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Rachel Lambert Mellon

January 11, 2023

Rachel Lambert Mellon (August 9, 1910 – March 17, 2014), often known as Bunny Mellon, was an American horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist, and art collector. She designed and planted a number of significant gardens, including the White House Rose Garden, and assembled one of the largest collections of rare horticultural books. Mellon was the second wife of philanthropist and horse breeder Paul Mellon.

Rachel Lambert Mellon
Born
Rachel Lowe Lambert

(1910-08-09)August 9, 1910
New York, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 17, 2014(2014-03-17) (aged 103)[1]
Upperville, Virginia, U.S.
EducationFoxcroft School
Occupation(s)Horticulturalist, art collector, philanthropist
Known forRedesigned White House Rose Garden
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1932; div. 1946)​

​
​
(m. 1948; died 1999)​
Children2

Background

Rachel Lowe Lambert, nicknamed Bunny by her mother, was the eldest child of Gerard Barnes Lambert, president of the Gillette Safety Razor Company and a founder of Warner–Lambert, and his wife, Rachel Parkhill Lowe.[2][3] Her paternal grandfather, chemist Jordan Lambert, was the inventor of Listerine, which was later marketed by her father.[4] She had a brother and a sister: Gerard Barnes Lambert, Jr. (1912–1947; married Elsa Cover), who died in a 1947 plane crash,[5][6] and Lily McCarthy (1914–2006; married twice, to William Wilson Fleming and John Gilman McCarthy, respectively).

Lambert attended Miss Fine's School (Princeton, New Jersey) and the Foxcroft School (Middleburg, Virginia).[7] Her parents divorced in 1933, and both subsequently remarried.

On November 25, 1932, Lambert married Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr. of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, at Trinity Church, Princeton.[8] He served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. They divorced in 1948. They had two children: Stacy Barcroft Lloyd III, and Eliza Winn Lloyd. Eliza predeceased her mother.[9]

Lambert and her first husband became close friends of the banking heir and art collector Paul Mellon and his first wife, Mary Conover, who died of an asthma attack in 1946. After Lambert divorced Lloyd, she and Paul Mellon were married on May 1, 1948.[10] By this marriage, she became the stepmother of Timothy Mellon and Catherine Conover Mellon (later Mrs. John Warner and now known as Catherine Conover). Together, the couple collected and donated more than a thousand works of art, mostly eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European paintings, to the National Gallery of Art and established the Yale Center for British Art.[11][12] The couple bred and raced thoroughbred horses, including Sea Hero, winner of the 1993 Kentucky Derby.[13]

Mellon was long known for her maximal discretion and minimal public exposure; she offered only a handful of interviews to journalists in her lifetime.[10] In a 1969 New York Times article with the Mellons, she proclaimed that "nothing should be noticed."[14] Although this remark was made in reference to garden design, it has frequently been taken to encapsulate her attitude toward personal privacy and lifestyle choices.[15][16]

Gardening career

 
The White House Rose Garden after Mellon's landscaping

Although she had no formal training, Mellon read widely in horticulture and made contributions to several landmark gardens. Her interests in gardening were first cultivated while watching Olmsted Brothers gardeners tend her family's New Jersey home.[17] Mellon amassed a large collection of horticultural books and was regarded as an authority on American horticulture.[11] Her work was strongly influenced by French gardeners André Le Nôtre and Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie.[17][10]

Mellon designed landscapes for many of the Mellons' properties, including the French-inspired gardens of their estate, Oak Spring Farms.[10][17] A longtime friendship with the Kennedy family was initiated by a 1958 visit to Oak Spring Farms by Jacqueline Kennedy, whom Mellon later advised on fine arts and antiques during the Kennedy White House restoration.[18][10][19]

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Mellon to redesign the White House Rose Garden.[18] Mellon created more open space for public ceremonies and introduced American species of plants, as well as Magnolia soulangeana. She next began to work on the White House's East Garden, but her work was interrupted by Kennedy's assassination. After his funeral, for which Mellon arranged flowers, Lady Bird Johnson asked Mellon to resume her work on the White House grounds.[19][20] Mellon completed her work on the garden in close collaboration with Irvin Williams who, among other responsibilities, she tasked with finding and introducing magnolia trees to the garden. Initially blocked from doing so by the National Park Service, Williams secretly removed the trees from the Tidal Basin and transported them to the White House himself.[21]

After Jacqueline Kennedy left the White House, Mellon was asked to design landscapes for Kennedy's home in Martha's Vineyard, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, and River Farm, the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society.[17] In France, Mellon created a landscape design for the home of Hubert de Givenchy and assisted with a restoration of the potager du Roi in Versailles.[10][17]

Wealth and collections

As most of her assets were invested in trusts, it was difficult to estimate Mellon's wealth, but her family and husband's fortune and fixed assets suggest she was exceptionally wealthy.[22]

She maintained homes in Antigua, Nantucket and Oyster Harbors, Cape Cod, two apartments in Paris, and a townhouse in New York City. These properties were sold in the years preceding her death.[4][23] Her main residence, Oak Spring Farms, was a 4,000-acre (1,600 ha) estate in Virginia, that had its own 1-mile (1,600 m) long airstrip to accommodate her Falcon 2000.[10][22]

Mellon gathered a sizable collection of works by artist Mark Rothko, having purchased many of his 1950s works directly from his New York studio. In a 2010 interview, she spoke of having purchased a total of thirteen works by Rothko. One of the works, No. 20 (Yellow Expanse), completed in 1955 was considered one of the largest Rothko works in private hands.[10][24] The painting measured 10 by 15 feet.[25]

On November 10, 2014, items from Mellon's collection of paintings, jewelry, furniture, and decorative objects were auctioned at Sotheby's in New York for a total of $158.7 million, including Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange) by Rothko, which sold for $36.5 million, and another Rothko that went for $39.9 million.[26] Three of her most important paintings, two by Rothko and one by Richard Diebenkorn, were sold privately before the Sotheby's auction for a reported $250 million.[25] Proceeds from the sales benefited the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, a charitable entity established by Mellon in memory of her father.[27]

Honors

Later years

Mellon's second husband, Paul Mellon, died in 1999, aged 91.[28] Shortly thereafter, in May 2000, her daughter Eliza was hit by a truck while crossing a Manhattan street, causing a severe brain injury and full-body paralysis. Eliza spent the remaining eight years of her life under round-the-clock care at Oak Spring Farms, and died in 2008.[4][29] Caroline Kennedy, daughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, sat beside Mrs. Mellon during the funeral.[14]

Mellon was a long-time Democrat whose political views often conflicted with those of her husband.[10] In 2004, she expressed interest in presidential candidate John Edwards because he reminded her of President Kennedy, but when she called his campaign office with an offer to help, her name was not recognized and the call went unreturned.[30]: 157  She was an early financier of Edwards' 2008 Democratic primary run, offering an initial US$1 million commitment to his campaign, and eventually contributing more than $3.5 million to organizations supporting his candidacy.[4][30]: 158 

At the request of campaign operative Andrew Young, the commitment morphed to include underwriting Edwards' personal expenses. Beginning in May 2007, Mellon contributed more than $725,000 to John Edwards' personal accounts over an eight-month period, writing checks disguised as furniture purchases.[31] During this period Mellon wrote a note to Young stating: "from now on, all haircuts, etc. that are necessary and important for his campaign—please send the bills to me... It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions."[32] The funds were secretly used to support Rielle Hunter, a campaign videographer with whom Edwards had an extra-marital affair and child. When Mellon became aware of the use of her funds for this purpose, she reportedly came to regret the donations, but maintained that Edwards "would have been a great president."[4][31] While investigating Edwards, the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed Mellon at Oak Spring on two occasions in 2010.[14] In December 2010, four of her relatives were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury.[33]

On June 3, 2011, Edwards was indicted on using campaign funds to help cover up an affair and pregnancy during the 2008 presidential campaign. Just one week prior to his indictment, in late May 2011, Edwards visited Mellon at her Upperville estate.[34] Following his indictment, the judge forbade Edwards to speak with any potential witnesses.

In 2010, it was reported that Mellon had lost $5.75 million to investment adviser and convicted Ponzi scheme operator Kenneth I. Starr.[15]

Death

Described as a resilient centenarian, a bout with cancer[35] and ongoing macular degeneration nonetheless slowed her activity. She was forced to give up gardening by 2011, although she continued to swim, do Pilates, and give the rare interview.[4][14]

On March 17, 2014, Mellon died at her Upperville, Virginia, home of natural causes. She was 103 years old.[7][36] Her funeral was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, which the Mellons had gifted to the community in 1960. She was eulogized by her friend Frank Langella, who described himself as "a rough Jersey kid" whom Mellon taught "how to listen, dress, never be vulgar, respect all people, be humble, avoid hubris, write thank-you notes, never boast, be curious and 'above all, be loyal'". Her grandson, Stacy Lloyd IV, remembered Mellon as "Granbunny" and how she taught him to find beauty in everything. Her friend Bette Midler performed her hit song The Rose.[37]

References

  1. ^ Alexander, Dan (March 17, 2014). "Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, Banking Heiress And Jacqueline Kennedy Friend, Dies At 103". Forbes. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  2. ^ New England Historic Genealogical Society Nexus. Vol. 4–5. New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1987.
  3. ^ Miller, Stephen (March 17, 2014). "Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon Dies at 103". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gordon, Meryl (July 25, 2011). "Bunny Mellon, the Secret-Keeper". Newsweek. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  5. ^ "List of Dead in Plane Crash". The Los Angeles Times. October 25, 1947. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  6. ^ . Alumni Horae. St. Paul's School. 27 (3): 110. Autumn 1947. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  7. ^ a b McFadden, Robert D. (March 17, 2014). "Rachel Mellon, Heiress Known for Garden Designs, Is Dead at 103". The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  8. ^ . Time. December 5, 1932. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  9. ^ Eliza married photographer Henry Dermot Ponsonby "Derry" Moore in 1968 and divorced him in 1972. On the death of his father in 1989, he became the 12th Earl of Drogheda. After her divorce, Eliza Winn Lloyd used the name Eliza Lambert Lloyd, but her wedding announcement in The New York Times in 1968 called her Eliza W. Lloyd, and news articles about her coming out in 1961 referred to her as Eliza Winn Lloyd. Her obituary in The New York Times, however, referred to her as Eliza Lloyd Moore.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Reginato, James (August 2010), "Bunny Mellon's Secret Garden", Vanity Fair, retrieved June 6, 2011
  11. ^ a b Higgins, Adrian (March 17, 2014). "Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, arts patron and confidante of Jackie Kennedy, dies at 103". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  12. ^ "Paul Mellon, Founder". Yale Center for British Art. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  13. ^ Paul Mellon: In his Own Words; accessed June 5, 2012.
  14. ^ a b c d Seelye, Katherine Q. (June 4, 2011), "Edwards Case Casts Spotlight on a Long Reclusive Donor", The New York Times, retrieved March 17, 2014
  15. ^ a b Trebay, Guy (May 11, 2012). "The Last Empress". The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  16. ^ Conroy, Sarah Booth (June 1, 1969). "The House in the Virginia Hunt Country That Is Home to the Paul Mellons". The New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  17. ^ a b c d e Deitz, Paula (2011). "The Private World of a Great Gardener: Rachel Lambert Mellon". Of Gardens: Selected Essays. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 28–32. ISBN 978-0812206968. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  18. ^ a b Gordon, Meryl (September 22, 2017). "How Bunny Mellon Re-invented the White House Rose Garden". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  19. ^ a b Mellon, Rachel Lambert (2001). "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: A Reminiscence". In O'Neill, John P.; Holt, Joan; Bernstein, Jennifer (eds.). Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years: Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 13–16. ISBN 9780870999819. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  20. ^ Johnson, Lady Bird (2007). A White House Diary. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 9780292717497. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  21. ^ Seale, William (2015). "President Kennedy's Garden: Rachel Lambert Mellon's Redesign of the White House Rose Garden". White House History (38): 42.
  22. ^ a b O'Connor, Claire (June 3, 2011). "The Money Behind John Edwards: Heiress Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, Age 100". Forbes. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  23. ^ "Mellon Estate in Antigua Goes on the Market for $14.5 Million". The Wall Street Journal. March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  24. ^ Seldes, Lee (1996). The legacy of Mark Rothko. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. pp. 230–35. ISBN 9780306807251.
  25. ^ a b Kazakina, Katya (September 5, 2014). "Bunny Mellon's $250 Million Rothkos Sold in Private Sale". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  26. ^ "Property from the Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon: Masterworks". sotheby's.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  27. ^ "Sotheby's to auction Paul and Bunny Mellon estate", nytimes.com; July 1, 2014; accessed August 22, 2014.
  28. ^ "Paul Mellon". The Economist. February 18, 1999. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  29. ^ "Death notice of Eliza Lloyd Moore". The New York Times. May 12, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  30. ^ a b Young, Andrew (2010). The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down. Macmillan.
  31. ^ a b Dupre, William; Severson, Kim (May 4, 2012). "Liaison Says Heiress Rued Edwards Donations". New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  32. ^ United States of America v. Johnny Reid Edwards, 1:11 CR 161-1, 21 (M.D.N.C. June 3, 2011) ("The timing of your telephone call on Friday was "witchy". I was sitting alone in a grim mood - furious that the press attacked Senator Edwards on the price of a haircut. But it inspired me - from now on, all haircuts, etc., that are necessary and important for his campaign - please send the bills to me.... It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions.").
  33. ^ "Donor's family testifies in Edwards probe". United Press International. December 4, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  34. ^ Just, Sara (May 26, 2011). "John Edwards Meets Privately with Bunny Mellon, Potential Witness in Cover Up Case". ABC News. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  35. ^ Obituary, newsweek.com; accessed August 29, 2016.
  36. ^ Szkotak, Steve. . Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  37. ^ Roberts, Roxanne. "At Bunny Mellon's funeral, music from Bette Midler and a John Edwards appearance". Washington Post. Retrieved November 30, 2014.

Further reading

  • Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice. Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998; ISBN 0-442-02532-7.
  • Raphael, Sandra, Heins, Greg, Tomasi, Lucia Tongiorgi, and Willis, Tony. The Oak Spring Garden Library. 4 Vols. Yale University Press: 1989-2009.[ISBN missing]
  • Langella, Frank. Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them. HarperCollins: 2012; ISBN 9780062094483.

External links

  • Oak Spring Garden Library infosite; accessed August 22, 2014.
  • ; accessed August 22, 2014.
  • Wine & Country Life Magazine, "Discover Bunny Mellon's Oak Spring Garden" published April 2021
  • Wine & Country Life Magazine, "The Allee, Greenhouse and Topiaries at Oak Spring Farm" published April 2021

January 11, 2023
rachel, lambert, mellon, august, 1910, march, 2014, often, known, bunny, mellon, american, horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist, collector, designed, planted, number, significant, gardens, including, white, house, rose, garden, assembled, largest, collec. Rachel Lambert Mellon August 9 1910 March 17 2014 often known as Bunny Mellon was an American horticulturalist gardener philanthropist and art collector She designed and planted a number of significant gardens including the White House Rose Garden and assembled one of the largest collections of rare horticultural books Mellon was the second wife of philanthropist and horse breeder Paul Mellon Rachel Lambert MellonBornRachel Lowe Lambert 1910 08 09 August 9 1910New York New York U S DiedMarch 17 2014 2014 03 17 aged 103 1 Upperville Virginia U S EducationFoxcroft SchoolOccupation s Horticulturalist art collector philanthropistKnown forRedesigned White House Rose GardenSpouse s Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr m 1932 div 1946 wbr Paul Mellon m 1948 died 1999 wbr Children2 Contents 1 Background 2 Gardening career 3 Wealth and collections 4 Honors 5 Later years 6 Death 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksBackground EditRachel Lowe Lambert nicknamed Bunny by her mother was the eldest child of Gerard Barnes Lambert president of the Gillette Safety Razor Company and a founder of Warner Lambert and his wife Rachel Parkhill Lowe 2 3 Her paternal grandfather chemist Jordan Lambert was the inventor of Listerine which was later marketed by her father 4 She had a brother and a sister Gerard Barnes Lambert Jr 1912 1947 married Elsa Cover who died in a 1947 plane crash 5 6 and Lily McCarthy 1914 2006 married twice to William Wilson Fleming and John Gilman McCarthy respectively Lambert attended Miss Fine s School Princeton New Jersey and the Foxcroft School Middleburg Virginia 7 Her parents divorced in 1933 and both subsequently remarried On November 25 1932 Lambert married Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr of Ardmore Pennsylvania at Trinity Church Princeton 8 He served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II They divorced in 1948 They had two children Stacy Barcroft Lloyd III and Eliza Winn Lloyd Eliza predeceased her mother 9 Lambert and her first husband became close friends of the banking heir and art collector Paul Mellon and his first wife Mary Conover who died of an asthma attack in 1946 After Lambert divorced Lloyd she and Paul Mellon were married on May 1 1948 10 By this marriage she became the stepmother of Timothy Mellon and Catherine Conover Mellon later Mrs John Warner and now known as Catherine Conover Together the couple collected and donated more than a thousand works of art mostly eighteenth and nineteenth century European paintings to the National Gallery of Art and established the Yale Center for British Art 11 12 The couple bred and raced thoroughbred horses including Sea Hero winner of the 1993 Kentucky Derby 13 Mellon was long known for her maximal discretion and minimal public exposure she offered only a handful of interviews to journalists in her lifetime 10 In a 1969 New York Times article with the Mellons she proclaimed that nothing should be noticed 14 Although this remark was made in reference to garden design it has frequently been taken to encapsulate her attitude toward personal privacy and lifestyle choices 15 16 Gardening career Edit The White House Rose Garden after Mellon s landscaping Although she had no formal training Mellon read widely in horticulture and made contributions to several landmark gardens Her interests in gardening were first cultivated while watching Olmsted Brothers gardeners tend her family s New Jersey home 17 Mellon amassed a large collection of horticultural books and was regarded as an authority on American horticulture 11 Her work was strongly influenced by French gardeners Andre Le Notre and Jean Baptiste de La Quintinie 17 10 Mellon designed landscapes for many of the Mellons properties including the French inspired gardens of their estate Oak Spring Farms 10 17 A longtime friendship with the Kennedy family was initiated by a 1958 visit to Oak Spring Farms by Jacqueline Kennedy whom Mellon later advised on fine arts and antiques during the Kennedy White House restoration 18 10 19 In 1961 President John F Kennedy asked Mellon to redesign the White House Rose Garden 18 Mellon created more open space for public ceremonies and introduced American species of plants as well as Magnolia soulangeana She next began to work on the White House s East Garden but her work was interrupted by Kennedy s assassination After his funeral for which Mellon arranged flowers Lady Bird Johnson asked Mellon to resume her work on the White House grounds 19 20 Mellon completed her work on the garden in close collaboration with Irvin Williams who among other responsibilities she tasked with finding and introducing magnolia trees to the garden Initially blocked from doing so by the National Park Service Williams secretly removed the trees from the Tidal Basin and transported them to the White House himself 21 After Jacqueline Kennedy left the White House Mellon was asked to design landscapes for Kennedy s home in Martha s Vineyard the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and River Farm the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society 17 In France Mellon created a landscape design for the home of Hubert de Givenchy and assisted with a restoration of the potager du Roi in Versailles 10 17 Wealth and collections EditAs most of her assets were invested in trusts it was difficult to estimate Mellon s wealth but her family and husband s fortune and fixed assets suggest she was exceptionally wealthy 22 She maintained homes in Antigua Nantucket and Oyster Harbors Cape Cod two apartments in Paris and a townhouse in New York City These properties were sold in the years preceding her death 4 23 Her main residence Oak Spring Farms was a 4 000 acre 1 600 ha estate in Virginia that had its own 1 mile 1 600 m long airstrip to accommodate her Falcon 2000 10 22 Mellon gathered a sizable collection of works by artist Mark Rothko having purchased many of his 1950s works directly from his New York studio In a 2010 interview she spoke of having purchased a total of thirteen works by Rothko One of the works No 20 Yellow Expanse completed in 1955 was considered one of the largest Rothko works in private hands 10 24 The painting measured 10 by 15 feet 25 On November 10 2014 items from Mellon s collection of paintings jewelry furniture and decorative objects were auctioned at Sotheby s in New York for a total of 158 7 million including Untitled Yellow Orange Yellow Light Orange by Rothko which sold for 36 5 million and another Rothko that went for 39 9 million 26 Three of her most important paintings two by Rothko and one by Richard Diebenkorn were sold privately before the Sotheby s auction for a reported 250 million 25 Proceeds from the sales benefited the Gerard B Lambert Foundation a charitable entity established by Mellon in memory of her father 27 Honors EditInternational Best Dressed List 1975 Officier de l Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Royal Horticultural Society s The Veitch Memorial Medal 1987 The Henry Shaw Award American Horticultural Society Landscape Design AwardLater years EditMellon s second husband Paul Mellon died in 1999 aged 91 28 Shortly thereafter in May 2000 her daughter Eliza was hit by a truck while crossing a Manhattan street causing a severe brain injury and full body paralysis Eliza spent the remaining eight years of her life under round the clock care at Oak Spring Farms and died in 2008 4 29 Caroline Kennedy daughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sat beside Mrs Mellon during the funeral 14 Mellon was a long time Democrat whose political views often conflicted with those of her husband 10 In 2004 she expressed interest in presidential candidate John Edwards because he reminded her of President Kennedy but when she called his campaign office with an offer to help her name was not recognized and the call went unreturned 30 157 She was an early financier of Edwards 2008 Democratic primary run offering an initial US 1 million commitment to his campaign and eventually contributing more than 3 5 million to organizations supporting his candidacy 4 30 158 At the request of campaign operative Andrew Young the commitment morphed to include underwriting Edwards personal expenses Beginning in May 2007 Mellon contributed more than 725 000 to John Edwards personal accounts over an eight month period writing checks disguised as furniture purchases 31 During this period Mellon wrote a note to Young stating from now on all haircuts etc that are necessary and important for his campaign please send the bills to me It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions 32 The funds were secretly used to support Rielle Hunter a campaign videographer with whom Edwards had an extra marital affair and child When Mellon became aware of the use of her funds for this purpose she reportedly came to regret the donations but maintained that Edwards would have been a great president 4 31 While investigating Edwards the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed Mellon at Oak Spring on two occasions in 2010 14 In December 2010 four of her relatives were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury 33 On June 3 2011 Edwards was indicted on using campaign funds to help cover up an affair and pregnancy during the 2008 presidential campaign Just one week prior to his indictment in late May 2011 Edwards visited Mellon at her Upperville estate 34 Following his indictment the judge forbade Edwards to speak with any potential witnesses In 2010 it was reported that Mellon had lost 5 75 million to investment adviser and convicted Ponzi scheme operator Kenneth I Starr 15 Death EditDescribed as a resilient centenarian a bout with cancer 35 and ongoing macular degeneration nonetheless slowed her activity She was forced to give up gardening by 2011 although she continued to swim do Pilates and give the rare interview 4 14 On March 17 2014 Mellon died at her Upperville Virginia home of natural causes She was 103 years old 7 36 Her funeral was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville which the Mellons had gifted to the community in 1960 She was eulogized by her friend Frank Langella who described himself as a rough Jersey kid whom Mellon taught how to listen dress never be vulgar respect all people be humble avoid hubris write thank you notes never boast be curious and above all be loyal Her grandson Stacy Lloyd IV remembered Mellon as Granbunny and how she taught him to find beauty in everything Her friend Bette Midler performed her hit song The Rose 37 References Edit Alexander Dan March 17 2014 Rachel Bunny Mellon Banking Heiress And Jacqueline Kennedy Friend Dies At 103 Forbes Retrieved March 19 2014 New England Historic Genealogical Society Nexus Vol 4 5 New England Historic Genealogical Society 1987 Miller Stephen March 17 2014 Rachel Bunny Mellon Dies at 103 The Wall Street Journal Retrieved March 17 2014 a b c d e f Gordon Meryl July 25 2011 Bunny Mellon the Secret Keeper Newsweek Retrieved March 17 2014 List of Dead in Plane Crash The Los Angeles Times October 25 1947 Retrieved March 17 2014 Obituary Gerard Barnes Lambert Jr Alumni Horae St Paul s School 27 3 110 Autumn 1947 Archived from the original on March 18 2014 Retrieved March 17 2014 a b McFadden Robert D March 17 2014 Rachel Mellon Heiress Known for Garden Designs Is Dead at 103 The New York Times Retrieved March 17 2014 Milestones December 5 1932 Time December 5 1932 Archived from the original on October 27 2010 Retrieved March 18 2014 Eliza married photographer Henry Dermot Ponsonby Derry Moore in 1968 and divorced him in 1972 On the death of his father in 1989 he became the 12th Earl of Drogheda After her divorce Eliza Winn Lloyd used the name Eliza Lambert Lloyd but her wedding announcement in The New York Times in 1968 called her Eliza W Lloyd and news articles about her coming out in 1961 referred to her as Eliza Winn Lloyd Her obituary in The New York Times however referred to her as Eliza Lloyd Moore a b c d e f g h i Reginato James August 2010 Bunny Mellon s Secret Garden Vanity Fair retrieved June 6 2011 a b Higgins Adrian March 17 2014 Rachel Bunny Mellon arts patron and confidante of Jackie Kennedy dies at 103 The Washington Post Retrieved March 17 2014 Paul Mellon Founder Yale Center for British Art Retrieved March 17 2014 Paul Mellon In his Own Words accessed June 5 2012 a b c d Seelye Katherine Q June 4 2011 Edwards Case Casts Spotlight on a Long Reclusive Donor The New York Times retrieved March 17 2014 a b Trebay Guy May 11 2012 The Last Empress The New York Times Retrieved March 17 2014 Conroy Sarah Booth June 1 1969 The House in the Virginia Hunt Country That Is Home to the Paul Mellons The New York Times Retrieved March 18 2014 a b c d e Deitz Paula 2011 The Private World of a Great Gardener Rachel Lambert Mellon Of Gardens Selected Essays Philadelphia PA University of Pennsylvania Press pp 28 32 ISBN 978 0812206968 Retrieved March 17 2014 a b Gordon Meryl September 22 2017 How Bunny Mellon Re invented the White House Rose Garden Vanity Fair Retrieved September 23 2017 a b Mellon Rachel Lambert 2001 Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy A Reminiscence In O Neill John P Holt Joan Bernstein Jennifer eds Jacqueline Kennedy The White House Years Selections from the John F Kennedy Library and Museum New York Metropolitan Museum of Art pp 13 16 ISBN 9780870999819 Retrieved March 17 2014 Johnson Lady Bird 2007 A White House Diary Austin TX University of Texas Press pp 97 98 ISBN 9780292717497 Retrieved March 17 2014 Seale William 2015 President Kennedy s Garden Rachel Lambert Mellon s Redesign of the White House Rose Garden White House History 38 42 a b O Connor Claire June 3 2011 The Money Behind John Edwards Heiress Rachel Bunny Mellon Age 100 Forbes Retrieved March 7 2014 Mellon Estate in Antigua Goes on the Market for 14 5 Million The Wall Street Journal March 9 2012 Retrieved March 17 2014 Seldes Lee 1996 The legacy of Mark Rothko Cambridge MA Da Capo Press pp 230 35 ISBN 9780306807251 a b Kazakina Katya September 5 2014 Bunny Mellon s 250 Million Rothkos Sold in Private Sale Bloomberg Retrieved November 30 2014 Property from the Collection of Mrs Paul Mellon Masterworks sotheby s com Retrieved November 11 2014 Sotheby s to auction Paul and Bunny Mellon estate nytimes com July 1 2014 accessed August 22 2014 Paul Mellon The Economist February 18 1999 Retrieved March 17 2014 Death notice of Eliza Lloyd Moore The New York Times May 12 2008 Retrieved March 17 2014 a b Young Andrew 2010 The Politician An Insider s Account of John Edwards s Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down Macmillan a b Dupre William Severson Kim May 4 2012 Liaison Says Heiress Rued Edwards Donations New York Times Retrieved March 17 2014 United States of America v Johnny Reid Edwards 1 11 CR 161 1 21 M D N C June 3 2011 The timing of your telephone call on Friday was witchy I was sitting alone in a grim mood furious that the press attacked Senator Edwards on the price of a haircut But it inspired me from now on all haircuts etc that are necessary and important for his campaign please send the bills to me It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions Donor s family testifies in Edwards probe United Press International December 4 2010 Retrieved March 18 2014 Just Sara May 26 2011 John Edwards Meets Privately with Bunny Mellon Potential Witness in Cover Up Case ABC News Retrieved March 18 2014 Obituary newsweek com accessed August 29 2016 Szkotak Steve Arts patron heiress Rachel Bunny Mellon dead Associated Press Archived from the original on March 18 2014 Retrieved March 18 2014 Roberts Roxanne At Bunny Mellon s funeral music from Bette Midler and a John Edwards appearance Washington Post Retrieved November 30 2014 Further reading EditAbbott James A and Elaine M Rice Designing Camelot The Kennedy White House Restoration Van Nostrand Reinhold 1998 ISBN 0 442 02532 7 Raphael Sandra Heins Greg Tomasi Lucia Tongiorgi and Willis Tony The Oak Spring Garden Library 4 Vols Yale University Press 1989 2009 ISBN missing Langella Frank Dropped Names Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them HarperCollins 2012 ISBN 9780062094483 External links EditOak Spring Garden Library infosite accessed August 22 2014 Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation Inc website accessed August 22 2014 Wine amp Country Life Magazine Discover Bunny Mellon s Oak Spring Garden published April 2021 Wine amp Country Life Magazine The Allee Greenhouse and Topiaries at Oak Spring Farm published April 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rachel Lambert Mellon amp oldid 1122910202, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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