I got a kick out of seeing "Templeton" on "Selling New York" tonight. The Kleiers were showing it to their client, Prince Lorenzo Borghese...with realtor Sean Elliot. I met the late Mrs. Guest and her daughter Cornelia, during the heady 1980's, when I worked as a design assistant to the society decorator, the late George Clarkson. I remember seeing stationery of hers in the office, with about nine different telephone numbers for the tennis house, pool house, main house, stables, etc. I got to know them better when we summered in Southampton at the rented guest house of Mrs. Rodgers Denckla, on Great Plains Road. I can't think of a nicer person than Cornelia Guest, and I think she spends a lot of time in California. Here are some real estate shots from her family home, called Templeton, which sits on 15 and a half acres only 25 minutes from Manhattan. The price has been reduced several times...hopefully some buyer will appreciate it's Anglo American charm and preserve it rather than demolish it! C.Z. Guest used several decorators, including the famed Monsieur Stephane Boudin of JANSEN, my favorite extinct design firm, behind Parish-Hadley. Enjoy these glimpses into a world of high wasp high society not often seen... DF *****
