A few weeks ago, I visited the gorgeous home of Young Adult author Adele Griffin. A writer of more than a dozen books and a two-time National Book Award finalist, she was hosting a book party for another popular author, Blake Nelson, whose novel Dream School was published by Figment in early December.
I showed up early for Homebodies, thanks to our mutual friend, A. N. Devers, who runs Writers' Houses, the fantastic site about authors' homes. Allison, as she's known, nudged me once at a reading and whispered about her friend, "She has the most incredible home! You must go see her!" Ms. Devers knows her writers' houses, that's for sure.
Fast forward a few weeks, and I've arrived, and I'm ringing the wrong buzzer. For a few minutes. So many floors! I finally figured out to enter through the lower level, which isn't pictured. It occurred to me only later that I didn't stray far from this first-level living room: I took photos of one end, and then the other. And the little girl's room. (Apparently exploring any space too much bigger than my studio apartment is terribly overwhelming.) Sorry, but I skipped the bedrooms, the kitchen, the dining room, another floor...
While the place hands down is, as one of the guests at the party later put it, "the swankiest brownstone in Brooklyn," it's the coziest, too. Adele was so laid back, and wickedly funny, and hospitable, even as friends tore through her wardrobe for just the right outfit ("boots or shoes?") and hot curlers came out of hairs, while her first guest--ahem--poked around with a camera and rested her glass of red wine on a marble-top side table without a coaster under it. Mi casa, su casa!
As I was saying, my photos are mostly of this room--one side, then the other, so note the two posts today.
Below: can you spot my glass of red wine? Legs & legs (I love this chair!); an elegant dusty blue sofa I wanted to faint over, Victorian-style, maybe next time; the collage above the sofa is by Arturo Herrera; the ceiling; a peek at The Other Side of the Room...
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