Washington Winter Show 2023

45 Oak Spring Garden Library, Old Wing, looking north, 1997. Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Upperville, Virginia. Fred Conrad, photographer. crafted internal spaces. The same principle, combined with knowledge gleaned from the books in her library and developed through hours of practice, led her to the creation of standards from myrtle, rosemary, and box. These refined topiaries, are Bunny Mellon’s signature achievement in bridging horticulture and design. Brought in from the glasshouse or garden, standards soon became an icon of interior design that is forever associated with Bunny Mellon. Through them, Bunny Mellon popularized a versatile design element suitable for almost any space. In turn, through their requirement for gentle attentive pruning, the standards gave Bunny Mellon opportunities for meditative calm. In the home that she created for her husband and their blended family, Bunny Mellon also sought calm. With the celebrated architect H. Page Cross she designed a home with no grand spaces, no imposing entrance, and no overly generous multiplicity of rooms. Nowhere is there a sense that the building was designed to impress. Instead, the entrance is understated, and the interior while practical also exudes comfortable elegance. There is also great attention to privacy. Located on the site of a nineteenth century farm cabin, close to a natural spring,