Mediterranean-style mansion on Caramoor's  Katonah, NY estate
offers afternoon formal tea on Thursdays & Fridays

Special exhibition and House Museum tours continue throughout summer 2005

Katonah, NY - What could be a more relaxing and invigorating start to a summer weekend than a scrumptious formal tea in an elegant setting on a magnificent estate?  Every Thursday and Friday during the summer months, and continuing through October, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts offers tea served in the grand style from 1:45 to 4:00 pm the House Museum's Summer Dining Room, overlooking the romantic Spanish Courtyard of this exquisite Mediterranean-style villa at the center of Caramoor's bucolic ninety acres of woods and gardens.  The formal tea consists of an assortment of tea sandwiches, English scones with clotted cream and preserves, delicious desserts and a variety of teas.

Afternoon teas are preceded by a guided tour of the House Museum, including the current special exhibition If These Walls Could Talk: 17th, 18th and 19th Century Wall Decorations at Caramoor.

Tickets for these delightful afternoons at Caramoor's House Museum are $29 and reservations are required.

Ongoing events at the House Museum

If These Walls Could Talk

Continuing through Saturday, December 17, 2005, the special exhibition If These Walls Could Talk: 17th, 18th and 19th Century Wall Decorations at Caramoor focuses on extraordinary wall coverings in the House Museum's collection.

Some of the highlights of If These Walls Could Talk include the Monkey Bedroom, which is covered by 18th century silk whimsically painted with monkeys; the Burgundian Library with its 17th century panels painted on wood from a French chateau and illustrated with stories from the Old Testament; the Reception Room, the walls of which are covered by elegant wallpaper painted in 18th century China; and in the  formal Dining Room, the stunning blue ground wallpaper from a villa near Turin, Italy, also 18th century Chinese, and made for the export market.

Guided Tours of the House Museum

Twenty rooms of the mansion are open to the public.  Well-trained docents offer guided tours through these stunning rooms describing the background of the treasures they contain and the unique history of the Rosen family.  The tours, which continue through October and include the special exhibition If These Walls Could Talk, are given on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 pm with the last tour at 3:00 pm.  Saturday tours during the summer Caramoor International Music Festival are 1:00 to 5:00 pm with the last tour at 4:00 pm, continuing through Saturday, August 13.

Admission to the House Museum is $9, free for children 16 and under.

Performer's Showcase

On Wednesday's at 11:00 am the House Museum's Music Room, a 200-seat recital hall, hosts Performer's Showcase, a series of brief 45-minute recitals featuring gifted young musicians.  Each recital is followed by a guided tour of the House Museum and audiences are encourage to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy in the beautiful gardens for which Caramoor is famous.

Remaining Performer's Showcase concerts this summer are:

July 20 - Sarah Carter, cello, with Ashley Wass, piano
July 27 - Jesse Mills, violin
August 3 - Ilya Poletaev, piano
August 10 - Teng Li, viola, with Ilya Poletaev, piano

Tickets for all concerts are $16.  The August concerts also offer a Mediterranean Celebration with a catered lunch following the recital and House tour and are priced at $43.  Performer's Showcase concerts continue through October.  Contact the Caramoor Box Office for information on future concerts.
 
Caramoor's House Museum

Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built the great house and filled it with their treasures.  Walter Rosen was the master planner for the Caramoor estate, bringing to reality his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world.   Their musical evenings were the seeds of the International Music Festival of today.   Realizing the pleasure their friends took in the beauty of Caramoor - the house with its art collection; the gardens; and the musical programs on summer evenings - the Rosens established a Foundation to open Caramoor to the public in perpetuity.    

The House Museum is filled with the Rosen's vast collection of European and Asian art and artifacts that span the centuries, including paintings, sculpture, furniture, textiles, stained glass, tapestries and a major jade collection.  This remarkable museum is one of only five famous mansions in the United States that incorporates entire rooms from European villas and palaces.

Tickets and Information

For more information and tickets to all events at Caramoor call the Box Office at
914-232-1252 or online at www.caramoor.org.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, New York.