Town & Country Jun/Jul 2018

1978 DESERT OASIS Forty years ago, Walter and Lee Annenberg gave T&C an exclusive look inside Sunnylands, their 200-acre estate in Rancho Mirage, CA. The couple entertained so many dignitaries there—presidents from Eisenhower to Bush 41, Queen Elizabeth, Margaret Thatcher—that it was known as the “Camp David of the West.” Today it’s still the site of peace-promoting retreats for world leaders. Walter, a media mogul, art collector, and ambassador, was also a renowned philanthropist, giving away $2 billion in his lifetime. His daughter Wallis, one of T&C’s top 50 philanthropists of 2018, now leads the family foundation, one of the largest in L.A.…

Individual GIVING Andrew Carnegie wanted a plain house, “the most modest,” in fact, in New York City. Instead he got 64 rooms on the corner of 91st and Fifth, with the largest private lawn in Manhattan. For our April 1907 cover we photographed him standing proudly in front of it. He wore a bowler, a double-breasted overcoat, and a bow tie. The occasion was the International Arbitration Peace Conference, over which he presided and where, in a keynote address, he argued against violence between nations. “It was said long ago on excellent authority that no man liveth unto himself,” Carnegie told the assembled. “We have begun to perceive that no nation liveth unto itself, and that certainly no nation goeth to war unto itself.” With that image, formal and grand—and…

CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS “Investing in training is a way to make the world the place we want to live in,” says the supermodel turned founder and CEO of Every Mother Counts. She spoke with model Karlie Kloss for “THE T&C 50 PHILANTHROPISTS OF THE YEAR” (page 134) about Kode with Klossy, a nonprofit Kloss started that teaches girls how to write computer code. MAX VADUKUL Even though the subjects of this issue’s three cover shoots—Karlie Kloss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a group of student gun-reform activists—vary in age and background, the photographer was struck by their similar energy. “They have a real meaning to their lives,” Vadukul says. “And they seem to carry so much in their hearts.” OPRAH WINFREY Long devoted to education and arts causes, Winfrey shows a keen…

Lauren Santo Domingo was standing in front of a series of priceless Italian Renaissance paintings in Venice last summer when she had an epiphany. The 18th-century floor under her feet needed to be made into place mats. She was in the hall in the Gallerie dell’Accademia dedicated to the display of the Legend of Saint Ursula, nine large canvases portraying the story of a martyred maiden, and she was captivated by the patterns beneath her. Wouldn’t they be great for table dressing? “They were so beautiful that I immediately sent them to Los Encajeros”—the Bilbao lacemakers favored by royals and socialites—“and said, ‘Hey, could you possibly make these?’ One oval, two round patterns.” Los Encajeros were all too happy to oblige, as most people are when they get a call…

ARTS & CULTURE July 1 Louis Vuitton The brand’s renovated Costa Mesa, CA, store will stock LV’s hard-to-find limited edition home line. July 11 King Lear Ian McKellen portrays the tragic monarch in London. July 13 Madame d’Ora The photographer, who shot legends like Chanel, Picasso, and Josephine Baker, is honored at Vienna’s Leopold Museum. May 12 Patrick Melrose Edward St. Aubyn’s novels come to Showtime. Benedict Cumber-batch plays the title character. June 11 Ed Ruscha The contemporary artist’s depiction of modern civilization, on view at London’s National Gallery. June 8 Ocean’s 8 An all-female heist film, starring Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett. June 29–July 8 Le Conversazioni Vendela Vida and David Mamet will be at the literary festival in Capri. Through July 29 Mona Bismarck The socialite and style…

Sarah Santos and Blake Gower were planning their February wedding in Puerto Rico when Hurricane Maria hit. “I was so worried about everyone, I didn’t want to think about the wedding,” says Sarah, the senior public relations manager at Versace U.S. in New York, who grew up on the island. “It felt way too selfish.” The couple weighed changing venues but ultimately decided to keep their plans. For one thing, Sarah had always wanted to get married on her family’s farm in Vega Baja, 30 miles west of San Juan. Her late grandfather Carmelo Figueroa bought the property in the ’70s and built a Spanish-style hacienda to raise Paso Fino horses, one of which was given to King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain when they visited the estate…