Harris and Carroll Masterson were great collectors of European decorative arts. After the death of Mr. Masterson in 1997 the collection came into the possession of The Museum of Fine Arts. It is the perfect foil to the American Decorative Arts Collection of Bayou Bend. The house was designed by John F. Staub, who was also the architect of Bayou Bend. Mr. Masterson named the house Rienzi after his grandfather Rienzi Johnston. The house is designed to resemble an English country home done in the Palladian style. Harris Masterson bought this piece of land from his good friend Ima Hogg because he liked the magnolia tree that was on the property, it is still here today though not looking quite as magnificent as it did 50 years ago. It is right across the Bayou from Bayou Bend.
You need to call ahead to reserve a tour here. We called several days in advance and paid at the time we called. Our tour time was 10:30am and we arrived about 15 minutes early. We were asked to tour the grounds while we were waiting for our tour time. This was no hardship as the grounds are lovely. In due time we were called in and our docent Dick was waiting for us in the former parlor. No photography is allowed inside and they have lockers where you leave your purse.
We began by getting a brief history of the house and the family and how it came to the Museum of Fine Arts. We then began in the Library which was Harris’ favorite room. I can see why he loved it, it has huge windows that overlook the backyard making it the lightest and brightest Library I have ever seen. What you will see here is beautiful furniture from England from the George III period, German Silver sconces, 2 small George Romney portrait and a Gainsborough landscape, just to mention a few of the treasures.
Next we go to the drawing room where there is an Angelica Kauffman portrait to one side of the fireplace and a George Romney on the other. On a table between the windows is a Sevres bust of Madam DuBerry.
Our third stop was the single guest room, which is done in the Italian Rocco style. We moved to the entrance way to admire the Benzoni sculpture and the octagonal skylight In the dining room we get to meet Harris and Carroll through their portraits and to admire the collection of hard paste Meissen in the breakfront.
The last stop in the original house is the breakfast room. Here we find another Angelica Kauffman portrait and twelve leather seated George II side chairs. In 1972 an annex was add and we enter the foyer of this addition at this point and are greet by a wonderful Wright of Derby portrait. I could go on and on about all the wonderful things that we saw but I want to leave something to the imagination.
From journal Ima Believer in Houston