One of my favorite House and Garden covers, September 2007.
Very sad news about the closing down of House and Garden. Leader leaving. Newsstand sales stalled. Directors re-directing. She was fine. I always looked forward to her arrival. I remember my disbelief when Conde Nast stopped publishing HG several years ago – and my joy when they resumed. She had a place in the market and a place in my heart. Best wishes to Dominique Browning. I appreciated so much her editorials and her editorial style.
I really hope Lucky is next in line. Conde Nast has really gone downhill.
Anon – I have never been a Lucky fan, so am indifferent to its life or death. I will say, Architectural Digest is such a jumble now, it can’t seem to decide what it wants to be. I keep hoping someone will put it right and soon. Elle Decor will now reign as my favorite. Domino is a jazzy little sister, but we need that matriarch; time for her to go to rehab.
I was sorry to read this… I’ve always like them. They seemed to hit a middle ground, not too high brow, not too low.
Best wishes to Ms. Browning, also, but I thought that the magazine was mostly a travesty under her stewardship.
“The Well lived Life”?!- PLEASE! No one who “lives well” would ever speak like that. And very few that she featured truly “lived well”.
House and Garden’s finest hour was under the stewardship of Mr. Gropp in the ’80’s, when it was AMAZING!!!!
And some of the Anna Wintour issues from the late 80’s are fantastic. The Novogrod years weren’t stellar, although everyone seemed to like Ms. Novogrod.
Under Mr. Gropp, Mark Hampton produced the best decorating column that’s ever been written and Nancy Richardson wrote her learned and fascinating column “About Style” from the library of her 9,000 square foot Henri Samuel decorated apartment in one of the three most impotrant buildings in New York, which was on Fifth Avenue overlooking the Park.
No shelter magazine since (including A.D.)has truly instructed its readers in the same way.
No, I don’t have a connection to Mr. Gropp. In fact, I’ve never met him and don’t have the same regard for his work at House Beautiful.
But, I must recognize his astonishing tenure at House and Garden- it is unsurpassed and the issues from his tenure are treasures. 🙂
Maybe Mrs. Blandings has some?? 🙂
anon – Funny you should ask. My posts tomorrow (which I prepared before seeing this today) are from the January 86 issue of HG – edited by Mr. Gropp. The issue is a fine example of how good design endures – a subject on which I am a bit of kick. I will now make a point to go through these issues first. Heaven knows I could use a little education. At the very least, I needed some direction, as there are truly boxes and boxes to deal with. I always appreciate your perspective and hope you continue to endure my naive enthusiasm.
PS- I Just noticed “Fairfax” ‘s comment!
This so called “middle ground” is the death of good taste.
“High brow” is the whole point!
We must look at and understand “the best” in order to educate our eyes so that we can create something great of our own.
Anon – I can’t speak for Fairfax, but I wonder if she was referring to a “mix” rather than a middling. As with Day Van Truex, his things were clear and true, but not always high-end (though I know he liked that, too.) One of the things that can be tiring about some rooms is their purity “only period,” or that they completed the checklist. Please e:mail me; I promise to maintain your anonymity, but enjoy so much this kind of exchange.
I loved H&G, so it folding is sad news. There is A LOT of talk about this very topic over here today: http://habituallychic.blogspot.com/2007/11/say-it-isnt-so.html
Decorno – I have been following the comments there; interesting how strongly people feel about these magazines.
I do mean the mix of high and low. Not everyone can afford high end things. It’s good to be able to see them in context, but to see things like that everywhere and know that they are not attainable by the majority of the population can be off-putting and readership will diminish. I think that magazines like AD do cater to a more affluent crowd, but with my small salary, it was nice to see things that I had a chance of affording.
PS… it kills me that Anon always comes flying with pronouncements, but does so anonymously.
ugh. Just home from travels to this sad news. I am sad to see the end of a magazine that brightened my usually grim stack of bills and junk-mail. May she rest in peace…