The original Studio of the Lost and
Beautiful Past seen in the three
smaller photographs at the left, was
located in historic Loudoun House,
headquarters of the Lexington Art
League in Lexington,Kentucky.
Loudoun was constructed in 1852 for
Francis Key Hunt. The architect was
A.J.Davis, the same architect who did
the house Lyndhurst which was
featured in the two Dark Shadows
motion pictures. The earliest studio
was in the tower. My second studio
was in one of the large 2nd floor
bedchambers. You can see it in the
daylight view of the back of the
house, the room with the triple
moulded windows.

In so many ways for eight years, my
studio at Loudoun was far more my
home than my actual residence.
Inevitably, there comes in the life
cycle of an organisation a point where
it loses sight of its original purpose
and in the process alienates those
who had been most devoted to its
ideals and it becomes time to move
on. Additionally, what you do to my
friends and to colleagues that I
respect you also do to me, and
therefore lose my once ardent support.

While I sometimes still miss my
studio in that haunted old Gothic
villa, it can be seen in the three larger
pictures at the right that my new
studio is also thoroughly steeped in
the glories of the past. I now own my
studio in a circa 1886 Queen Anne
Cottage with the good light and the
high ceilings I once enjoyed at
Loudoun.
Loudoun in the fog-photo by
Polly Singer
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