However, her best and dearest families were made up of friends who shared her passions and tastes. His affairs were an open secret. Rendered a The Strange Promise of a Genuine Squirrel Coat. [22], She maintained homes in Antigua, Nantucket and Oyster Harbors, Cape Cod, two apartments in Paris, and a townhouse in New York City. Old stone walls surround the sun-dappled rolling fields, which feature two enormous greenhouses and a football-field-size cutting garden with branches of fruit trees entwined in a not-seen-in-nature pattern. Yet when Sam Kasten of Nantucket Looms, a company that wove custom fabrics for her, wrote her that his visit to the Garden Library at Oak Spring was a life-changing event, she called him in tears. All-Star and perfect game pitcher dead at 62 UPPERVILLE, Va. Rachel Bunny Mellon, a wealthy arts and fashion patron, friend of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Susan Zakin was born in New York City, where she attended the Brearley School and Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism. This exposure whetted her appetite for political influence, an appetite she would eventually seek to satisfy in her relationship with Senator John Edwards. Even before she married Paul Mellon a philanthropist, [4][30]:158, At the request of campaign operative Andrew Young, the commitment morphed to include underwriting Edwards' personal expenses. She was a poor Bouvier, by the standards of the society in which she moved. . Mellon, a woman whose acquaintances and the press had led him to believe was distant and cold, was in fact warm & funny once he got to know her. Some may find the pacing too leisurely, and the book is at its best when Mellons curious personality comes out in full. She is not afraid to face the future. [2][3] Her paternal grandfather, chemist Jordan Lambert, was the inventor of Listerine, which was later marketed by her father. I remember my earliest summer memories swimming off the dock of the house. The 35-year-old Lloyd, a Washington investment adviser, adds, "As I explained to the jury, imagine a very handsome man who is well liked and respected, and there are two women vying for his affections.". The public life is above water& the private lifeis submergedI flatter myself that I have made his private life something he can love & find peace incomfortable smoothly run houseswith all the things he loves in thempictures, books, good food, friends& his daughter & wife geared to adapt to his hours when he comes home. Bunny gave Jackie confidence in her chosen role, helped her enhance the presidents home even more, and provided her a friendship like no other. Jane Stanton Hitchcock says, "Jackie told me that she thought Bunny was a visual genius." Bunny opined that ones bed was important, because it held so many thoughts. Jackie agreed, saying, It is a celebration, a bed, and then Bunny decided they should design one for her. "It's been like falling down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland," says Huffman, who rues introducing the heiress to the senator. According to the indictment, Huffman signed over the checks to Young. Copyright 2022 by Mac Griswold. [4][23] Her main residence, Oak Spring Farms, was a 4,000-acre (1,600ha) estate in Virginia, that had its own 1-mile (1,600m) long airstrip to accommodate her Falcon 2000. [15][16], Although she had no formal training, Mellon read widely in horticulture and made contributions to several landmark gardens. Her friend Bette Midler performed her hit song The Rose. MANHATTAN Listerine heiress and philanthropist Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon has preferred to shun the media spotlight since long before her financial largesse became tangled up in the John Edwards mistress scandal. She contributed more than $3.5 million to Edwards's issues organization and to PACs supporting his candidacy. Just one week prior to his indictment, in late May 2011, Edwards visited Mellon at her Upperville estate. "It's a crush." Zenas Crocker of Robet Paul Properties held the listing. Rendered a paraplegic and unable to speak, Eliza was transported to her mother's farm for round-the-clock care, surviving for eight years. I agreed but said, But she had to dress for Peoria. Wendy, who knew Jackie well, shot back, She didnt know there was a Peoria.. In 1932, she married Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr., a businessman and horse breeder. She was involved in the business of nature and beauty, design and implementation, Forger said. As the second wife of financier Paul Mellon, she helped him amass a renowned art collection, hundreds of works ranging from Czannes to Rothkos, either donated to the National Gallery in Washington or still hanging on her walls. Cristofaro Munari, attrib. She attended Foxcroft, a northern Virginia boarding school. Jackie Kennedy and Bunny Mellon, whose friendship is explored in Mac Griswolds new book. ", Her birthday plans are uncertain but are likely to mimic last year's modest festivitiesa lunch at the farm for family members plus Caroline Kennedy, Huffman, and Forger. Joseph Campbell, the 20th-century writer on myth best known for The Hero with a Thousand Faces, saw what he thought might be the dangers of Jackies life after JFKs assassination. Hers is a regime of no tolerance for the mediocre. She had little patience for those she considered superficial or boring and chose her friends carefully. He pleaded not guilty and is preparing for trial this fall. Mellon sent checks to Huffman inside boxes of chocolate, and Huffman would direct them to the campaign, Young wrote. From Tuxedo Park to Virginia to the White House, Griswold escorts us through Mellons life as we meet icons of culture, fashion, and politics: Queen Elizabeth and Jackie Kennedy, Givenchy and Balenciaga, JFK and I.M. In 2010, it was reported that Mellon had lost $5.75 million to investment adviser and convicted Ponzi scheme operator Kenneth I. Lloyd, her grandson, says, "I don't think there's ever going to be a moment for her to sit back and reflect. She had not given an extended interview in more than a quarter century. [26] Three of her most important paintings, two by Rothko and one by Richard Diebenkorn, were sold privately before the Sotheby's auction for a reported $250 million. Courtesy Oak Spring Garden Library. Bunnys presents were more extravagant than Jackies and often featured a surprise. During World War II, Lloyd and Mellon roomed together in London, where both worked for the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the CIA. It's sad that he didn't. After his death in 1975, it was probably no accident that Jackie turned to Bunnys lawyer, Alexander Forger, to secure $200 million, far more than Onassis had decided to settle on his wife. Ever since she married Paul Mellon in 1948, she has been consumed by turning his Virginia farm into a magnificent showcase. [11] Her work was strongly influenced by French gardeners Andr Le Ntre and Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie. [17] In France, Mellon created a landscape design for the home of Hubert de Givenchy and assisted with a restoration of the potager du Roi in Versailles. Bunny made her debut in October 1929 and three years later married the socially connected Stacy Lloyd Jr. Paul Mellon once told The Washington Post, "The thing I envy about Bunny is that from the age of 5 or 6, her whole life has been occupied by horticulture, by one consuming thing." 11:00 PM WARRENTON, Va. Rachel "Bunny" Mellon left a small island to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, a library to an unspecified charity, jewelry to a "She is just shocked.". Then her daughter was fatally hit in a car accident, and she threw herself even deeper into her career. They were friends with the Kennedys and entertained Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. She believed deeply in what he was saying.. [27], Mellon's second husband, Paul Mellon, died in 1999, aged 91. women hell-bent on making their daughters marriageable. That was the best part. A 350 year old house, the main property consists of seven bedrooms and five full baths with270 degrees of water views, the listing states. Her wardrobe was created by Spanish designer Cristbal Balenciaga until he retired, at which time French designer Hubert de Givenchy took over fashioning everything she wore, according to a 2010 Vanity Fair article. She was loyal beyond anything and we gave each other space. [10][17], As most of her assets were invested in trusts, it was difficult to estimate Mellon's wealth, but her family and husband's fortune and fixed assets suggest she was exceptionally wealthy. She was 103. Rachel Lambert Mellon (affectionately nicknamed Bunny) was the heiress to a mouthwash fortune. At the time, what kept most of us from seeing the dowdiness was the luster of glamour conveyed by Jackies trim, big-shouldered, athletic figure and then, in rapid hindsight, the burnished armor of tragedy. [7] Her parents divorced in 1933, and both subsequently remarried. He gave her a life of infinite luxuryThe Washington Post once pronounced Bunny the "Most Envied Hostess in the Country Today"but at a cost. Sandra Lees Revenge Romance Takes a Twist, Mugrabi Divorce Settled: "She Asked for $100 Million", Gianna Reisen is Transforming the NYCB, One Step at a Time, Kai Thomass Debut Novel is Historical Fiction at its Best, Janet Malcolm Finally Covers the One Subject She Avoided: Herself. In a 2010 interview, she spoke of having purchased a total of thirteen works by Rothko. In 2004 in the opening essay for the Metropolitan Museums exhibition Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., who was Jackies friend and ally, wrote that underneath a veil of lovely inconsequence she developed a cool assessment of people and an ironical slant on life. Crocker would not reveal who the buyers were, only that they hadseveral other Cape properties and are extremely private. The two women took art lessons from Oliver Smith, the scenic designer for American Ballet Theatre who was most famous for his magical Broadway productions: West Side Story, Brigadoon, and in 1960, Camelot, the basis of Jackies enduring reimagining of her husbands brief presidency. I know the coats history, so much larger than onewomans, and I can give it a proper send-off. But Mellon struck up new life-affirming friendships with much younger, artistic men. This was the first time that Bunny clearly laid out her conviction that Schlumberger should be treated as an artist, not just a fashionable jewelry designer. Prosecutors have charged that she gave $725,000 to former presidential candidate John Edwards in 2007 and 2008, which he used to conceal his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter and the existence of their child. Mellon also was known for her exquisite taste both in fashion and in decorating. . Even now she is making improvements. ", The events of the past five yearsthe death of her daughter, Ken Starr's betrayal, the indictment of Edwardsmight leave less hardy souls reaching for Prozac. Sometimes Bunny felt very alone in her effort to maintain this balance. She'd long since given up being upset. I have so much to do.". Ill Build a Stairway to Paradise by Mac Griswold (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is available online and in stores now. [30]:157 She was an early financier of Edwards' 2008 Democratic primary run, offering an initial US$1 million commitment to his campaign, and eventually contributing more than $3.5 million to organizations supporting his candidacy. Given Paul and Bunnys emerging stature in philanthropy and the arts, and Jackies celebrity, when Bunny and Jackie joined forces for a cause, they invariably succeeded. B. She also said that she ran interference with the Kennedys regarding Onassis before Jackies 1968 marriage to him. She turned to her husband, a lifelong Republican, who said he certainly wasnt going to lend her his pen! Mellons family and her longtime personal attorney said she died of natural causes at her beloved 4,000-acre Oak Spring Farms in Virginias horse country, where she entertained royalty, stars and politicians but from which she rarely ventured. 1700 Oil on canvas. Jackie Kennedy and Bunny Mellon in Paris together in the 1960s. Mellon was a legend in design and gardening circles who had a low-key style that was eloquent but unpretentious, Huffman said. Lloyd, who was questioned by the grand jury about whether she was coerced, says with a laugh, "You can't tell my grandmother what to do. (Italian, 1667 1720) A quince, an apple, two lemons, and three blue and white cups], ca. But so great a talent could not remain forever hidden and neither will yours. John Edwards turned away from Bunny Mellon's memorial by her family | Daily Mail Online. Together, the couple collected and donated more than a thousand works of art, mostly eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European paintings, to the National Gallery of Art and established the Yale Center for British Art. She liked what he said about the Two Americas,' Huffman said. The Feminist Uses of Narrative Fiction: Jill Filipovics The H-Spot and the Search for Womens Happiness. The two shared a childlike imagination and enthusiasm that, as Jackie herself said, seems to flicker out in so many adults. J. "Bunny gave him validation, after all those ass-kissing socialites who mistreated him. Jackie did neither. Only Bunny could have thought of the perfect finale: as dinner finished, Jackies beloved White House chef, Ren Verdon, who had been secretly flown up to cook the birthday feast, appeared like a rabbit pulled out of a hat. The estate, known as Scallop Path, includes three separate structures, including the main property, the guest house and a chimney house. She quickly divorced her husband, and in May 1948 she and Mellon wed. Shes not sitting around in velvet covered gold chairs. Thats the antithesis of what her style would be, he said. ", Mellon and her late husband Paul recommended Starr to friends, and she is mortified that they have suffered, saying, "The worse thing is the people he stole money from." A giver of parties and designer of landscapes brimming with imagination and magic, she herself tended to the expressionless and forbidding, a society figure with an almost pathological dislike for publicity, who loved coming home from galas to water the plants at night. Then she adds, "I'm very busy. I want to come back to see you, and be near you again. She is without the trappings someone would associate with an heiress.. You are a poet like Emily Dickinson in your gardens, in your houses, in the way you see nature and all of life. Her grandfather, Jordan W. Lambert, created Listerine. Eventually I will get rid of it, if only because the thought of someone else carting it to a secondhand shop after my own death is too depressing. After JFKs death and the subsequent assassination of Robert Kennedy, Jackie needed protection beyond what the Secret Service could provide for her and her young children, and she also needed a well-financed husband to support her in style. Young described how the campaign used the so-called Bunny Money to hide Hunter. Through it all, she never sought publicity. She next began to work on the White House's East Garden, but her work was interrupted by Kennedy's assassination. Style included a great deal more than the cut of clothing or a period of interior decoration. While .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Bunny was coming to grips with the changes in her marriage, she met the woman who would become her best friend, Jackie Kennedy, wife of the dashing junior senator from Massachusetts. As Jackie Kennedy's closest confidante, she helped decorate the White House, redesigned the Rose Garden, presided over the floral arrangements for JFK's bier, and remained an intimate to the first lady until Jackie's death. Gordon, a veteran journalist, is the author ofMrs. On June 3, 2011, Edwards was indicted on using campaign funds to help cover up an affair and pregnancy during the 2008 presidential campaign. 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