Country Living Holidays 2003
With All the Trimmings by Matthew Holm
Photography by John Blais
At Christmastime, a vintage textile collector's love of fabrics shines through.
"I've always been fascinated by fabrics," says homeowner Mary Jane McCarty. "I've always loved to sew." A decade ago, she and her husband, Stephen Lebowitz, and architect and artist, decided they wanted to lead a quieter life that would give them more time to spend with their daughter. They left their Manhattan apartment behind for the tranquil countryside of Bucks County, Pa. The 100-year-old clapboard house the young family discovered had been recently renovated by previous owners, and only needed to be decorated. In her years spent working as a costume designer in New York City, Mary Jane had amassed an impressive array of new, vintage, and antique fabrics and trim, and she used these velvets, toiles, buttons, and tassels to dress her new home. Read full article on Mary Jane McCarty HERE