The Schuyler Mansion
One of my favorite things when writing a novel is creating an evocative setting. My next historical, The Lacemaker, is a tale about a home as much as it is about people. While there are many beautiful places in the colonial period, one is a shining example of all that is unusually beautiful and artistic, even breathtaking, to me. ‘Tis the Schuyler Mansion in New York along the Hudson River, originally called The Pastures. Once you go in you don’t want to come out! At least that’s how I felt!
No, I haven’t seen Hamilton, the musical, but I love the house associated with him. Maybe it’s the ‘Fall of Rome’ wallpaper or the airy rooms or timeless elegance or color scheme, but it became the template for my hero’s home along the James River in Virginia. My heroine finds herself there quite out of the blue and I wanted to create such an inviting haven that she would feel like I did when I stepped inside and never want to leave! I don’t want to give too much away before you open the first page of Lady Elisabeth’s story. I’ll leave the name of my hero unsaid as well as his James River estate. But here’s hoping once you’ve entered those fictitious mansion doors you don’t want to leave either!
