Touring Russel Wright's home

Saturday we also went to the Russel Wright Design Center in Garrison to tour the grounds and interior of Manitoga, the one-time home of renowned mid-century designer Russel Wright. Wright designed fabrics and furniture but he's best known for his line of ceramics, which is still in production today.

The tour guide* insisted that we weren't getting the full experience because the water level was so low and there was no waterfall due to the lack of rain. And because the hemlock trees are dying. But I thought the whole place was pretty amazing-looking. So imagine what it might look like when conditions are perfect.

Even though it looks very natural, everything has been carefully, painstakingly placed, from the trees to the rocks, to the moss. The moss, especially, is lovely, with areas completely covered in it (called "moss rooms," apparently).

The dying hemlock trees. (At least they make for really cool pictures.)

A couple of outdoor chairs for relaxing and taking in the views.

Here's the kitchen of the main house, of course outfitted with a variety of Russel Wright ceramics. I realized that we didn't really get any decent shots of the inside of the house, so I recommend taking a look at this flickr set to get a sense of how crazy it is in there. The floors are made of stone. There's a tree growing inside! And now I totally want to grow plants on the roof of my future house.

The real highlight of the tour for me, though, was the studio, where Wright actually spent most of his time. I loved just about everything about it, especially how the windows open out to ground level. The overall design is simple, clean, and beautiful. It felt very peaceful in there.

A gorgeous bedspread. I would love to wake up and look out those windows. The bookcase might be my favorite feature, though you'll have to check the flickr set for a photo.

I don't really need any new dishes but after looking at all those lovely ceramics I kind of want to buy a few. Maybe a pitcher or a lidded bowl of some kind. We'll see.

*I feel the need to mention that our tour guide was a tall, tan, bleach blonde woman wearing a rhinestone-bedecked Stooges baby doll shirt. She brought along her ten-year-old (estimating here) daughter, who wore a matching Stooges shirt and purple zebra print leggings. They were awesome.