In May, Christie's will hold a "once in a lifetime" auction of nearly all the contents of the two homes of David and Peggy Rockefeller, the proceeds going to several designated charities. To say that their homes were filled the the best and the most beautiful, is an understatement. The art alone is monumental. And the antiques. And then there are the porcelains. Oh be still my heart!!!

The Rockefeller lived in a refined style that will probably never again be duplicated. Oh sure - there are a lot of incredibly wealthy people out there, but they don't have the Rockefeller's taste and style to live the way they did. When David died at 101, he still had a butler and 3 maids living-in at Hudson Pines. And to think I have trouble finding twice-montly cleaning day help!

I adored the pictures of their NYC townhouse - such a lovely, gracious home. And now, the pictures of their "country" house in Westchester County - "Hudson Pines".

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It's a wonderful house - the proportion of the rooms is perfection, the windows and views just sublime. But it's also a house that is clearly a home - it is lovely and attractively decorated, but it's not "decorated". Apparently, Peggy Rockefeller had her own access to the to-the-trade showrooms and made all of her own selections and never used an interior designer in any of her houses. This house is warm, comfortable and inviting - never looking "decorated" as so many homes of very wealthy people look.

But back to all those dishes...some of you may know that I need a Twelve Step Program for a serious dishes addiction! If I happen to buy a winning lottery ticket between now and that auction, I will be bidding (even though I've run out of room for anymore dishes in my house!).

From what I have read, they actually used all these dishes on a daily basis. When Peggy was still living, they would sit down and decide what nights they were dining at home that week, the guests they would invite, the menu and the dishes they would use. They tried to be sure that a guest always experienced a new set of dishes when dining there. Even Martha Stewart was impressed when she was invited to dinner at their Seal Harbor, Maine home - said she never dined twice on the same dishes. I wonder if she will be bidding?

I asked a friend whose mother was a longtime friend of Peggy Rockefeller, why none of this was left to their 6 children. Inheritance taxes. They had bought the art so long ago and it has appreciated so much in value, that the taxes would have been prohibitive, even for a Rockefeller. The same was true of the porcelain. Apparently, they were each allowed to select items with a value up to $1 million to take from the houses. No one knows if they will be bidding on any of the items, but I imagine they might well be.

At times such as this, I can't help but think that the British have it right with their stately homes and the museum-quality contents, being "entailed". It has kept these houses intact and their contents as well. I wish these could have been, too. And I wish I could afford some of those porcelains!