Swinging from the Chandeliers at La Malcontenta

The Living Room Chandelier:

Living room with new Clare-Bell chandelier! Hallelujah!! The former owner of the house, Elsa Martinelli MacPherson, is on the left and talking to her friend Madeleine Duvall.

What a mess with the original chandelier. The sticky pad with it did not hold. This did not surprise me as I had not have success with these on chandeliers. What did surprise me was the extent of the problems with the chandelier when I investigated to find a way to glue it to the ceiling.

The first thing I discovered when I removed the sticky pad was that the electrical wiring was a “lump” that was higher than the edge of the canopy (disguised by the thickness of the pad)! So now I looked for something to glue to the edge of the canopy to make it higher than the “lump” for a flat surface against the ceiling.

As I was doing this, I discovered that depending on the view of the chandelier, the “arms” looked uneven – because they were! Well, nothing I could do could change this! As I was pondering, I decided to check that with all my machinations, the light still lit. Hallelujah, I could stop investigating—the light no longer lit! I considered this the best news in a bad situation. Surrender, and look for a different chandelier!

The disaster of a living room chandelier was replaced by one from Clare-Bell. I like their items and through the years I have been slowly acquiring their lights. They do not sell on their website but I have found a vendor New England Miniatures who can get them all.

Close-up of the Clare-Bell chandelier in the living room.

So  ....  the living room that I thought was finished is now really finished! The chandelier is hung and bradded into the electrical system and looks great, and I don’t want to hear about any other problems!

The Den Chandelier:

Finished den with the new Clare-bell chandelier. Cecelia Randolph is talking with her brother Tom.

The den has its official chandelier and a brass floor “bridge lamp”, both from Clare-Bell and two Miniature House (Aztec) antique bronze table lamps. One existing table lamp remains—a wonderful Art Deco lamp from Brooke Tucker—on the buffet on the right.

Clare-Bell chandelier and brass "bridge" lamp, and Aztec antique bronze table lamp.

Brooke Tucker table lamp. Buffet by Bespaq.

All the ancestor portraits are hung.

Ancester portraits, fireplace, etc..  David MacPherson, the former owner of La Malcontenta, is on the left, and his son Daniel the current owner is on the right. On the left also, is  Pollyanna Whitier a friend of the family.

For some reason, I had difficulty getting the den into “shape”. Finally, it is pulled together and I am exhausted!

The Attic Rooms:
I know that I have not talked too much about the attic rooms—a pied-a-terre for Arabella’s brother Tom, and the nursery for the MacPherson daughters Francesca and Annabelle, so here are some pictures:

Attic with pied-a-terre and nursery.



Tom's pied-a-terre.



Tom likes to travel and collect things.

The nursery playroom with Francesca, Annabelle, and nanny Mildred.

The nursery bedroom. Foggy, the family's Old English Sheepdog, wanted his picture taken too!

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Well, my friends, the interior of La Malcontenta, is finished, except for the little curios and what-nots that get added to all houses, real and otherwise, through the years.

I am working on a video for the interior of La Malcontenta. I thought I would have it finished by now, but I have finally been spending a lot of time in my garden! The weather has improved and the deluges are down to a minimum and now a big 4th of July week is coming up, so I guess it will have to wait a bit more.

The details of this dollhouse, as with all my houses, are spread over a couple of years and about a million posts. I decided, now that I am ‘into’ making videos, the best method for viewing the “completed” houses is through individual videos (or slide shows). There won’t be any voice-over, just some background music (I hope) and the highlights of the interior. Since the landscaping at La Malcontenta is not finished, that will be in a future separate video.

Also, if any of you are interested in the biographies (all the scoop) of the MacPherson family, it is in the post: La Malcontenta, the Spanish Eclectic-Art Deco Home of Arabella & Daniel MacPherson. Georgetown, DC

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Well, I guess it is time to get back to “poor Fred’s” workshop at Sunnybrook Farm! Or maybe I will just garden! Wasn’t there a song many years back about “See you in September”?