for those of you who follow the blog on a regular basis you know i’ve been having an affair with bunny williams and john rosselli’s home in Connecticut. the home is so expansive that three posts (see previous posts here and here) were needed to truly highlight all the beauty, the detail, the love and the enduring process of turning a house into a home, hence, i guess this is the conclusion to this story.

we conclude with a tour of the conservatory, the parterre garden and the guest house.

the conservatory is bunny’s favorite space on her property. the mostly 32 foot long glass structure was conceived around three large arched windows from a hudson river house dating back to the 1840′s. it’s a pocket of summer in the winter when it’s filled with camelia, fig, magnolia, and lemon trees. in the summer it’s used for dining and entertaining- doors and skylights opened, candles are lit, there are no electric lighting in this room- magical! i can see why it’s her favorite space!

bunny is a self taught gardner. the parterre garden, which started out as a vegetable garden, is modeled after a french garden vs. an american one. everything is planted in ornamental patterns, squares and circles vs. in straight rows. i just found out that bunny and john have opened up their gardens for the last 12 years during the month of may for the trade secrets garden tour, a benefit for women’s support services, a domestic violence program, that bunny founded. i guess i know where i’ll be next may!

last on the tour is manor house- the guest house! a little house with greek revival architecture across the street that became apart of bunny and john’s property over time. filled with family heirlooms, the house is used to handle weekend overflow and furniture overflow. bunny is quite the hostess, her latest book bunny williams scrapbook for living lets us in on all her secrets. can you imagine being their guest? even better, in may during the garden tours?

speaking of tours, this one is about to end- or maybe not? like any great love affair, its never really ends! thank you bunny, thank you john, thank you for the beauty, the care, the love, and most important, the lessons of turning a house into a home!

all photographs from the bunny williams book an affair with a house.