Rooms with a View to be held this weekend

Thursday, 05 November 2009 16:21

Top interior designers’ talents will be on full display at Southport Congregational Church this weekend during the 15th annual Rooms with a View fund-raiser.

Visitors will see 12 miniature showrooms or “vignettes” of interior design created by a lineup of designers including Eddie Ross, the former senior style editor at Martha Stewart Living, who is now an acclaimed lifestyle expert appearing on Bravo’s Top Design; and Alexa Hampton, president and featured designer of Mark Hampton LLC, the world-famous design firm founded by her late father, Mark Hampton.

Other designers are Margaret Bondy, Jane Capellini, Shawn Callaghan Diaz, Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems, Chris Gulotta and George Sneed, Malcolm James Kutner, Susan Oster, Robert Rizzo, Parker Rogers and MiMi Swerdlow.

The event was planned under the guidance of Albert Hadley, one of the icons of design and honorary chairman of Rooms with a View.

The vignettes will be open to the public at the church, 524 Pequot Avenue, Southport, on Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

General admission to the show is $10. For more information visit southportucc.org, or Rooms with a View at (203) 255-4538 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Rooms with a View also includes the “Dancing Leaves & Shadows” hallway exhibit, a unique collaboration of the photographic works of Thomas Berntsen and Nancy Woodward.

On Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to noon, “Decorating for the Holidays with Style,” a holiday-themed seminar will feature floral inspirations by Marna Ringel of Flowers by Marna, and Swedish Country-inspired home décor by Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems of Eleish van Breems Antiques.

Eleish and van Breems will also sign copies of their newly-released book, “Swedish Country Interiors.” Copies will be on sale at the event, which costs an additional $10 to the admission price of the Rooms with a View event ($20 in all). Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door.

Rooms with a View also includes “the marketplace” with over 30 high-end vendors selling everything from jewelry and unique items of clothing to home accessories, antique prints and art.

Millie Rae, who recently opened a store on the Post Road in Westport, offers charming, yet inexpensive decorative items for the home.

Other boutiques include the Ostilly Collection, for the latest fashions in designer handbags and accessories; and Jo Malone, for fragrances for the bath, body and home.

The marketplace will also feature handmade and estate jewelry of R. Simantov. Partners in the collection, Vanessa Bruder and designer Reuben Simantov have a new store at 18 Greenwich Ave. in Greenwich.