Indeed. She had a son, Stacy Barcroft Lloyd III, and two step-children, Timothy Mellon and Catherine Warner. Style included a great deal more than the cut of clothing or a period of interior decoration. Paul Mellon, a renowned art collector, philanthropist and thoroughbred breeder, died in 1999 at age 91. In 1932, she married Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr., a businessman and horse breeder. 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. I remember my earliest summer memories swimming off the dock of the house. I know the coats history, so much larger than onewomans, and I can give it a proper send-off. women hell-bent on making their daughters marriageable. Mrs. Mellon had exquisite taste, and what Jackie admired most of all was the way she taught other people.". Mellon was a legend in design and gardening circles who had a low-key style that was eloquent but unpretentious, Huffman said. I don't mind being 100, I can cope with that, but not seeing is very scary." It's sad that he didn't. Once the war ended, as Paul Mellon wrote in his autobiography, Reflections in a Silver Spoon, both men found it difficult to resume married life. According to the indictment, Huffman signed over the checks to Young. Then her daughter was fatally hit in a car accident, and she threw herself even deeper into her career. Jackie had, in fact, quickly come to understand that she had become a piece of public property and that there was a pressing need to have what she wore in the White House years be a uniform. Ironically, Bunnys own interiors and her landscapes, public as well as private, were purposefully designed not to draw attention to themselves. Her friend Bette Midler performed her hit song The Rose. Mellon believed a ladys name should only appear in the newspaper three times: for her debut, her marriage and her obituary, Huffman said. Jackie honored her friends creative achievementssomething that Bunny welcomed. UPDATE: Netscape billionaire Jim Clark and his Australian model wife Kristy Hinze have bought Bunny Mellons New York townhouse for $37 million Curbed has the goss. She was involved in the business of nature and beauty, design and implementation, Forger said. Mellon was not accused of breaking any laws. 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. ", The Edwards episode has baffled and upset Mellon's family. Thanks for contacting us. 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. Rachel Lambert Mellon (August 9, 1910 March 17, 2014), often known as Bunny Mellon, was an American horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist, and art collector. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, sat beside Mrs. Mellon during the funeral. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. She planted a variety of pear and apple trees around the perimeter of the garden, as well as honey locust and sassafras trees, which she and her landscaping team carefully pruned over decades.. I don't like complicated people." 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. Raphael, Sandra, Heins, Greg, Tomasi, Lucia Tongiorgi, and Willis, Tony. 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." 1700 Oil on canvas. [7][36] Her funeral was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, which the Mellons had gifted to the community in 1960. The indictment quotes a note from Mellon: "I was sitting alone in a grim mood, furious that the press attacked Senator Edwards on the price of a haircut. Letitia Baldrige, Jackie's White House social secretary, recalls, "They were very close. She kept her gift private from the world and so have you. Susan Zakin was born in New York City, where she attended the Brearley School and Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism. [17][10], Mellon designed landscapes for many of the Mellons' properties, including the French-inspired gardens of their estate, Oak Spring Farms. Bunny poured her nesting urge into the creation of many perfect houses for Paul and the children. WARRENTON, Va. Rachel "Bunny" Mellon left a small island to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, a library to an unspecified charity, jewelry to a former first daughter, and $20 million in cash along with artwork and real estate to Stacy B. Lloyd III, her son by her first marriage. Stepping up to the polls with Paul, Bunny said, she found she didnt have anything to write with. Mellon was the second wife of philanthropist and horse breeder Paul Mellon. This exposure whetted her appetite for political influence, an appetite she would eventually seek to satisfy in her relationship with Senator John Edwards. [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. the fact that you are splashed in the Daily News, she wrote to accompany a piece about RFKs funeral that she mailed to Bunny. [28] Shortly thereafter, in May 2000, her daughter Eliza was hit by a truck while crossing a Manhattan street, causing a severe brain injury and full-body paralysis. ", 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. One soon realized that her social graces masked tremendous awareness, an all-seeing eye, ruthless judgment, and a steely purpose., The two women enjoyed dismissing people who thought they had the right to intrude on their friendship and privacy. Late heiress Rachel Bunny Mellon s Antigua property is up for sale for $25 million, making it one of the most expensive pieces of land in the Caribbean. In 2010, it was reported that Mellon had lost $5.75 million to investment adviser and convicted Ponzi scheme operator Kenneth I. The estate formerly belonged to Mellons grandsonThomas Lloyd, who made the decision to sell the home. Bunny and Jackie dined at Johnnys small clapboard house on East 92nd Street before heading to the gala, the proceeds of which would support the preservation of Newport, Rhode Islands trove of 18th- and 19th-century architecture. A previous auction of Mellon possessions brought in $218.1 million in 2014 for the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation. [21], After Jacqueline Kennedy left the White House, Mellon was asked to design landscapes for Kennedy's home in Martha's Vineyard, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, and River Farm, the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society. Sally Bedell Smith quotes Jackie as telling a journalist right after the election that she would describe Jack as rather like me in that his life is an iceberg. Thats the story. In going through her papers in the months after her death, I found that she had wrapped many important keepsakes, such as gifts from her Grandpa Lowe, in white paper and tied them up with a blue ribbon, using the two colors as signals to show how precious the things were to her. 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. At the age of 95, however, Bunnys secret support for John Edwardss mistress and child would bring her a certain notorietyand a visit from the FBI that she would quite enjoy. Her social climbing didnt always follow an easy path. 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.. All Rights Reserved. We've received your submission. Huffman, who introduced Mellon to Edwards, said the former presidential candidate reminded her of John Kennedy. Mellon's family and her longtime personal attorney said she died of natural causes at her beloved 4,000-acre Oak Spring Farms in Virginia's horse country, where she Her art collection included a Rothko reportedly worth $125 million. [17] Mellon amassed a large collection of horticultural books and was regarded as an authority on American horticulture. Copyright 2009-2018, New York Public Radio. They would talk about flowers for hours, mesmerized by one another's company. Daughter of the president of the Gillette Safety Razor Co. and granddaughter of the inventor of Listerine, Rachel (Bunny) Lambert was born into money and groomed for social success. Rachel Lambert Mellon (affectionately nicknamed Bunny) was the heiress to a mouthwash fortune. "It's hard being 100 and blind. [10][24] The painting measured 10 by 15 feet. We've received your submission. Her close friendship with Bunny would give her the privacy, affection, and depth of understanding to help bear the weight of that armor. One small but bracing example that Bunny related to me was about the renowned poet Robert Lowell, who ran into the two women one afternoon Bunny didnt say whereand asked, Could I have dinner with you girls? clearly imagining that of course they would want to do so, as almost anyone else might have. As it was being built, the two women considered its furnishings. 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", 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. Bunny went on to sketch her friend as one who had a mischievous side& twinkle in her eye . Her father, Gerald Lambert, built a company that made everything from Dentyne to Schick razors before it was sold to Pfizer for $110 billion in 2000. "'Just think!'" Situated on over 7 acres, it is also known as one of Cape Cods original homes. They reportedly had homes in Antigua, Paris, New York, Washington, Nantucket and Cape Cod, and a mile-long runway for their private jet. Hidden from view is a separate library for her collection of 10,000 volumes on horticulture, a pool house designed by I. M. Pei, and the home that Bunny built 60 years ago. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Travel + Leisure. B. [11] Her work was strongly influenced by French gardeners Andr Le Ntre and Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie. 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. During Camelot, Mellon was ever-present at the White House, quietly underwriting Jackie's extravagant entertaining. "He's done a very good job of maintaining the sense that 'Bunny, I want to be your friend; Bunny, feel sorry for me in this predicament, we'll get through this together,'" says Lloyd. [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. The gardens carefully designed by the late Mellon, include flower gardens, herb and vegetable gardens. Mac Griswold's new book I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise offers rare insight into one of history's most compelling pairings. After his funeral, for which Mellon arranged flowers, Lady Bird Johnson asked Mellon to resume her work on the White House grounds. She had endured worse, including the 2008 death of her daughter Eliza, who had been left quadriplegic when hit by a car years earlier. She liked what he said about the Two Americas,' Huffman said. Jackie, on the other hand, was an outright celebrity, and she quickly gained a new kind of celebrityor notorietywhen she married Aristotle Onassis. The voice on the phone was frail but clear, with a hint of Southern gentility. In her patrician voice she adds, "I'll have to put my trust in you and God. Jackie Kennedy excitedly attends the Princeton Librarys 1989 opening of. Between all buildings are eight separate fireplaces. Bunnys daughter eliza, bunny mellon, and jackie kennedy sit at breakfast at kings leap, antigua. I can't write, but I dictate, I talk to people. Every time he'd go on a debate against Hillary, he'd call and we'd talkI was so surprised when this thing came up." The Feminist Uses of Narrative Fiction: Jill Filipovics The H-Spot and the Search for Womens Happiness. Mellon's lawyer Alex Forger elaborates further on his client's attitude: "She was not enamored of his wife and didn't want his wife to know that he was getting money. The doyenne of high society is the widow of Paul Mellon, a billionaire art patron and racehorse breeder. Tales straight out of A Thousand and One Nights, some true, some apocryphal, gathered around the pair and their friendship. [7] Her parents divorced in 1933, and both subsequently remarried. She created another White House garden that was named in honor of Kennedy after her death. The two shared a childlike imagination and enthusiasm that, as Jackie herself said, seems to flicker out in so many adults. J. She described that trip to a friend, who told me: "Paul and Bunny slept apartShe was very funny about it. Stressing that her sympathies have always been with Edwards rather than his wife, who died last year from cancer, she confides, "You know that John had a hard time with Elizabeth." In particular, feds were interested in the $700,000 in funds Mellon allegedly made out to Edwards' campaign in the form of blank checks annotated "furniture," the Daily Beast said. She was also a great landscape and interior designer at the intersection of history and style. She was a poor Bouvier, by the standards of the society in which she moved. Instead, they were subtly made to complete a special sense of place. After nearly four months on the market for the listing price of $19.8 million the Osterville, Massachusetts, estate, whichincluded some of the last gardens designed by Mellon, found a buyer. Bunny Lloyd made a condolence call; Mellon wrote that she was "very kind and understanding over my distress." This story has been shared 107,512 times. ", 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." She has always cared greatly beyond herself., Her grandson, Lloyd, said, I think she was trying to help (Edwards) for the right reasons, believed in him, and I think frankly he just took advantage of a lot of opportunities that she gave him.. [2][3] Her paternal grandfather, chemist Jordan Lambert, was the inventor of Listerine, which was later marketed by her father. For a woman who spurns publicity, this has been a rough year. [19][20] Mellon completed her work on the garden in close collaboration with Irvin Williams who, among other responsibilities, she tasked with finding and introducing magnolia trees to the garden. The last standing true American aristocrat.. Jackie and Bunny sometimes looked for happiness together on real estate adventures, finding the escape they dreamed of. This could also lead her astray: late in life, hoping to try her hand at politics, she bet on the wrong horse with handsome John Edwards, only to find herself entangled in an unsavory state of affairs. She's going to do what she wants, and that's the way it's going to be.". . Shes not sitting around in velvet covered gold chairs. Young described how the campaign used the so-called Bunny Money to hide Hunter. Their particular combination of money (Bunnys) and fame (Jackies) made them formidable. in 2005. Bunnys eye for space and proportion and what could be made of them was matched by Jackies discernment about people and events and how best to employ and frame them. 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. You are a poet like Emily Dickinson in your gardens, in your houses, in the way you see nature and all of life. Through it all, she remains an enthusiastic defender of the former North Carolina senator. "That's why I want to do this story now," I reply. [18][10][19], In 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Mellon to redesign the White House Rose Garden. She didnt think it trivialized Averyand if it did, that didnt matter, as it was hers. Zenas Crocker of Robet Paul Properties held the listing. The home was later restored in the 1970s and modernized. [37], "Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, Banking Heiress And Jacqueline Kennedy Friend, Dies At 103", "Rachel Mellon, Heiress Known for Garden Designs, Is Dead at 103", "Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, arts patron and confidante of Jackie Kennedy, dies at 103", "Edwards Case Casts Spotlight on a Long Reclusive Donor", "The House in the Virginia Hunt Country That Is Home to the Paul Mellons", "The Private World of a Great Gardener: Rachel Lambert Mellon", "How Bunny Mellon Re-invented the White House Rose Garden", "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: A Reminiscence", "President Kennedy's Garden: Rachel Lambert Mellon's Redesign of the White House Rose Garden", "The Money Behind John Edwards: Heiress Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, Age 100", "Mellon Estate in Antigua Goes on the Market for $14.5 Million", "Bunny Mellon's $250 Million Rothkos Sold in Private Sale", "Property from the Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon: Masterworks", "Sotheby's to auction Paul and Bunny Mellon estate", "Liaison Says Heiress Rued Edwards Donations", "Donor's family testifies in Edwards probe", "John Edwards Meets Privately with Bunny Mellon, Potential Witness in Cover Up Case", "Arts patron, heiress Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon dead", "At Bunny Mellon's funeral, music from Bette Midler and a John Edwards appearance", Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Inc. website, Wine & Country Life Magazine, "Discover Bunny Mellon's Oak Spring Garden", Wine & Country Life Magazine, "The Allee, Greenhouse and Topiaries at Oak Spring Farm", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rachel_Lambert_Mellon&oldid=1122910202, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Horticulturalist, art collector, philanthropist. 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