PRESIDENTIAL BILLIARDS ROOM SERIES

His reputation was such that, when Stanley suggested 'The Dunraven' as a name for his new hotel, 180 people signed a buckskin petition requesting that he name it for himself instead. Dunraven's presence in Colorado was parodied in Charles King's novel Dunraven Ranch (1892) and James A.

Unpopular with the local ranchers and farmers, Dunraven left the area in 1884, relegating the ranch to the management of an overseer.

Between 18, Lord Dunraven claimed 15,000 acres (61 km 2) of the Estes Valley in an unsuccessful attempt to create a private hunting preserve, making him one of the largest foreign holders of American lands. The land was purchased in 1908 through the representatives of The 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, the Anglo-Irish peer who had originally acquired it by stretching the provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862 and pre-emption rights. In 1907, construction began on the Hotel Stanley, a 48-room grand hotel that catered to the class of moderately wealthy urbanites who composed the Stanleys' social circle back east as well as to consumptives seeking the healthful climate. However, not content with the rustic accommodations, lazy pastimes and relaxed social scene of their new summer home, Stanley resolved to turn Estes Park into a resort town. It has helped us to understand what each room was used for, and how they were decorated.”įeaturing new acquisitions, paintings and artifacts relating to the time, the boudoir of one of the most famous French women in history is back – and as gilded as ever.By 1907, Stanley had recovered completely. “This has been a huge research project, undertaken using building plans and archives from the time. “For a long time, the second floor of Marie Antoinette’s chambers was little known, and little documented,” says Delalex. (She and her husband would be executed in 1793.)Ĭonstantly tinkering, she kept up with every trend – likely setting many of them – including the penchant for all things ancient Egyptian that swept through France toward the end of the 18th century. She began an extensive redecoration project worthy of an episode of Queer Eye, which would continue until she left Versailles for Paris in 1789 at the start of the Revolution. Young Marie Antoinette was eager to put her own stamp on the rooms, not least due to an ardent dislike of her predecessor.

PRESIDENTIAL BILLIARDS ROOM SERIES

Among the newly accessible rooms are the Meridian Room (cabinet de la Méridienne), the Library and the Gold Room, as well as a series of richly decorated chambers on the upper floor. Now, following a painstaking seven-year restoration project, her private chambers at Versailles will reopen to the public on June 20. And although her infamous comment regarding bread-starved peasants (“let them eat cake”) is probably apocryphal, she wasn’t shy about enjoying life’s luxuries. Often painted wearing elaborate wigs and dresses of rich blue silk, Marie Antoinette, who lived at Versailles between 17, was known in her day as well as ours for a style that was the opposite of understated. Among its last residents was Austrian archduchess and French queen Marie Antoinette – wife of Louis XVI, the Sun King’s great-great-great-grandson – whose image has conquered the hearts, imaginations and cinema screens of generations. Welcoming almost 10 million visitors each year, Versailles today is one of the most visited monuments in the world. Discover the world’s most intriguing experiences with our weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.

Presidential billiards room