Carpets & Gardens Lecture and Tour

PBS’s Antiques Roadshow former guest appraiser Peter Pap will delve into the history of rugs including the unique characteristics of woven into these works of art by villagers and nomads from major weaving countries. Pap has been dealing in distinctive rugs for more than 45 years and is recognized nationally and internationally by collectors and designers as one of the country’s foremost experts on antique rugs, carpets, and tribal weavings. He has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, Elle Décor, GQ, House Beautiful, and the Wall Street Journal. The talk will be held at the 1883 Tudor style manse designed for Henry Lee Higginson, founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in Manchester-by-the-Sea.

The lecture will be followed by a wine reception in the home’s glorious gardens designed in the 1930s by renowned landscape architect Fletcher Steele, who also reimagined the gardens at Naumkeag in Stockbridge. The Manchester-by-the-Sea garden, dubbed Highgarden/Hyghe Contente, features Steele’s signature waterfall and reflecting pool carved from existing bedrock. Original plantings such as dwarf Japanese maple, Chinese juniper, hydrangea, and lilac continue to thrive today. A zinc statue of Poseidon introduced by Steele is also found on the lawn. Today’s owner designer Paul Stremple will share the manor house and gardens history and evolution with guests and answer any questions about this historical verdant masterpiece.

Peter Pap has been dealing in distinctive rugs for over 46 years. He is recognized internationally by collectors and designers as one of the country’s foremost experts in antique rugs, carpets and tribal weavings. He handles and brokers some of the most important Safavid dynasty carpets in the world. With galleries in San Francisco, California and Dublin, New Hampshire, Peter currently participates in the Philadelphia show every April. Peter was the only US dealer in antique carpets invited to exhibit at The Winter Show at the Park Ave Armory from 1995 to 2021. Over his 35 year history of exhibiting, he attended as many as 17 shows per year including the San Francisco Fall Show, Houston, Dallas, Alexandria, Greenwich, Boston, and Los Angeles. He has an eye for timelessly beautiful rugs, which appeal to collectors, Interior Designers, and Architects who are looking to place unique, elegant carpets in their clients’ interiors. Peter was a guest appraiser on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow for 16 seasons, and has been featured in publications including the New York Times, Elle Décor, GQ, The Wall Street Journal and House Beautiful. He also lectures extensively.