Photos by Andrea Rugg
Robert Riesberg & Christine Hartman in their home
The home of Christine Hartman, the general manager at the Holly Hunt showroom, and her husband, Robert Riesberg, a private antiques dealer, is a reflection of their personalities, interests, and tastes. "Home is where the heart is!" Says Hartman.
“In the summer, the sunroom is our favorite room because it looks out onto the gardens,” Hartman says. “But in the winter, the living room is our favorite, with a fire in the fireplace.”
“You don’t have to be a collector to appreciate fine art and furnishings.”
—Robert Riesberg
The couple relishes the interesting clients and experts they keep company with for work and pleasure, including their good friends, the Freys, of the family-owned luxury French design house, whom they stay with when attending the Maison & Objet trade fair in Paris every year.
"Classic art and antiques are the core of our decorating style," says Hartman.
Riesberg, who is one of the most well-respected private dealers in the United States, sells in person to local clients and catalogs online to a discerning international clientele.
"It feels like Connecticut here," says Christine Hartman of Robert Riesberg's picturesque estate on Sunfish Lake—which has five buildings on the property, including a white colonial-style main house, a lakefront cabin, and storage for a plethora of 17th, 18th, and early 19th century antiques.
