OK, so I didn’t smoke weed at Dawnridge.

But I did get a contact high from experiencing the garden and inhaling its perfumes…and I wanted to provide a brief article in case you don’t have time to read the longer Hutton Wilkinson: The Jewelry Genie of Tony Duquette that’s on this site.

Moving through verdant gardens and gemstone-colored interiors, visitors to Dawnridge move through a dreamy scene  fantastically fit for human habitation. The baroque perfection of Dawnridge reaches ecstatic heights in the drawing room, pictured above. (This image illustrated my article on Hutton Wilkinson which appeared in the November 2011 issue of C magazine.) The walls are alive with hauntingly beautiful portraits and other figurative paintings by Duquette’s wife Elizabeth, a.k.a. Beegle.

After I entered the house, the Chinoiserie-inflected interiors brimming with Duquette-designed biomorphic, gilded furniture, silken sofas and Beegle’s paintings made me feel intoxicated.

Inside such idiosyncratically beautiful rooms, everywhere one looks, surprises arise.

Dawnridge drawing room. Note the Duquette chandelier, Beegle’s paintings and the hand painted ceiling. Photo by Lisa Romerein. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.

In the drawing room, there’s a Balinese spirit house in the far left corner…Venetian armchairs…leopard print tabourets…19th century chests adorned with découpaged antique botanical illustrations…and then I raised my eyes heavenward…

Jewelry hangs from the ceiling in the form of a Duquette chandelier…and there is an exquisite painting on the ceiling…

I heard Jimi Hendrix singing inside my head:  “Have you ever been experienced?  Well I have…not necessarily stoned but beautiful…”

All things beautiful, as it happens, are very much on the mind of Dawnridge’s owner, fine jewelry designer and interior designer Hutton Wilkinson.

“Beauty, not luxury, is what I value,” says Wilkinson, whose jewels for the Tony Duquette Collection (www.tonyduquette.com) are sold at select Saks FIfth Avenue stores around the U.S.

One look at the magnificent, one-of-a-kind necklaces, brooches, bracelets, rings and earrings in his book, Tony Duquette/Hutton Wilkinson Jewelry (Abrams, 2011) confirms that Wilkinson embraces this credo while honoring the legacy of his late friend and business partner of 30 years. A famed MGM production designer, internationally renowned decorator, Tony Award-winning costume designer and creator of fine jewelry, Tony Duquette died in 1999 at age 85.

As president and designer of the Tony Duquette Collection of jewelry, Wilkinson (who grew up fascinated by the jewels of his mother, the daughter of a Bolivian president and Count) continues to grow the business, along with the Tony Duquette interior design studio.

Now for a quick peek at some of Hutton’s jewels and a little look around Dawnridge…

Grandly designed and radiating luxurious allure, Duquette and Wilkinson jewels are often multi-functional. This close-up of a citrine and amethyst pendant-brooch set in 18-karat gold rope illustrates the vibrancy that characterizes Hutton Wilkinson’s jewelry designs for Tony Duquette. Photo by Stephanie Hanchett, courtesy of Abrams, from Tony Duquette/Hutton Wilkinson Jewelry. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.

A Tony Duquette necklace made in the 1980s for the Talismans of Power Collection. Made of pearls, inlaid bone and luminous mussel shells set in 24-karat gold-plated sterling silver, the necklace is punctuated with 24-karat gold-plated sterling beads and spacers. Photo by Stephanie Hanchett, courtesy of Abrams, from Tony Duquette/Hutton Wilkinson Jewelry. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.

Wilkinson readily confesses that he finds aquamarines “irresistible.” This multi-strand bracelet of seawater-hued, briolette-cut aquamarines culminates in an 18-karat yellow gold starburst clasp crowned with a 10 carat, cabochon-cut aquamarine. Could these oceanic jewels be mermaid’s tears, forever preserved in motionless perfection? Photo by Stephanie Hanchett, courtesy of Abrams, from Tony Duquette/Hutton Wilkinson Jewelry. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.

Walled in deep green malachite-patterned fabric, the Garden Room blooms. Formerly the garage (!), this space sets the scene for relaxed conversation and long, lingering meals. Photo by Lisa Romerein. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.

One of the sculpture-adorned pavilions at Dawnridge creates  a shady oasis. Dream a little dream right now. Photo by Lisa Romerein. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.