Dorinda Medley's Berkshires Estate Has a Very Romantic Backstory
Go inside the #RHONY mom's elegant Blue Stone Manor.
Whenever we've seen The Real Housewives of New York City ladies venture up to Dorinda Medley's home in the Berkshires, it always ends in disaster, whether it was Bethenny Frankel and Heather Thomson's tense dinner party conversation in Season 7 or the unhappiest of holiday parties in Season 8. That is a darn shame, because the mansion, which was given the very regal name of Blue Stone Manor by Carole Radziwill after finding out the crib was built using blue stone, looks like such a gorgeous and tranquil place to be.
Though the Housewives might not have been feeling the love during their visits to Blue Stone Manor, we think the estate looks like something straight out of a Jane Austen novel. So it's no surprise that the way it ended up in Dorinda's possession is a very romantic tale. "I grew up in Great Barrington, and my father and I used to pass this house when I was a little girl, and I'd always look up and say, 'One day, I'm gonna own that house.' My dad would say, 'Sure, you are. Of course, you are,'" Dorinda recently told E! News. "And when I was getting married to Richard, Richard asked me what he'd like to buy me for my wedding present, and I said I'd like you to buy me Blue Stone Manor. So he bought me this as my wedding gift."
After Dorinda and Richard, who passed away in 2011, moved into the house following their wedding in 2005, they decided not to make any major changes to the abode, which was built in 1904. "I think the most clever thing we did, and I suggest this to everyone, is we bought it, and then we lived in it for a year," Dorinda said. "It made us understand what the house needed and what we needed from the house."
Dorinda has since made Blue Stone Manor her own, including decorating the Blue Room around a taxidermied peacock she purchased and then bejeweled. "That was sort of another phase in my life, I was going to do bejeweled taxidermy, but nothing really ever came of it," she said.
Dorinda decided to paint the walls surrounding some elegant Fortuny couches a peacock blue with 11 layers of lacquer, which took about two weeks to complete. The lacquer on the walls makes the paint change color depending on the time of day. "It goes from sort of a bright blue to a deep, sexy navy blue at night," Dorinda said.
The RHONY mom also gave E! News a peek inside her dining room, which was the site of both of those aforementioned chaotic evenings. Her favorite part of that room, which is decked out in some rich wood from the floor to the ceiling, is the dining table from Italy that's made out of inlaid wood and can seat up to 20 guests.
Dorinda also has about 15 sets of China in her house, and because she likes to have a different theme for every dinner party she throws, you're likely to not see the same one twice if you're lucky enough to dine at her abode more than once.
See more of Dorinda's home away from home last season of RHONY, below.
