The weekend my husband, Bobby, and I went away for our anniversary, we saw things that we hadn’t seen before. However, we did go back and see The Big House at Malabar Farm. We had gone to visit Malabar Farm in February with our dog, Owney, but of course we couldn’t tour the house. (You can read about Owney’s impression of the property and his frustration about being unable to go inside building in his post about Malabar Farm here.)
Bobby and I had actually seen the “Big House” back in 2013. We had gone there for a Valentine’s Day event. It was a fund raiser for the farm. They hosted a dinner in the house and then had a Frank Sinatra impersonator for the entertainment. We went to the event with my parents, Bud and Dolores. (My dad is a big Sinatra fan.)
The difference this time with our visit, was we actually were able to tour the house. At the valentine’s event there were tables throughout the building so moving around the rooms was not easy. This time, we could look at many of the rooms in the main level and in each room there was a volunteer explaining some things about the house and Louis Bromfield. This allowed us to learn more about the house itself and the author in an engaging way.
For example, because Louis Bromfield lived 20 years in France, he definitely decorated his house with many French items. Because he was an insomniac, he had a bed made for his study. He also had a desk built for his study. It is this huge U-shaped desk.
However, after it was built, he decided it wasn’t conducive for writing, so he ended up putting his typewriter on a card table by a window in the study.
Because he loved his dogs, which were boxers, he gave them the run of the property including the house. They had a dog door in the wall of the study. I guess Mrs. Bromfield had them close it up, when other critters learned how to get inside using the dog door.
Mr. Bromfield was very popular with the Hollywood set. It is well known that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married at Malabar Farm. But he also had visitors from California come to the country to get away. Apparently he made his guests pull their weight while staying. Each morning he would have chore lists for them to do. But he rewarded them with a good time at the end of the day. As one of the volunteers stated, “it was quite the party house in the evenings.”
It was interesting to see the house furnishings and decorations knowing that it looked the same as it did when the house was actually being lived in. I bet Mr. Bromfield was quite the character. He even let a whiskey company do a campaign using his dogs as the models. He said it was their favorite kind. He didn’t actually let them drink the whiskey, it was just a joke, but that gives you a sense of the man’s humor. (They had wanted him to pose for the campaign, but since it wasn’t his brand, he declined.)
I am not sure when we’ll be back to Malabar Farm — either to the big house or the grounds. But I did hear that the hold old fashion barn dances there once a while. So, I’m sure it won’t be too long.
