That’s why, Mills says, “you don’t realize it when you're in the house, but it actually fans out: The kitchen and dining room pavilion are actually rotated 15 degrees to look up the river” while the primary bedroom on the far side of the house is rotated 15 degrees in the opposite direction.
The house was a showcase for Sharon’s books; her art (which included work by Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, Lynda Benglis, Kenneth Noland, and Dale Chihuly); her basset hounds Zsa Zsa, Baby Ruth, and Mimi; and art depicting those basset hounds, which she commissioned from Christine Merrill, a dog portraitist.
The Land
But the house is only one component of the property.
Sharon, Mills says, was an avid gardener. She also designed “different walks through the property, and she had a peony collection,” Mills says. “So all through the woods, she has different walks, with sculptures she’d collected—and flowers.”
Over the years, he continues, the property became increasingly self-sustaining, “just short of having livestock.” Sharon converted the house’s heating system from propane to geothermal energy, planted a vast vegetable gardens, and commissioned Tom Burford, an heirloom apple expert, to design an orchard.
“It’s a historic orchard, with primarily American heirloom varieties that go back to the pre-Revolutionary War period,” Mills says. “She’s got 30 varieties of apple trees. It’s a seed bank—or tree-bank—of historic American apples.”
Mills remembers his aunt’s varied interests, excellent cooking, love of art and objects, and dedicated philanthropic efforts. “She gave generously using her giving name “Anonymous,” he wrote in a follow-up email.
It was this house, Mills says, that “she viewed as the finest piece in her collection.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.