Saturday, December 19, 2009

One Fabulous Sober House At Christmas

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Pete Hathaway has turned his Litchfield County home into a luxurious sober house
"Mr. Hathaway, born Phillips Hathaway, a scion of an old Maryland family, was also emblematic of a time and place in Manhattan’s cultural history, a gatekeeper, as William Norwich, a contributing editor at Vogue, described him, to New York’s halls of power. “ ‘Everything discreetly for sale’ was how Pete operated when he became a big star at Sotheby’s,” said Mr. Norwich, who covered society news for The Daily News in the 1980s"

" Mr. Hathaway’s department at Sotheby’s was responsible for four or five huge sales each year, bringing in at least $20 million annually, he said, from blockbusters like the Versacesale  in 2001 (which brought $10 million for the contents of the murdered designer’s South Beach mansion) to the Duke and Duchess of Wndsor sale in 1998 (which brought over $23 million for the contents of their Paris villa, which had been bought by Mohamed al-Fayed in 1986)."

" Welcome to Mr. Hathaway’s “boutique three-quarter house,” as one friend described the facility that Mr. Hathaway, once a fixture of Manhattan’s social scene, has made of his home here. It’s a six-bed, men-only, “step down” retreat — that is, a residential treatment environment for those who have already completed a 28-day rehab program but, vulnerable to relapse, are encouraged to follow some sort of “stepped down” care. "

" Called Enterprise New Life, “it’s for men like me who aren’t ready to go home yet,” Mr. Hathaway said. The Wednesday dinner, to which Mr. Hathaway invites neighbors in recovery and even some “normies,” is its semi-public face. "

" This is a third act for Mr. Hathaway, who was for two decades a director of European furniture at Sotheby’s. Six-foot-five, wickedly charming and patricianly handsome, he had been the consummate “extra man,” a skilled practitioner of “the night shift,” as he called his after-hours life on the benefit, dinner party and opera circuit, which he pursued full-throttle, as his employers encouraged him to do, for the connections he made there brought the auction house some of its best sales. "

I say,  there comes a time in a rocovery that one has to view alcohol as poison.
The skull and cross bones speak volumes.

His home is obviously decorated with bits and pieces from Sothoby's and Christies.
Just imagine, everything has it's own little story.

A Recovering  man.
With a beautiful and safe place to RECOVER.

This is a recent article out off the N.Y.T.
I just feel that this is just 
so much of the Christmas Spirit.
( that's probably why the N.Y.T. did this article...ya' think?)



This is a cozy pile of patterns.
I would be very comfortable sharing my thoughts and feelings here.
Would You?

The NYT article:click here

Do you think we have enough good places for recovering alcoholics to heal ?
Each one of us has been touched by alcoholism in some way. Whether we realize it or not.
Sometimes it is a co-worker.....
Maybe someone close to you is suffering, or just can't stop drinking when they promise they will.
Maybe you wonder if you are an alcoholic.


This Season Is The hardest Time Of Year For Alcoholics and Recovering Alcoholics.


What are your thoughts on this subject?


After reading this article, and giving it some thought......
I would love to put a huge house together for young woman. 
A beautiful, safe, and loving place for young woman to start over.
How cool would it be if?....... 
WE became the traveling DESIGN BLOGGERS 
taking big old houses, giving them a makeover, (we would need a Huge GRANT of course) and turned them over to the community or town to use for their recovering drug addicts and alcoholics?What a great way to change a life for the better!!!





Oh Look!!!
It is the DESIGN BLOGGERS and their ' Hugh GRANT ' after a ribbon cutting at one of their finished community homes. The Press loves them!!!  

It would be a great thing to do. 
Just one little town at time.
And helping to change one persons 'path' at a time.


Merry Christmas to all my friends XXXX'x

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
credits: listal.com,daily mail co. uk
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Ft.Lauderdale,Design Service, Window Treatments, TurnKey Interior Design Service,Paint selection, Floor-Plans,Online Interior Design,
Design Center of The Americas, D.C.O.T.A., Sober House
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