MILIEU Fall 2019

Early in my career as an interior designer, long before I had the idea to start MILIEU, I knew about—and admired—Min Hogg. She, of course, was the legendary founding editor of The World of Interiors, a magazine that exactly reflected who she was as a person and as a designer. Min, who I am proud to say became a friend of mine, passed away in June, and I want to dedicate this Fall issue of MILIEU in memory of her. Min was what I like to call a true “seeker,” someone who, at heart, is a freethinker. In the pages of her magazine, she featured designs she liked, rooms and homes that she thought reflected the character of their owners, the fabrics and materials and furnishings she thought mattered. She was…

Tammy Connor Based in Charleston, South Carolina, award-winning interior designer Tammy Connor has built her reputation on creating timeless, classic interiors that are infused with a casual Southern elegance. She founded her namesake firm in 2000, and since then, she has received numerous awards from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, where she is now a member of its Southeastern Board. Charlotte Moss With over thirty-four years in the business of design, Charlotte Moss has received numerous honors, including the New York School of Interior Design’s Centennial Medal, Housing Works’ Groundbreaker’s Award, and The Royal Oak Foundation’s Timeless Design award. Charlotte has used her experience to design collections of furniture and upholstery with Century Furniture, fabrics and trims for Fabricut, carpets and sisals for Stark Carpet, china for Pickard, and clothing with…

HOUSE OF HOPE As MILIEU’s Editor-at-Large, I’ve had the opportunity to visit lovely homes around the world, but the houses in Family Legacy’s Tree of Life near Lusaka, Zambia, are among the most beautiful to me—not in the typical sense of décor, but in the way these houses protect, shelter, and nurture the most vulnerable and orphaned children of Zambia. Over the past few summers, I have seen Tree of Life grow to now comprise a children’s village of sixty-plus houses, primary and secondary schools, and medical and social services clinic. The children live with dedicated house parents, share meals together, and experience a whole new way of living. To the children, these modest houses offer hope and restoration. The purpose of the faith-based Tree of Life is to equip children…

Sharing my breakfast with a Rothschild giraffe is not just faintly surreal but huge fun, charmingly chaotic, rather wondrous, and an unforgettable experience. This would likely be the case for anyone interested in wildlife, conservation, and African safari. For to touch, see, sniff, and feed (with organic nuts) these elegant—and endangered—animals at such close proximity is a special experience to be savored. I had arrived at Kenya’s Giraffe Manor the day before, after a long flight from England. I had been driven through the notoriously mad Nairobi traffic out to the leafy suburb of Langata and into the oasis that is Giraffe Manor, a wonderfully eccentric faux Scottish hunting lodge built in 1932 by Sir David Duncan, a member of the Mackintosh family of Mackintosh’s Toffee fame. I might have been…