I have cut the amount of newsletters I receive down to practically nothing, but there are a few that are a treat to receive. They include high style from Balustrade and Bitters, the always entertaining and infrequent letters from Blu Dot, and the interesting updates from The National Trust for Historic Preservation. Sadly, this month they reported the loss of most of the Bannerman Castle Ruins. The castle has a “scenic ruin” designation from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and now all but one wall and part of another are standing.

The silver lining of the story is that the talented photographer John Midgley shot a fantastic spread for Esquire with the castle, combined with a moody sky, providing a sublime and surreal backdrop. You can see the whole shoot here, and here’s a teaser in memory of the lost tower and walls:

SIDE NOTE: I just bought my first issue of Esquire this month, because Tina Fey was on the cover, and I loved it. Now it’s crossed my path again with this…I’m starting to think I should subscribe. I’m curious – ladies, do any of you subscribe to Esquire?

Another question: Besides Hearst Castle, where are other  castles in the U.S.? It seems so bizarre to me – all I can think of is Lex Luthor’s castle on Smallville. Yes, I’m a geek. I’m in my thirties and I watch Smallville religiously.

O.K. One last question: Do you have some favorite ruins in the U.S.? Our civilization is so young we aren’t packed with the poetic ones like they are in other countries. Ruins can be so beautiful; most of the ones I can think of are industrial ruins; old brick factories overtaken by plants, dilapidated barns, even Alcatraz has beauty. I always loved the Barboursville ruins outside of Charlottesville Virginia. At one point it was the most lavish mansion in the regioin, a Palladian design by Thomas Jefferson. Sadly, the house was destroyed, but the ruins are a landmark as-is (I love the verticality of the fireplaces and the front columns):

Castle photographs by John Midgley for Esquire

Barboursville header from The 1804 Inn at Barboursville.

Ahh, Spring. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and the weather is prefect for sitting out on your deck or patio. If you’re like me, still using those butterfly camp chairs to enjoy the outdoors, it might be time for an upgrade. Luckily our newest designer, Kartell, has you covered! Be the envy of all of your neighbors with the Kartell Dr. NA Table and matching Dr. NO Chairs. Available in a variety of mix-and-matchable colors and made to withstand the weather, they are a perfect fit for your modern outdoor space.

View the entire Kartell line on Design Public.

Do you Dribbble? No, I’m not talking about something from Dairy Queen, hoops, or an inability to contain saliva, I’m talking about a really fun image sharing website. Since I am usually not exactly anywhere near the cutting edge of new web sites, I’m sure many of you probably already have. But for those of you who haven’t:

Dribbble is show and tell for designers, developers and other creatives. Share sneak peeks of your work as “shots” – small screenshots of the designs and applications you’re working on.

Here’s a little sampling from the current front page. Go to Dribbble.com to peruse a zillion samples of other people’s work – you can comment, mark and/or follow your favorites, and post follow ups to shots you like. When you roll over the shots on the site, it tells you a little information about what the project is; click on the names and it links to everything the designer has uploaded to dribbble.

Thanks to Vanessa for posting this on Facebook!

Did anyone else open up the first few pages of In Style, see this, and think “Huh. Gwenyth looks kinda weird in this picture. And her style sure has changed since H&G featured her house in the Hamptons..”? I did. Just wondering:

It must be the blonde updo and the big smile. By the way, that’s Julie Bowen. Her sister, Molly Luetkemeyer, founder of M. Design Interiors decorated Julie’s Studio City house. It’s a fun mix. While we see a few icons from our design drinking games past (I spy a hand mold and a turquoise foo dog), I think her work has a fresh take. She is able to mix in a bunch of eras, styles, colors and textures without creating a sloppy mish-mosh; it becomes a style of its own, one that has to do a careful balancing act to work. It’s not quite Regency, it’s not quite crazy enough to go under that ubiquitous “eclectic” moniker – I’m dubbing it “Vicente Wolf on a very tightly controlled acid trip”. I also like it because I have that elephant on the coffee table in the living room. I got it at Neiman Marcus Last Call for like thirty bucks:

To see the rest of the house, and some other exuberant projects from M. Design Interiors, click here.

All imagess property of M. Design Interiors, except for the first one, which is from In Style.