by Nancy Armitage
We know that Mr. & Mrs. Henry E. Huntington (Arabella) were both romantics. I feel like they were romantic in many different ways in their lives. They both had a amazing ability to search & capture beauty & elegance in their homes & lives. They were rich enough to purchase anything that their heart desired. They surrounded themselves with beautiful things whether it was flowers, garden, fine books, French furniture or beautiful paintings.
I feel like there is romance in the books that they read, the flowers that enhance their gardens, & the Louis XVI (& Queen Marie Antoinette) style furniture they sat on. The master paintings that they chose for their walls of the Huntington Mansion on the San Marino Ranch. The elaborate French plates she served at her dining room table, the exotic fruit Mr. Huntington grew in the massive lath house on the Ranch. Everything they collected, had a romance to it, whether it be in the garden, the mansion, or the library.
But as I’m thinking about romance at the San Marino Ranch – inside the Huntington’s Mansion. For the Huntingtons….every day would have been felt like St. Valentine’s Day or Christmas!! The Huntington’s would have received amazing parcels everyday of the week!! It kind of makes me laugh, during Covid-19 lockdown, we had dog food, dog toys, & treats delivered to us. The Huntington’s had master paintings by Gainsborough & Reynolds, hand delivered to their mansions & homes. And the full staff to open them up and hung them on the wall.
I’m sure everyday, while the Huntington’s were “in-residence” at the Ranch there were many exciting deliveries! They would have opened packages at the library building of rare books and diaries, & important manuscripts. At the mansion, exciting antiques, Master oil paintings, French XVI chairs, & fancy French gold clock with sweet gold angels.
In the Huntington’s gardens, everyday Mr. Hertrich & Mr. H. E. “Edwards” Huntington would have received parcels. Or trunk loads of seeds, seedlings, plants, flowers, herbs, or 9 ft. tall trees. There would have been exotic plants like mango (from South America) or kiwi trees (from New Zealand) & yellow acacia trees (from Paris). They would have received new varieties of fruit trees & vegetables, special seeds from the head butler at the Chateau Beauregard in Paris. They would have opened bare-root multi-color roses in wintertime & fragrant herbs, & colorful spring flowers, & Dutch bulbs (from Holland).
Mr. Henry E. Huntington was known to take a daily walk around the San Marino Ranch grounds. Sometimes, Mr. & Mrs. H. E. Huntington (Arabella) would take a drive around their property to see what was new on the Ranch. They would have known about all the new & exciting parcels coming in. I’m sure that there were some parcels that Mr. & Mrs. Huntington would have wanted to open up themselves.
Romantic Writers (books & manuscripts HEH collected)
In Mr. H. E. Huntington book collections, we see that he collected the great romantic writers (British) of all time. He had Shakespeare books, poems from Percy Shelley notebooks, illuminated books of Wm. Blake, Robert Burns, Yeats, & James Joyce. He had manuscripts of Thoreau’s Walden (Famous Walden Pond), Walt Whitman, & Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Per the Head Butler, Mr. Alfonso Gomez, Mr. Huntington often would find a passage or great poem in a book & recite it out loud at dinner for his family & house guests.
A lovely romantic poem: “To a Skylark” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Yet if we could scorn, Hate, & pride & fear; If we were things born, not to shed a tear, I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.
Better then all measures, Of delightful sound, Better then all treasures, That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!
Teach me half the gladness, That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness, From my lips would flow, The world should listen then, as I am listening now.”
H. E. Huntington romancing & courting Southern Belle: Mrs. Arabella D. Huntington (1911-1912)
In my research, I found what I call the “courtship bills” of Mr. Henry E. “Edwards” Huntington. These were in his personal bill ledgers, dated 1911 & 1912. At this time period, Edwards & Belle weren’t married yet (not until 1913).
Mr. Henry “Edwards” Huntington gave Mrs. Arabella Huntington numerous romantic items that had a amorous vibe. In his ledgers, was listed Apricot Cordial, French Chocolate BonBons, expensive Jewelry from Cartier Jewelers / Tiffany & Co. , Gorham silver pieces, & lots of flower bouquets sent to her Huntington mansion on 57th St. in New York City.
Mrs. Huntington must have loved surprises because these treats were always labeled “G & D” meaning “gift-wrapped & delivered” to her residence in New York City. In January 4, 1912, he started strong by buying jewelry from Black, Starr & Frost – “D & G” for $220.00″; on the same day he bought her flowers from Chas. Thorley florist. On Jan. 13, 1912, he spends $1,790.00 for an expensive “something-something” at Arabella’s favorite store, Gorham Silver Co. in NYC. And a sweet gift of a lovely tasting Apricot Cordial. Document: HEH Coll. 13/8/1-13 (HEH Personal Ledgers 1910-1912); HEH Coll. MS 41-10 (10 Ledgers – Apricot Cordial) located at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA
Romancing with a Box of Chocolates & French BonBons (St. Valentine’s Day)
In March of 1919, I found a Huyler’s invoice bill of New York City (makers of Bonbons & Chocolates). It was dated: February 1919 & sold to H. E. Huntington at 2 E. 57th Street, NYC. So for St. Valentines Day Mr. Huntington came bearing gifts of delicious chocolates. The bill included 1/2 lb. cream peppermints, 1/2 lb. Glace nuts, 1/2 lb. chocolate, 1/2 lb. peppermint paste, 1/2 lb. cream peppermints, 1/2 lb. chocolate and 1/2 lb. Brazil Bonbons. Document: HEH Coll HEH 38/11 uncat (Huntington Library San Marino, CA)
Apricot Cordial (Recipe)
I thought Apricot Cordial sounded really delicious. I went to my gourmet store to find this Victorian liqueur “Apricot Cordial”. They didn’t carry it, so I made my own, & it tastes really nice.
1 qt. (750 mo) Potters triple distilled vodka (80 proof)
1 jar (10 oz.) apricot preserves
Spoon out the preserves into a 1 qt. measuring cup. Add vodka with a hand blender (Braun) mix thoroughly & puree preserves. Add more vodka. Blend. Let marinate for several weeks & strain through fine sieve or tea cloth. Pour into 5 (1 c.) jars. At afternoon tea, I will pour this apricot cordial in small cordial glasses & serve. It’s delicious! Recipe: Nancy Armitage
Mrs. Arabella Huntington’s pleasures:
What did Mrs. Huntington like in the culinary world? She liked French Champagne, Champagne Punch, & Creme de menthe liqueur. She liked Caviar Canapes and Roquefort cheese made into Roquefort Puffs. She liked French “Fancy cakes” or petit fours (square petit little iced cakes), tea parties,& mixed Bridge nuts, & Jordan Almonds. She like chocolates, French bonbons (truffles), chocolate cake, lemon cake, & also orange cake. At her teaparties, she enjoyed Lobster a la Newberg (Delmonicos), tea sandwiches (chicken, egg and roast beef), cream scones or Buttermilk biscuits & boxes of chocolate nuts & chews.
She loved all kinds of tableware especially dinner plates. She collected French plates (Havilland and Sevres), English plates (Wheidenware, Coalport, Copeland & Garrett Spode, and Wedgewood), & American plates. At the San Marino Ranch, she loved white & gold plates with pink roses on them. She had Dutch, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Japanese plateware (probably from her many travels). For her “Entertainments” she used exotic plates like: Dutch Delft blue and plates, Blue Transferware, Chinese rose medallion, Russian, Japanese red lacquer plates (perfect for St. Valentines Day) from all her travels.
Lobster a La Newberg (Delmonico’s) 1890’s
A fun Gilded Age dish to make for St. Valentines Day or for a fancy dinner or tea party. The lobster being so perfectly red & all.
12 lobsters (2 lb. each) cooked in salted water & cook for 20-25 mins. Then cut lobster into small pieces. For the sauce: add hot clarified butter, season with salt, add good heavy cream, 2-3 T. Madeira wine, 1 egg yolk or Wondra fine flour (to thicken), cayenne pepper, & butter to finish sauce. Place ingredients into a vegetable dish & pour the sauce over lobster. Adapted recipe from cookbook: The Epicurean (1893) by Delmonico’s Chef Charles Ranhofer
In December of 1924, Mr. Huntington gives Arabella a massive set of dishes over 100 pieces a full dinner set and full dessert set. . He purchases (shown above) this gold, white & blue porcelain plates & dishes & bowls from Duveen. Mr. Huntington knew this purchase would make her happy so he bought it for her. Document: HEH Coll. Anderson Gallery catalog 1926- Rare book #425016 at the Huntington Library.
Mrs. Huntington’s Jewelry
When Mr. H.E. “Edwards” Huntington gave Arabella Huntington a gift or a present they usually were big ticket items. For a wedding gift, he gave her two massive gemstone necklaces, one was made of rubies & the other was made of sapphires. A illustration of these stunning necklaces are in the Book : the Art of Wealth. Gemstones which she really loved & collected. She had jewelry boxes of all kinds of pearls & diamonds. When she died, her son Archer Huntington sold her amazing jewels to Harry Winston in New York City, NY.
Inside the Huntington's Story 