When I first approached Eric Himmel at Abrams about making a book detailing the compound at Dawnridge, I was delighted with his enthusiastic response to my suggestion. When Eric told me that he would be my editor for the project, I couldn’t have been happier. Working with Eric on this book was a dream for me—then, when he brought Sarah Massey on board to keep me in line, I realized that it was a dream come true. My thanks to Eric and Sarah and all the people at Abrams who made this dream a reality cannot be expressed in words. Eric’s selection of Emily Wardwell to design the book couldn’t have been better. Emily’s patience while working to make everyone happy is a testament to her artistic abilities and diplomatic skills, a combination of talents which have made her preeminent in her field.
I have to thank Tim Street-Porter, Tony Duquette’s favorite photographer, for coming back to Dawnridge yet again to update his previous images from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. As always, Tim was the easiest person to work with, although I’m not sure that he’d say the same about me.
Hamish Bowles, an old friend of mine and Tony Duquette’s, was kind enough to agree to set aside his work for Vogue just long enough to write the foreword for this book. A brilliant journalist and collector, Hamish has the greatest and most in-depth knowledge of the world of design, and the deepest appreciation of Tony Duquette, his work, and his peers, making him our first and most logical choice to write a piece for us.
Special thanks to my portraitist and friend, Juan Bastos, for creating the watercolor map of the property as well as the floor plan of the house. It is Juan who gave the property the nickname “Condelandia,” after King Juan Carlos of Spain bestowed my grandfather’s Spanish title, Conde y Condesa de Alastaya, on me and my wife, Ruth, in 2007.
I want to thank my clients and friends for helping to make this book happen. But for their constant interest, enthusiasm, and support for me and my work, there would be nothing left of Dawnridge today, as the land would probably have become the building site for three Beverly Hills–style, Tusciranian villas. You know who you are, and how much you’ve done for me and how much I really love you.
My daily thanks go to Tony and Beegle for entrusting me with the beautiful world they created at Dawnridge. Without the help of the Duquettes, and now my faithful housekeeper and major domo, Flory Vargas (who has worked at Dawnridge for more than thirty years), nothing that I have done could ever have happened. I cannot thank Flory and her husband, Jorge Vargas—who is my property manager and head gardener—enough for keeping Dawnridge alive, literally and figuratively, as they continue to pick up and put back all the pieces whenever disaster strikes. Thank you as well to Fred Iberri, who runs the office at Dawnridge and supervises the many photo, movie, and television shoots we have here, while juggling a million of my other projects like a circus performer, never letting any of them fall down.
Life at Dawnridge wouldn’t be half as glamorous or amusing without our dear family of friends, many of whom knew Tony and Beegle personally, including, Terry and Dennis Stanfill, Wendy Goodman, Manfred Kuhnert and Peter Iacono, Glenda Bailey and Steve Sumner, Tom Britt, Juan Prieto, Joe McCormack and Gary Hunter, Ken Downing, David Hoey, Shane Ruth, Joe and Terri Ebert Mendoza, Charles Tolbert, Holly Moore, Lyn Schroeder, Suzanne Rheinstein, Chad Holman and Keith Traxler, David Duncan and Michael McGraw, Mai N. Vejjajiva, Bill Booth, Eric and Waan Booth, Jennifer Smith Hale, Pamela Fiori, Val and Terry Magro, Patty Crews, Louis and Shane McCoy Fermilia, Peter and Kacey Doheny McCoy, David and Alexandra Calligeros, Charles Garnett, Col. Scott Ables, Todd Sessa, Skip Rumley, Parker Goss, Regan Iglesias, Laura Holland, Donald Bustran, Diane Vonderheide, Walter and Lee Doyle, Elizabeth Wahler, Michelle and Bernard Nussbaumer, Bryan Batt, Charlotte Jackson, Scarlett Abbott, Brett Leemkuil, Newell Turner, Clinton Smith, Carolyn Englefield, Carol Black, David Patrick Columbia, Anna Roth, Tony and Kristin Krantz, Judith Krantz, Liz Morton, Cat Pollon, Carol and Hugh Klotz, Jeff Caldwell, Debra Kanabis, Bryan Curran and Kevin MacLellan, Kathleen Smith, Nick and Amanda Stonnington, Grazia d’Annunzio, Mike and Sheila Wilkins, Joy Venturini Bianchi, Tristan Butterfield, Emmylou Harris, Beth de Woody and Firooz Zahedi, Nina O’Hern, Harvey and Gail Glasser, Stellene Volandis, James and Dede Caughman, Dara Caponigro, Steven Puschel, Andree Caldwell, Anna Griffin and Joe Speigleberg, Charles and Ann Johnson, David and Alexia Leuschen, Isabel Goldsmith, Kelly Williams and Andrew Forsyth, Richard and Marcia Mishaan, Mary Randolph Ballinger, Bob and Michelle Bradway, Frank and Carol Nickell, Lenny, Rachel and Julian Feder, Mary Anna Ajemian, Jerry and Linda Bruckheimer, Kelli and Jerry Ford, Reed Krakoff, Craig and Barbara Barrett, Doug and Caroline Brown, Pag Sampatisiri and the entire Bodiratnangkura family: Dang, Tat, Lek and Pat. I couldn’t have done any of this without your generous friendship and patronage.
To all of those who helped me on this book either directly or indirectly whom I have omitted inadvertently, I apologize profusely, and, along with Tony and Beegle, thank you for your friendship and support. And to my darling Ruth, Piper, and Kippy—thank you for putting up with me. You are all champions, and as I’ve told you often—without you I am nothing.
—HUTTON WILKINSON
Dawnridge, Beverly Hills, California, 2018