bedroom with the art deco bed turning out to be Edie's room at the Barbizon Hotel (and not her bedroom at Grey Gardens). I once considered living at the Barbizon! But I found a cheaper apartment on St. Marks Place on the Lower East Side.


I loved the scene when the two Edies dressed for JFK's funeral.
I loved Drew Barrymore's perfect patrician Bouvier accent.
I loved Jessica Lange - she was a perfect Big Edie. I think this rivals the role when she played Francis Farmer in "Francis".



I think the Maysles looked too clean cut in the HBO movie. They were definitely more hippie dippie looking, actually more hippie geek.
I also loved the scenes when Jackie came to visit. I almost howled with laughter when they offered her pate and ice cream.
I was reminded of a story my friend Michael Pelkey told me.
He was then a personal chef on for a wealthy important person. They were on the WIPs yacht anchored in Spain. Michael went to the local market to get the ingredients to prepare Salad Nicoise. He did not speak Spanish. The salad was declared delicious by the Spanish royalty attending the luncheon. The day help hired to do kitchen chores were hysterical. Michael had served them cat food! He thought he was buying tuna!
So I could imagine the Beales confusing all that cat food for pate and serving it to Jackie.
Oh how the mind goes off on tangents ha ha.



I'm showing some photos I've found of Little Edie as a young person. They are just enchanting. I also think Little Edie was enchanting as we saw her later in life.











Here are some family jewels.


After seeing the movie, I felt a sense of determination and hope. I'm so glad I spent my first summer in East Hampton with the Cat Ladies. Funny how in life we attract people like ourselves, how we find role models and mentors in the most unlikely of places.
Thank you all for indulging me in this Grey Gardens blitz.