Victoria November - December 2017

As I mark the December days on an Advent calendar, I like to take time to reflect on the inspiring stories we have collected for you, dear readers, over the past ten years. We have presented interesting women entrepreneurs, folks who channel their creativity into handmade works of art, and a collection of charming shops we felt suited our readers’ preferences. We have been invited into countless homes where the décor harmonizes with the looks we love, and we have traveled coast-to-coast and internationally to find out-of-the-way villages and attractions that would appeal to you as vacation destinations. The list, of course, is much longer, and I hope you will take a moment, now and then, to enjoy again the last decade of treasured Victoria volumes. Now, on to Christmas! As…

Take a closer look at some of our favorite November/December features: Celebrating Ten Years of Bliss Victoria honors a decade of beauty and romance with an enchanting anniversary fête, as we look ahead to many more years of continued success. Honoring a Legacy Since 1707, Fortnum & Mason, leading supplier of culinary provisions and fine accoutrements, has served Londoners in elegance and style. From Italy, With Love When the Gravelys met artisans and designers of authentic tableware on the Amalfi Coast, it signaled the beginning of something wonderful. How to Make a Holiday Create a season of magic and memories with our guide to crafting a selection of the lovely handmade adornments featured in this issue. We love your ideas! Do you have any suggestions about something you’d like to see in the magazine? If so, email us at victoriamagazine@hoffmanmedia.com. SEE…

When I was a little girl, we lived in a house on top of a hill. My dad, a big, strong ironworker, would lift me up in his arms. Together, we would look through the kitchen windows at the sparkling lights below. To me, it was pure magic. The twinkling lights looked like hundreds of tiny red and green Christmas lights, when, in truth, they were just traffic lights changing on the roads. On the hill across the valley, the old VA hospital stood like a huge landmark, a symbol of another age. It was like an ancient castle. I will never forget the feelings of love and security, being held by my father, and the little stories he would tell to inspire my imagination. The magic was oh, so…

“Most people have at least one memory of a present—given or received—that continues to glow in the mind, like a good story. ” I did not write it down, but even now, twenty years after my friend Suzanna told me the story, the details remain clear. She was eight years old. Her parents were too poor to buy her any Christmas presents that year. But every night in December, her father would disappear down into the basement after supper with strict instructions that no one was to bother him. On Christmas morning, the reason was made clear. There, beneath the tree, with her name painted on the steering bar, was the most beautiful sled she had ever seen. It had carved handles; sharp, shiny runners; and every slat had been attached to…

For Carolyne Roehm, setting the scene for a memorable holiday meal begins with the finest tableware and décor. Spode Greek dinnerware and Murano white wine glasses from Nason Moretti elevate a splendorous centerpiece, pictured this page, to new heights. “I have used this type of fruit arrangement for both Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Carolyne says. Overlooking the tableau is a timeless painting, La Retour de Chasse by French Rococo artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry. That its theme is echoed in the forms of fowl gracing the assemblage below seems a near-definition of traditional elegance itself and evidence that, as Carolyne says, “the new is built upon the shoulders of the old.” REPRINTED FROM AT HOME IN THE GARDEN. COPYRIGHT © 2015 BY CAROLYNE ROEHM.…