All Rights Reserved. "I may not be here a year from now," she tells me. With love and inexpressible gratitude for all the joy and help you have always given me. Both she and Jackie were crowded by more people than they had time for. "I wish I could have 10 minutes in a room with John Edwards to explain that he's doing nothing but tarnish her legacy and really taking advantage of her," says Thomas Lloyd, her grandson, who testified before the grand jury. Her close friendship with Bunny would give her the privacy, affection, and depth of understanding to help bear the weight of that armor. She was loyal beyond anything and we gave each other space. In March her longtime investment adviser Ken Starr received a seven-and-a-half-year jail sentence for running a Ponzi scheme and stealing $33 million from clients, including $5.75 million from Mellon and $3 million from her son Stacey Lloyd III. Jackies wardrobe of state clothing, as she called it, was like that of Queen Elizabeth II in its clear, solid colors and off-the-face hats but modernized with cleaner lines and greater ease of movement. Mellon was the second wife of philanthropist and horse breeder Paul Mellon. According to Bunny, Jackie said coolly, Absolutely not. Lowell then said, Well, what are you going to do? Jackie answered him by saying, Well, weve got it all planned, and that was that.. She designed the guest house specifically for my two older half-sisters.. . I want to come back. Another note from Jackie that Bunny inserted into one of her little blue daily datebooks went the other way, with Jackie comforting her friend about some problem and telling her, Dont worry, we will just beat the world back again., When in 1989 Jackie looked back at their years as friends, she wrote, Ever since Ive known you (33 years ago this spring) you have meant as much to me as any person in my life. Thanking Bunny for her love and care, her wise and strong support, and for all she had meant to the Kennedy children, Jackie closed with, I want you to be as happy as you make me.. Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellons mother gave her the pet name, Bunny, which stuck with her throughout her life, Huffman said. Both women shared a profound belief in the absolute ability of style to carry real meaning. 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. ", 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. Billy Baldwin, who saw Bunny at work at Oak Spring, wrote about her affectionately but clearly: You know that she loves every chair, you know that she feels tenderly about every single blossom, and you know that she rips out anything that she doesnt like, not with violence or cruelty but with the simple determination to eliminate it. Bunny tolerated his paramours, even inviting one mistress to join them at their Antigua estate. Mellon lived a closely guarded life dominated by the arts, fashion, horses, rare books and extraordinary gardens. 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." Lloyd, her grandson, says, "I don't think there's ever going to be a moment for her to sit back and reflect. John Edwards turned away from Bunny Mellon's memorial by her family | Daily Mail Online. A jury later acquitted him on a campaign finance charge and deadlocked on five other felony counts. ", 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. After his death in 1975, it was probably no accident that Jackie turned to Bunnys lawyer, Alexander Forger, to secure $200 million, far more than Onassis had Mac Griswold is the author of The Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island, Washington's Gardens at Mount Vernon, and The Golden Age of American Gardens. The two women took art lessons from Oliver Smith, the scenic designer for American Ballet Theatre who was most famous for his magical Broadway productions: West Side Story, Brigadoon, and in 1960, Camelot, the basis of Jackies enduring reimagining of her husbands brief presidency. 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. But so great a talent could not remain forever hidden and neither will yours. She liked what he said about the Two Americas,' Huffman said. During World War II, Lloyd and Mellon roomed together in London, where both worked for the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the CIA. "They were on the same wavelength," says one of Isabell's friends. On Halloween in 1961 the Wildenstein & Co. Manhattan gallery opened a charity exhibition of Schlumbergers jewels, which included some of Bunnys pieces. [4][14], On March 17, 2014, Mellon died at her Upperville, Virginia, home of natural causes. Shes a remarkable person, said her friend, interior designer Bryan Huffman of North Carolina. For Jackie, too, white was the most ceremonial color; her strapless inaugural ball gown was white, with a small white ribbon cockade at the waisthomage to the France she loved. Bunny Mellon, in her Oak Spring Garden Library. Zenas Crocker of Robet Paul Properties held the listing. She was a poor Bouvier, by the standards of the society in which she moved. Copyright 2009-2018, DNAinfo. Mrs. Mellon had exquisite taste, and what Jackie admired most of all was the way she taught other people.". Eliza spent the remaining eight years of her life under round-the-clock care at Oak Spring Farms, and died in 2008. Between all buildings are eight separate fireplaces. That funny, sharp-eyedand boldobservation was what won over the wary Bunny, and before long she agreed to help Jackie with her Georgetown house, with the White House Rose Garden, and with the restoration of the presidential mansion itself. [14] In December 2010, four of her relatives were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury.[33]. She is building what she calls a "memory house," a building that will feature artwork by her daughter, Eliza, who died in 2008, as well as photographs and objects from a lifetime of gracious living. They reportedly had homes in Antigua, Paris, New York, Washington, Nantucket and Cape Cod, and a mile-long runway for their private jet. Scarred by his parents' acrimonious divorce, Paul proved to be an emotionally remote husband with a wandering eye. Starr. [8] He served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Robert Isabell, the talented New York floral designer who worked on Caroline Kennedy's 1984 wedding, became an integral part of Mellon's life. She had been an admirer from afar, buying an ad in her local newspaper three years earlier trumpeting Edwards's candidacy. Every item on this page was chosen by a townandcountrymag editor. Pei, Audrey Hepburn, Richard Diebenkorn, Katharine Graham. [25] Proceeds from the sales benefited the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, a charitable entity established by Mellon in memory of her father. A key issue: did Edwards solicit the money to salvage his presidential campaign, or was this an attempt to prevent is cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, from learning of the romance? "I don't think she's been gullible." 1533before 1588) A Young Daughter of the Picts, ca. Prosecutors have charged that she gave $725,000 to former presidential candidate John Edwards in 2007 and 2008, which he used to conceal his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter and the existence of their child. Wendy Gimbel, a biographer, critic, and redoubtable interpreter of the meaning of fashion, remarked that the clothes in the 2002 Metropolitan Museums Costume Institute show, Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years, were dowdy. 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. Excerpt from I'LL BUILD A STAIRWAY TO PARADISE: A Life of Bunny Mellon by Mac Griswold, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. For a woman who spurns publicity, this has been a rough year. Situated on over 7 acres, it is also known as one of Cape Cods original homes. Settling in Virginia, they had a circle that included Paul Mellon, the wealthy son of Herbert Hoover's Treasury secretary. Yet when Sam Kasten of Nantucket Looms, a company that wove custom fabrics for her, wrote her that his visit to the Garden Library at Oak Spring was a life-changing event, she called him in tears. The guest house comes with two separate bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen and a laundry room. [4][29] Caroline Kennedy, daughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, sat beside Mrs. Mellon during the funeral. Jackie Kennedy and Bunny Mellon, whose friendship is explored in Mac Griswolds new book. She created another White House garden that was named in honor of Kennedy after her death. Raphael, Sandra, Heins, Greg, Tomasi, Lucia Tongiorgi, and Willis, Tony. All rights reserved. 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. Their particular combination of money (Bunnys) and fame (Jackies) made them formidable. [4][30]:158, At the request of campaign operative Andrew Young, the commitment morphed to include underwriting Edwards' personal expenses. Bunny made her debut in October 1929 and three years later married the socially connected Stacy Lloyd Jr. [7][36] Her funeral was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, which the Mellons had gifted to the community in 1960. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. . The voice on the phone was frail but clear, with a hint of Southern gentility. [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. "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. Mellons family and her longtime personal attorney said she died of natural causes at her beloved 4,000-acre Oak Spring Farms in Virginias horse country, where she entertained royalty, stars and politicians but from which she rarely ventured. Tiffany & Co.s Pierce McGuire recalled that Mrs. Mellon described how she and Schlumberger had collaborated on the design for his famous paillonn enamel bangle and that she had given Jackie the first one. [10][24] The painting measured 10 by 15 feet. Bunny told me that a Black voter just leaving the polls handed her his pen and said with a wink, Here, missus, use this. This was Bunnys adult baptism into the importance of her vote. Thanks for contacting us. Her death was confirmed by Alexander Forger, her personal attorney for the past 40 years, and her grandson Thomas Lloyd. She is without the trappings someone would associate with an heiress.. The estate includes a central chimney house with a passageway to where occupants could safely hide, which many assume was during King Phillips war, according to the listing. 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.. Beneath their perfect society manners and oddly similar whispering voices ran an electric current of power. In 1932, she married Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr., a businessman and horse breeder. Even as a child, Bunny had depicted her surroundings in sketches and paintings. In a 2010 interview, she spoke of having purchased a total of thirteen works by Rothko. I want to live again. Jackie wore hers so often that the press dubbed them Jackie bracelets. But was a paint box filled with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds instead of pigments another Bunny gift? 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. A well-groomed young woman is trailing her, but Mellon seems miraculously able for a 99-year-old. The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. "[14] Although this remark was made in reference to garden design, it has frequently been taken to encapsulate her attitude toward personal privacy and lifestyle choices. She was 103. I can't write, but I dictate, I talk to people. Additionally, she added a guest house (referred to as the childrens barn), herb garden, vegetable garden and main formal garden. (French, ca. .css-1du65oy{color:#323232;display:block;font-family:NewParis,Georgia,Times,serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;-webkit-font-smoothing:auto;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-1du65oy:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1du65oy{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1du65oy{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1du65oy{font-size:1.3125rem;line-height:1.2;}}Jackie Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth's Relationship, Julianne Moore's Kennedy-Inspired Met Gala Gown, See a Vintage Photo of Jackie and the Queen, Lee Radziwill's Doomed Dreams of Movie Stardom, JFK & Jackie Kennedy's Wedding Day, in Photos, Meet Jackie Kennedy's Unexpected Honeymoon Guest, Inside The Home Where Jackie O First Rode Horses, Jackie Kennedy's Role in Barbra Streisand's Memoir, Jackie Kennedy's Visit to the Nixon White House. She laughs, saying, "Oh, you're bad. Im not sadnot really . "That's why I want to do this story now," I reply. 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. [10] In 2004, she expressed interest in presidential candidate John Edwards because he reminded her of President Kennedy, but when she called his campaign office with an offer to help, her name was not recognized and the call went unreturned. Her art collection included a Rothko reportedly worth $125 million. "I had a serious operation a little while ago, and ever since then I've been very, very weak," Mellon says. The True Story of Jackie & Bunny's Friendship, Randall Hagadorn / Courtesy of Gerard B. Lambert III, Mark Shaw Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images, Jackie Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth's Relationship, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Be kind. 11:00 PM WARRENTON, Va. Rachel "Bunny" Mellon left a small island to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, a library to an unspecified charity, jewelry to a She quickly divorced her husband, and in May 1948 she and Mellon wed. Jane Stanton Hitchcock says, "Jackie told me that she thought Bunny was a visual genius." She was not looking for an ambassadorial appointment, Huffman said. She goes over daily to inquire about construction, a woman caught between present and past. My grandmother began a multi-year renovation of the main house beginning in 1978, Lloyd told House Beautiful. Ill Build a Stairway to Paradise spans the full 103 years of Bunny Mellons life. Mellon was a legend in design and gardening circles who had a low-key style that was eloquent but unpretentious, Huffman said. 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