A Private Connecticut Collection Designed by Colefax & Fowler in Mid-Week at Stair

I first met Jane and George Rapport when they were living in London and were frequent visitors to the Colefax & Fowler showrooms in Mayfair. They made a number of purchases from us in those years: the start of their collection.

I well remember my excitement when they showed me the plans of the house they were having built in Connecticut in preparation for their return to the U.S. and asked me if I would help them with the interior decoration. I of course jumped at the opportunity, and can truthfully say I have never had a more enjoyable project or more agreeable clients. I was ably assisted in this transatlantic venture by my then colleague Catherine Olasky who hails from Texas; Catherine was invaluable in translating American into English for me and the decoration of the house was very much a joint achievement.

George and Jane are Anglophiles (indeed Jane is half English) and the antique pieces we chose together for the house were mostly English, many from top London dealers, but picked with an eye to their charm and character rather than as collectors’ items. Our aim from the beginning was that the interiors should have a distinctly American atmosphere – reflecting the architecture of the house and its wonderful location overlooking the ocean – and avoiding any suggestion of a “period” house transplanted from the English countryside. In the choice of furniture, this meant eschewing formality and looking instead for unusual and interesting pieces, practical as well as good-looking, that together created an eclectic mix. I like to think that the end result reflected the care we took in choosing and placing the furniture.

Whenever we were in touch in later years Jane and George were kind enough to say how much they continued to enjoy living in the house that we had created together, but now the time has come for them to move on, with the mixture of emotions that inevitably arises in such a situation. I nevertheless hope, as they do, that the possessions they no longer have room for will find homes with new owners who will appreciate and cherish them as George and Jane have done.

– Roger Jones
Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler