Last fall One Kings Lane featured an in-depth tour of Bunny Williams’ Connecticut retreat, which was immortalized in her book An Affair With A House, published in 2005. I don’t know how I missed this! Bunny is a legend in the design world, and with good reason. For 22 years she worked at the legendary firm of Albert Hadley and Sister Parish, where she learned to create rich, inviting rooms that harmoniously integrate antiques and contemporary pieces. And her husband, John Rosselli, happens to be a highly successful antiques dealer.
Over the course of 30 years, Bunny and John have restored their 18th-century federal style house into a beautiful, comfortable country retreat. In addition, Bunny has created multiple gardens and used the windowed facade of a 19th-century house to transform the existing barn into a conservatory. Beautiful antiques give the home a sense of history and gravitas, and collections of favorite things – old and new – add depth and character. It was fun comparing One King Lane’s tour with Bunny’s book. A lot has changed over the last 12 years, reflecting Bunny’s ever-evolving affair with her house. Photography by Tony Vu and captions by Deb Schwartz for One Kings Lane.
A leopard-print runner makes a playful contrast to a set of 18th-century botanical prints hanging above the staircase.
Bunny stenciled the original pine floorboards in the entryway with a pattern resembling giant tortoiseshells.
The living room sparkles with gold accents plus art and objects that reflect the couple’s interest in animals and gardens.
Set atop an antique cabinet, a self-service bar featuring a 1950s apple-shape ice bucket (found by John in a junk shop) sets a relaxed tone for entertaining.
The wall color was inspired by the yellow-orange of a room in Belmond Villa San Michele, a former monastery in Fiesole, Italy. Bunny painted the walls herself, achieving the watercolor-over-plaster effect by thinning the paint with water.
The mahogany Victorian dining table (inherited from Bunny’s great-aunt) is used for everyday dining and entertaining; in a low-ceilinged room an antique tole lamp makes a great alternative to a chandelier.
A warm palette and a wide range of textures and materials—linen, velvet, satin, sea grass, rough cotton, polished wood—create depth and interest in the library.
Bunny is a big fan of urns, and she often fills this patinated brass-and-iron one with flowers. The table is from Bunny Williams Home; the green dishes are antique Wedgwood.
The kitchen features modern appliances alongside the house’s original 18th-century fireplace; the “tree trunk” pottery pieces atop the bookcase are antique.
How much china does Bunny Williams own? “I don’t want to tell you,” she says. She doesn’t collect full sets; when she and John entertain, the dinner plates might not match the dessert plates and may come from disparate eras, but they always share the same color scheme.
Bunny and John eat breakfast (including eggs from their own chickens) at this table in the kitchen while the dogs sit on the leather couch—known as “the dogs’ TV”—looking out at the world.
“It’s heaven” waking up in her pale turquoise bedroom, says Bunny. The bed, made of bone, was designed by John and built in his shop; the limestone-topped bedside table is from Bunny Williams Home. The linens are D. Porthault.
Bunny bought this painted English chest at an auction; the mirror is a carved French antique, and the “hydrangeas” and their pots are all made of tole.
The porch—which features screen windows in the summer and glass ones in the winter—runs the length of the house. Bunny used a natural-tone palette so that “when you are in this room you feel like you are already in the garden.”
A slightly worn table and set of chairs are perfectly at home on the porch. “I don’t want to go in a room where everything needs restoring,” says Bunny. “But there is something about patina that is relaxing.” The washable rugs are from her collection for Dash & Albert.
For the formal parterre gardens, visible from the conservatory where Bunny does much of her entertaining, part of the decision to create a box structure was the beautiful view it provided year-round, whether filled with annuals in the summer or covered with snow in the winter.
The very sociable Bunny and John host many dinner parties in the conservatory. The tabletop and the bases are made of stone; the ceramic gourds are by Christopher Spitzmiller.
Antique mirrors, graceful hurricane lamps, and marble-top tables add elegance to a room filled with plants.
The staggered heights of the pedestals add even more interest to this plant display.
“There is nothing better than to go outside on a beautiful day with your scissors or your clippers, the dog lying there on the grass—it’s fantastic.” ~ Bunny Williams
One Kings Lane also published a separate tour of Bunny’s gardens!
“This is the garden that John and I see from the porch,” says Bunny of the sunken garden, which is anchored with a koi pond. “I had a stone wall built to terrace the land. You have the sensation of moving from one space to another as you walk down the six big, wide steps that lead to the garden.”
Manicured rows of terracotta planters line the stone paths, while a pair of antique ornamental garden lions stand guard.
“I was inspired to make recent changes to this garden after visiting an English-style garden in Normandy created by the late, great landscape designer Russell Page,” says Bunny.
Bunny Williams and her husband John Rosselli
To read this feature in entirety, please visit One Kings Lane and click here for a full tour of her gardens. An Affair With A House is available via Amazon along with Bunny’s other books, Bunny Williams on Garden Style and A House by the Sea. Click here to tour Bunny and John’s Dominican Republic island retreat.
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I visited the gardens and conservatory last year. Pretty amazing, and very idyllic. Fanciest henhouse I have ever seen. One wonders how many staff it takes to keep it up, and it is kept very nicely.
From previous comment, I too, wonder about the staffing of this and other large country estates. I have Room with a view’ book. Love some of their painted pieces of furniture