Victoria July/August 2020

In the depths of winter, the promise of summer seems so remote. Tucked snugly in our homes, sheltered from the cold and darkness, we dream of warm days ahead whiled away in the sunshine. Thoughts drift to cultivating glorious gardens, enjoying leisurely pursuits, entertaining alfresco, and exploring distant shores. Perhaps more than ever, we appreciate the gifts of this season. When our editors began planning the July/August issue that you hold in your hands—researching themes, scouting locations, and developing concepts even years in advance of each story appearing on the page—they could not have known how our hearts would thrill to its contents. Pleasures from simple to sublime await your discovery. Find blue-and-white treasures in Favorite Things, delectable picnic recipes in Cooking and Entertaining, and pies bursting with fruit in From Our…

Visit our website to read this issue’s online stories and to find more of the content you love. Take a closer look at some of our favorite July/August features: New England Gems Explore storied mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, taking in the incomparable splendor of America’s Gilded Age amid the natural beauty of this dreamy seaside destination. Thoughtful Restoration Under the capable direction of an interior designer returning to his Southern roots, a circa 1848 plantation becomes a tastefully appointed and treasured abode. Simple Pleasures With our easy tutorial, infuse quiet hours with the serenity of time in the country by making goat’s milk soap accented with fragrant dried lavender. An Artist’s Haven In the Swedish community of Sundborn, the home of its most famous resident, Carl Larsson, reflects the painter’s legacy of love for family, color, and creativity. We…

My first home was my grandparents’chicken farm. I have many fond memories there: baby chicks in the pantry incubator, finding a treasure of old paper dolls in the shed out back, and the huge fig tree that provided a shady place to make mud pies with my cousins. But my “home sweet home” is the little cottage my husband and I share in our retirement. We lived in a big Victorian, across the street from our neighbor, a widow whom we had become wonderful friends with over the years. When Betty heard we would have to downsize in order to retire, she couldn’t bear the thought of us leaving the neighborhood. So she offered to sell us the cottage adjacent to her little orchard. Even though the abode was only three properties…

In my mother’s life there were many islands. She knew them long before she spent a few quiet weeks on the Florida gem of Captiva, writing her best-loved book, Gift from the Sea. She knew islands after that time, too. Each one left its mark upon her life and upon other lives as well. The first was in Maine’s Penobscot Bay, where her father, Dwight Morrow, built a summer home on North Haven in 1928, on a piece of land known as Deacon Brown’s Point. There were pine and spruce trees, rocky beaches, and views across the water toward the sloping blue shapes of other islands in the middle distance, and beyond those to the hills of Camden on the mainland. My mother and her family walked the coastline and sailed the…

Once I mastered cultivating flowers, I started looking for ways to share our farm’s bounty. For eight years, each week from mid-May through early October, my family created up to four hundred market bouquets. At this point, I’ve made more than forty thousand, and it takes me less than one minute to assemble, bunch, and wrap the blossoms. The display shown opposite highlights two of my favorite butterscotch-colored dahlias, along with beautiful golden celosia. Bright green Bells of Ireland, ‘Limelight’ hydrangeas, cress, and parsley seedpods offset the warm sherbet tones, and airy sprays of periwinkle delphinium add unexpected contrast. See A Year in Flowers by Erin Benzakein for more information.…

“SUMMER HAS FILLED HER VEINS WITH LIGHT AND HER HEART IS WASHED WITH NOON.”—C. Day Lewis…