New Book Releases Bringing Local History Back to Life
Written by Sarah Hickner
“The Enchanting Interiors of Bunny Mellon”: Paintings by Snowy Campbell
It was the late 1960s when a family vacation, an unplanned injury, and a little dose of happenstance changed the fates of several people. Budding actor Frank Langella was vacationing with Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon’s family in Antigua. The two were dancing when Mellon fell over a potted plant and broke her ankle.
The next day, the pair flew back to New York to get Mellon to the doctor. This early return to the city allowed Langella the chance to audition for a character in “Diary of a Mad Housewife,” the role that kickstarted his very successful acting career. Meanwhile, on a follow-up visit to Mellon’s surgeon, she asked about the artwork on his wall that she’d been admiring.
The artist was the surgeon’s daughter, Snowy Campbell. Mellon and Campbell met and quickly worked out an arrangement for Campbell to create watercolor paintings of the interiors of several of Mellon’s homes.
In total, Campbell painted over 100 pieces depicting the beautiful spaces curated by Mellon. From an intricate box sitting on a tabletop to a bathtub with a painting hanging over it to a citrus plant sitting by a window, Campbell documented, with her own artistic detail and whimsy, the beauty of Mellon’s homes.
A book, “The Enchanting Interiors of Bunny Mellon,” was started in the 1990s as a way of documenting exactly what the title says: the enchanting interiors designed by Mellon and painted by Campbell. For unknown reasons, it was left incomplete. Around 2020, Nancy Collins, the archivist at Mellon’s Oak Spring Garden Library, and Elinor Crane, a volunteer at Oak Spring Garden Foundation, took it upon themselves to complete what Mellon had started.
With encouragement from Charlotte Moss, a legendary interior designer and author from Virginia, the ladies took the first step of contacting Snowy Campbell. When multiple letters returned unanswered, they learned the unfortunate news that Campbell had passed away. Undeterred, they tracked down her daughter, living in El Salvador, seeking her assistance and permission to proceed with the book.
Collins and Crane wanted more than just a coffee table centerpiece filled with beautiful paintings. Their goal was to create a book teeming with life, just like Mellon herself, and what better way than to tell the stories that actually happened in the spaces she created? They contacted friends and acquaintances of the Mellons, requesting memories of the rooms shown in the houses.
The culmination of their years of work is a book that showcases three of the Mellon’s homes, tells stories of the time spent in each, and brings it all to life through Campbell’s beautiful watercolor paintings.
What began with a broken ankle became something far greater than anyone could have predicted. Released on February 17, “The Enchanting Interiors of Bunny Mellon,” published by Rizzoli, is more than a collection of beautiful rooms; it’s a reminder that the spaces we create hold our stories long after we leave them.
For more information on the book, visit osgf.org. And click here more images from the book release.
“A Story of Hope & Freedom” by Kevin Grigsby
Kevin Grigsby has a gift for making history feel alive. His work blends genealogy, local history, and storytelling to bring forward voices and experiences that might have otherwise disappeared.
Grigsby’s first book, “Howardsville: The Journey of an African-American Community in Loudoun County, Virginia,” began as a personal project, a deep dive into the village he calls home and his own family roots in Loudoun County. What he expected to be a one-time exploration soon turned into something more. The deeper he searched through archives, family records, and oral histories, the more stories emerged, each revealing another layer of the region’s complex and often overlooked history.
One of the most compelling stories he uncovered was that of the Proctor family, whose ancestors date back to America’s earliest days. At first glance, members of the extended family appear to have little in common. One branch looks distinctly European, while another is unmistakably African American. But beyond the visible differences lies a story of resilience that reflects the complicated realities of identity in America.
Grigsby’s latest work, “A Story of Hope & Freedom,” chronicles the Proctor family’s remarkable journey across more than 500 years. Drawing on extensive genealogical research that traces their lineage back to the 1500s, the book follows the family’s initial arrival in America, through the Civil War, all the way to present day. Far more than a collection of names and dates, Grigsby paints a vivid portrait of a family shaped by both hardship and hope.
In “A Story of Hope & Freedom,” Grigsby invites readers to see Loudoun County through a broader lens — one that acknowledges the complexity of race and identity through history. The result is a powerful story of triumph and tragedy, trauma and love, and the enduring power of family. ML
Featured image: “The Enchanting Interiors of Bunny Mellon” on display at the Middleburg Community Center. Photo by Tiffany West.
Published in the March 2026 issue of Middleburg Life.