Tag Archives: California

Get the Royal Treatment at Provence’s Historic Château Fonscolombe

Queen Elizabeth stayed in this opulent 18th-century estate—and now you can too.

Ensconced in the heart of Provence’s mystical wine country sits a stately residence, home to the Marquis de Saporta and his family for more than 300 centuries. The collection of fountains, stone sculptures, and ancient arboretum pepper the grounds, serving as a reminder of the grandeur of this estate and the lavish parties once held there. As a private château, only royals, VIPs, and dignitaries—most notably Queen Elizabeth—were privy to an overnight stay.

Then, in June 2017, after 18 months of construction and painstaking renovation, Château Fonscolombe was reborn as a 50-room hotel, opening its storied doors to a new generation of discerning guests. Built in the Italian Quattrocento style popular during the 18th century, the main estate features 13 chateau-style bedrooms, each are adorned with a wide spectrum of period touches, from ornate ceiling detailing and hand-painted Chinese wallpaper to chiseled frescos, manicured lawns, Genoa leather tapestries and original terracotta-hued floor tiles. There’s also a small spa (located in the castle’s former boudoir), a winery (dating back to Roman times), and sprawling gardens set over more than 20 acres.

View the full post on British American Household Staffing’s blog.

article by Jessica Benavides Canepa for Robb Report

Goop Interviews Anita Rogers: How a Staffing Agency Can Help

Anita Rogers, founder of household staffing agency British American, has more than a decade’s experience in pairing families with household staff, from nannies and butlers to personal assistants and estate managers. She’s earned a reputation for finding successful matches–and also for helping to handle any situation that may arise in the working household. Here, she shares her insights on why hiring for your childcare or home needs is profoundly personal, and how a staffing agency can help with the process.

A Q&A with Anita Rogers

Q: What are the upsides to using an agency?

A: An agency helps you determine what kind of help you really need, and devises the way in which you want your staff to fit your lifestyle. It also saves you time and keeps you safe during the interview process. Some families have limited experience interviewing and hiring childcare and household staff, which makes it easy to miss signs of danger, red flags, or dishonesty. We enforce strict standards as we interview thousands of candidates each year. This has allowed us—and other reputable agencies—to become experts at spotting dishonest references and to be able single out specific personality traits and potential challenges. A staffing agency has seen how similar traits have played out with other candidates, which lends to its ability to find the best fit for you, your family, and your household.

Read the full interview on Goop.com

Should You Hire a Baby Nurse?

Hiring the right baby nurse will ensure you are trained on sleep methods, how to recognize development and most of all have peace-of-mind that your infant or infants are safe, cared for and in the care of a professional who works with the parents in a cohesive team for correct development during the first year.

An average cost of a baby nurse is $20-35 an hour. Email us at info@bahs.com for a list of questions to ask the baby nurse during the interview process

British American Newborn Care (bababynurses.com) has the highest quality professional and screened newborn care specialists/baby nurses/night nannies on the East and West Coasts of the USA as well as the UK. Whether you are looking for a long or short term with a night nanny/baby nurse or a British materntiy nurse, we can help you find your perfect solution.

Read the full post on British American Household Staffing’s blog.

Hiring Seasonal Domestic Staff

Hiring the right temporary domestic staff for your summer home is a large project for any principle or family. This article discusses why this can be so challenging and offers potential solutions to common problems I have seen every season. I am someone with extensive experience in the luxury hospitality and staffing industry and I have run British American Household Staffing and British American Yachts, the leading domestic staffing and yacht crew agency in the USA and UK as well as British American Newborn Care, which works with the best childcare professionals in the USA and UK. Most agencies have a roster of recurring staff in all the domestic staff categories. The earlier you start the hiring process the more likely you will secure the most qualified candidates. If you have very specific requirements and early start will help you find the ideal person for a potentially harder match to find.

A family looking for a live-in housekeeper-cook for their Hamptons home should look at contacting agencies in New York as well as the Hamptons, but nowhere too far for the housekeeper-cook to travel back and forth to on their days off (for instance New Jersey is too far from Easthampton, one full day off will be used for traveling). A live-in housekeeper-cook for the Hamptons will have to drive so this is a challenging order as many domestic candidates don’t want to live in and many housekeepers do not like to cook, especially cook the volume needed for the summer season, which is typically filled with parties and extra guests.

The best solution is to do the following: – Start the hiring process early – Contact high end agencies only, both local and non-local (as it is live in) – Set a salary range that is generous to allow you to find the best fit more easily – Make sure you have set an appealing schedule so you open-up the pool of qualified candidates. The schedule should always have 2 consecutive days off and usually a Sunday is given as a day off, in conjunction with Monday or Saturday – Phone screen the candidates first – Check their level of experience – Check they have been a flexible worker in the past.

One of the most common recurring issues for larger estates lies in the team of domestic staff. Staffing a larger home or estates is like running a small business in your home. The pyramid model works well for estate staffing. Start by hiring a house manager or a butler house manager. This person can then help you screen the rest of the staff, which helps them establish their authority with the staff you decide to hire for the summer that this house manager will be overseeing. This is the most important hire you will make over the summer, so screen this person for the following qualities:

– Ask their management style and ask for two or more references from staff they managed previously – Find out why they are looking for the summer only – Hire someone who has experience in the area they will be working – Ensure they have estate staff management experience – Once you hire them, hire the domestic staff with them and keep an open line of communication with the staff in case there are revolving door problems and it is the fault of the house manager – Make sure they have relationships with the top agencies in the area and ask who they liaise with at those agencies – Ensure they understand scheduling for staff – Pay them very well with the promise of a bonus at the end of the season In case you are doing the hiring alone or with a remote house manager, you will need to know how to attract the best staff (housekeepers, chefs and nannies) for your summer home Housekeepers: – Other than nannies, most high quality domestic are looking for a secure full-time job position, preferably with benefits. This is something every principle hiring only for the summer with deal with and lose staff too.

The best solution for this is to hire the best local candidates on a lower full time salary, offer benefits and give them a bonus at the end of the summer. This is the best solution for retaining top talent in a seasonal area such as the Hamptons – Housekeepers, more than any other domestic staff category, like a regular schedule with overtime, which is the law. A constant live in or Wednesday to Sunday schedule is always unpopular, but more-often-than-not needed for summer hires, especially in the Hamptons. Hire one more extra housekeeper than you need so each housekeeper gets one weekend of a month. This will attract the best talent – A standard and suggested formal housekeeper salary is $70,000 plus benefits and overtime. A seasonal housekeeper is $35 to $40 an hour.

Chefs: –

Chefs often like a temporary position that helps them earn a solid income and allows them more freedom to freelance during the year, or travel etc. – Yacht chefs are some of the best chefs you can find and they are accustomed to short-term gigs, long schedules, catering to large formal parties in a small space and working 7 day or more stretches. I would recommend this direction if you can accommodate a live- in chef. – Use an agency that works with both yacht and domestic staff – Top chefs are often happy to do the Hamptons in between jobs. Again, starting this search early and constantly checking in is an excellent way of increasing your chances of securing the best private chef for the summer – Suggested salary for a summer chef is $8-12,000 a month.

Nannies: –

Nannies fall into many different categories: 1. Career nannies 2. Mother’s helpers 3. Nanny/housekeepers 4. Second language nannies 5. Newborn Care Specialist nannies 6. Travel nannies Childcare is the most delicate of all domestic hires to make, as they need to be fully-qualified for your particular childcare situation. I recommend using an agency with a specialized childcare department. Screen the head of the department and make sure they are qualified in childhood education and development and hold the appropriate degrees (and newborn care specialist should be an expert in their field and should have experience training, screening and offering certificates to newborn care specialists). If your children are older (3 and up) a travel nanny or student nanny could be a great option. These nannies are often students, actresses, singers, writers or have another unrelated career during the year. They must be experienced nannies with your children’s age group and this should be screened by the agency childcare branch. This can be a good option if they are able to tutor and educate your children over the summer, or teach them a musical instrument etc. This is the more economical option, with a salary usually starting at $25 an hour plus overtime. Travel pay is not a legal prerequisite but overtime pay is. If you have an infant, or infant twins, a certified and educated newborn care specialist or baby nurse is the best option. A regular nanny (career nanny, nanny/housekeepers, second language nanny, mother’s helper or suchlike) will be looking for a permanent position, so they are harder to pin down for the summer. If you do, the career nannies will likely be expensive at $35-45 an hour. Some will accept a summer position in between jobs but this is rare. For all childcare positions we highly recommend going through the childcare division at a reputed agency. Again, screen the person who heads this branch.

Examples are British American Household Staffing (bahs.com) and British American Newborn Care (bababynurses.com). Ashley Mundt and Katie Morin are both childhood and infant development specialists and highly certified, their bios below. For more information on domestic staffing, temporary or permanent, feel free to reach out to me at: info@bahs.com

By Anita Rogers www.bahs.com www.babynurses.com

View on British American Household Staffing’s blog: http://bahs.com/news/detail/hiring-the-best-domestic-staff-for-your-summer-home1

What to Register for Your Baby

By Joanna Goddard

One of the most frequent questions we get from readers is how to prepare for a new baby — especially what to register for. It can be overwhelming! (I remember bursting into tears on the way to dinner when I was pregnant with Toby.) So, today I’ve updated my original post from six years ago with every single thing (big and small) we got for our newborn babies. Congratulations to all new parents! I hope it’s helpful, and I’d love to hear your suggestions…

WHERE TO REGISTER

When I was pregnant with Toby, I used MyRegistry.com, since it lets you register from all different stores. That way, you can bring together exactly what you’d like, instead of being limited to one store’s selection. Amazon also offers a registry, and you can install its Universal Registry button to your browser so you can add items from any other site online.

Read the full post on registry essentials on British American Household Staffing’s blog: http://bahs.com/news/detail/what-to-register-for-your-baby

Tips for Traveling With Kids from Parents Who’ve Been on the Road for 1 1/2 Years

By Susan Johnston Taylor for Today

If you think packing up the minivan for a weekend at grandma’s is overwhelming, try prepping for 1 1/2 years on the road. Jessica and Garrett Gee have been traveling with their two kids, Dorothy, 4, and Manilla, 2, since August 2015.

After Garrett sold Scan Inc., an app he co-founded, to Snapchat for $54 million in 2014, he and wife Jessica decided to invest their earnings, sell most of their worldly possessions and travel the world using the money they made — roughly $45,000 — from their giant garage sale.

The family chronicles their adventures on the Bucket List Family blog, as well as on Instagram and YouTube, including diving with seals in Australia, swimming with the pigs in the Bahamas and surfing in Fiji.

Read the full post on BAHS’s blog:

http://bahs.com/news/detail/tips-for-traveling-with-kids-from-parents-whove-been-on-the-road-for-1-1-2

Why Nannies Should Be Vaccinated

More and more parents and nanny agencies are requiring nanny candidates be vaccinated for the flu, whooping cough, and measles.

While some people may have allergies to specific vaccines and cannot get vaccinated, the Center of Disease Control (CDC) shows why child care providers should be vaccinated.

Even healthy people can get very sick from influenza (the flu) and spread it to others. The CDC lists that hundreds of thousands of Americans are hospitalized each flu season and that flu viruses circulate at higher levels in the U.S. population.

Each year, millions of children get sick with seasonal influenza; thousands of children are hospitalized and some children die from flu.

Children younger than 5 years and especially those younger than 2 years are at high risk of serious influenza complications. Newborns and infants are most at risk.

An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to reduce your risk of getting sick with seasonal flu and spreading it to others. When more people get vaccinated against the flu, less flu can spread through that community and protect our newborns, infants and children.

Read the full post on British American Household Staffing’s blog:

http://bahs.com/news/detail/why-nannies-should-be-vaccinated

How an Art Library Is Changing Lives in L.A.

Interesting article from Artsy.Net:

In 2004, Dan McCleary’s mother passed away. “My parents were avid book readers and collectors of art books,” the artist told me. “So instead of buying flowers, I told everyone to buy me books.”

That was the early genesis for a library of art books that grew to become the core of Art Division, an L.A. nonprofit space that provides free art education to underserved young adults in the city’s MacArthur Park neighborhood. As word spread that McCleary was collecting books, more donations came in from friends and fellow artists. “Chris Burden heard about it, got in touch with me and said his mother had just passed away, and did I want her books?” McCleary recalls. “He had amazing art books from his mother’s library. That was one of the big donations right at the beginning.” Today, Art Division boasts an impressive collection of over 8,000 books. And it’s still growing.

In the early days, McCleary was working as Director of Art Programs at Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), another nonprofit that primarily focused on enrichment programs for kids from younger age groups. Eventually, he founded Art Division in 2010 with help from Javier Carrillo, Maria Galicia, and Emmanuel Galvez. They took the more adult-oriented books from the collection they’d amassed at HOLA—with permission—and set up shop in a building in the primarily Latino neighborhood of MacArthur Park. McCleary geared the space towards young adults between 18 and 26 who were “not ready to go off and be full-blown adults” as he puts it, but who had graduated high school and found what miniscule access to arts training they had cut off.

The 10,000 book library is the “heart and soul” of Art Division. From there, the nonprofit offers a range of courses and access to arts materials, providing something of a “high-end Master’s program for inner-city young adults,” said McCleary. “We give them an in-depth training in the arts.” Art Division offers entirely free classes (semesters are roughly 12 weeks) in art history, painting, drawing, printmaking, creative writing, film, and more. Access to materials, like the classes themselves, is completely gratis. Students are also taken to L.A.’s numerous museums (MOCA is a 10-minute drive) to actually see the art they studied first hand—a kind of in-person education not available even to some full-time art history undergraduates at rural schools. But beyond access, Art Division is different than your normal art history course. The latter is “slide after slide and half the class falls asleep,” McCleary said. “The point is that we don’t do that. We take a good look at the actual books and go see the art.”

And, of course, anyone can visit Art Division and crack open one of the thousands of books on the shelves to guide their studies or develop their interests as they see fit. That openness and freedom is important to McCleary. Beyond the classes, Art Division serves as a space where residents can come to relax, foster ideas, and hone their art historical knowledge. “We’re open six days a week, from 11 a.m until 8 or 9 o’clock at night,” said McCleary. “People can come and eat, work in the library and do their homework, and also have access to a really great staff and faculty of artists.” The books range from monographs of individual artists to scholarly works on architecture, fashion, art therapy—the list goes on. Teachers integrate the books into their classes and if a student is researching a particular subject or artist, McCleary will make an effort to obtain the needed materials.

Read the full post on Artsy.Net

Tristan Barlow and Hans Neleman Featured in Wall Street International

Anita Rogers Gallery is thrilled to introduce the work of Tristan Barlow and Hans Neleman in an upcoming two-person exhibition. The show, on view from January 10 through February 11, 2017 at 77 Mercer Street #2N, New York, will include original oil paintings from Barlow and mixed media assemblages from Neleman. Both artists embrace bold motifs, strong colors and a sense of the paradoxical, whether it be in the playful yet dark tone of the works, the frenetic yet balanced compositions or the elegant yet provocative nature of the forms.

View the full post.

Why We Must Lead By Example And Inspire Children To Be Kind To Others

By Nicola J Rowley for Huffpost Parents

There I was, sat on a packed Piccadilly tube train at the height of rush hour. All of a sudden as I looked down, I saw an A4 brown envelope wedged between my leg and the glass partition. It contained what looked like important documents. On closer inspection, there were some travel papers including flight tickets. The person who had just vacated the seat, was now long gone but their envelope remained behind. I turned to the passenger next to me and queried what they thought should be done?

Read the full post on British American Household Staffing’s website: http://bahs.com/news/detail/why-we-must-lead-by-example-and-inspire-children-to-be-kind-to-others