"Middleburg Mystique" reveals the charm of this village of 650 residents and the surrounding swath of horse farms just 50 miles west of Washington, D.C. Through the years, there have been scandalous stories of divorce - when actor Robert Duvall’s wife ran off with the poolman - and murders among the rich such as when arms heiress Susan Cummings shot her Argentinean polo-playing lover. It is a community that will gladly gossip about your misdeeds then turn around and protect you as if you were family. It is also a town that has captivated many well-known personalities from the Kennedys, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Wagner, and Oliver North - all of whom have called Middleburg home. A peek behind the grand stone entrances of massive estates with names such as "The Meadows" or "Heathfield" that belong to families such as the Firestones, Mellons, and Marriotts and along dirt roads named "Frogtown" and "Sally Mill", where you will find that, yes, there must be something in that well water.
For my new book, 'Equestrian Style: Home Design, Couture, and Collections from the Eclectic to the Elegant' I spent three years developing the idea and one year visiting horse lovers around the United States. From Saratoga Springs, to Ocala, on to Lexington, and beyond, my premise is that Equestrian Style begins with a basic love of horses, and evolves into a lifestyle enveloped in all things equine.
It goes way beyond hanging a hunting print on the dining room wall to actually leaping over stone walls on your favorite hunter. It's not a Hermes scarf, it's a Hermes saddle. Equestrian Style is about the distinctive lifestyle of those who not only love but also practically live with horses.
Such is the case with horseman Snowden Clarke who spent many years riding and training horses in the Piedmont area of Virginia before he pulled up stakes several years ago and headed west. His California living space is part of rustic barn in a very swish area called Pacific Palisades. We actually brought a pony into his room for the photograph.
While in Los Angeles, I met up with Virginia Fout an event planner extraordinaire and her husband Mike Whetstone, a set designer. Their Spanish Tudor home not far from what is known as the Miracle Mile contains many hints of all things horse with a splash of Hollywood thrown in for good measure. (Virginia's brother, race horse trainer Doug Fout and his wife Beth's new kitchen and mud room in The Plains are also featured in the book.)
But back to one of my all time favorite cities'LA, where I met up with Mayan Lopez. This horse crazy little girl has a playroom filled with horse toys, horse books and blue ribbons fit for a Hollywood star. Mayan is the daughter comedian George Lopez and his vivacious wife Ann Lopez. Visiting their home and meeting some of their friends was a highlight. Before departing the left coast, I went to re-visit the Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax, Will Rogers State Park off Sunset Boulevard, and the Santa Monica Pier. (Close your eyes feel the soft breeze and step back an era.)
Back in Virginia, I returned to the sweeping vistas of rolling green pastures and handsome old weathered wooden barns at the Maloney family's Dogpatch Farm near Warrenton. Curious young Thoroughbred horses stick their necks out to explore the passing morning bustle as Sharon Maloney and her brother Kevin Maloney go about their chores. A painting done fifty years ago by the late artist Jean Bowman of a champion show horses Prompt Payment and Substitution owned the late Betty Maloney captures them in the very same pose and now hangs over the mantle. An elegant old silver trophy won by the family is casually propped up in the kitchen.
While I was working on the book, one woman repeatedly urged and nagged me to visit So-and-so's farm. 'They have lots of old horse painting and trophies,' she informed.
'But they bought them,' I said simply.
Equestrian Style does not have a price tag.
