VRA 2003 Tours: House and Gardens

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Bayou Bend is one of the country's leading museums of American decorative and fine arts. Founded by the renowned collector and philanthropist Miss Ima Hogg (1882-1975), the collection is displayed in her former residence, Bayou Bend. Twenty-eight room settings-elegant parlors, a fashionable dining room, a grand reception hall, and stylish bedrooms-chronicle the evolution of style in America from 1620 to 1870. The collection of Americana numbers more than 5,000 objects, including furniture, paintings, works on paper, silver, ceramics, glass, and textiles. The exceptional furniture of John Townsend and John Henry Belter, outstanding paintings by John Singleton Copley and Charles Willson Peale, and beautiful pieces of silver by Paul Revere and John Coney all illustrate the inspiring artistry of early America. Fourteen acres of formal and woodland gardens encircle Bayou Bend. Named for the bayou that winds around the property,the elegant pink stucco home was built in 1927-28 by the renowned Houston architect John F. Staub.Bayou Bend is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and certified as a Texas Historical Landmark.

Rienzi, the Southwest's most important collection of European decorative arts, opened in April 1999.Houston philanthropists and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston patrons Harris Masterson III and his wife,Carroll Sterling Masterson, gave their home, called Rienzi, to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston along with their exquisite collection of decorative arts. An accomplished collector, Mr. Masterson was especially drawn to British painting and decorative arts, which he began to acquire while in England during World War II. The ballroom, the grandest room of the house, is an elegant setting for mid-18th-century English furniture, small gold objects by American jeweler David Webb, and a dazzling collection of Worcester porcelain. The centerpiece of the picture hall is an early 19th-century white marble sculpture of the Roman goddess Venus, attributed to Giovanni Pisani and Brothers. Other highlights include Saint Joseph and the Christ Child (1638-40) by Guido Reni and a sumptuous portrait of Lady Blount (1760s) by George Romney. John F. Staub, the architect of Bayou Bend, designed Rienzi in 1952. A one-story villa, Rienzi features a symmetrical facade, balustrade, and a parapet and overlooks a dramatic pool and more than four acres of gardens designed by the noted Texas landscape architect Ralph Ellis Gunn.

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