"My Darling Mother" Jimmy Van Alen once said of his mother "Was The Last of Those Running A Taut Ship". He was right. Mrs. Bruguiere had originally been married to James Laurens Van Alen of Newport and she had lived with him and their family at his family's Newport estate, Wakehurst. Daisy, as Mrs. Bruguiere was known, had once said that "Wakehurst is the last properly run estate left in Newport". She was considered queen of the Old Guard and was, for 6 decades, Matriarch of the Van Alen Family. Once when a friend called to ask whether or not Daisy had received a art book she sent. Daisy promptly replied "I did and I promptly threw it in the wastebasket, you know I don't like those kind of books". I am currently seeking out information regarding Mrs. Bruguiere and the Van Alens with the plan of eventually writing a book about them. The photo above is of her in the sitting room of Wakehurst.
She sounds like she wasnt a very pleasant person if the art book story reveals anything.
ReplyDelete