STARTS AT
The Pleasure of Your Company
Overview
Walter and Leonore Annenberg are remembered as the ultimate hosts. Former guests reported that every detail of hospitality was extraordinarily custom tailored to the individual, making the experience of visiting the estate like no other in the world. For four decades the Annenbergs welcomed world leaders, presidents, British royalty, and entertainment icons to Sunnylands.
The exhibition, The Pleasure of Your Company: Entertaining at Sunnylands, celebrates the historic and ongoing social history of Sunnylands by featuring five major events that occurred there between 1976 and 2013. Ephemera and photographs of these events were made available to the public during the exhibition.
The exhibition was on view from January 19, 2014, through January 11, 2015.
Mr. and Mrs. Blue Eyes
Frank Sinatra and Barbara Marx wed near the fireplace at Sunnylands on July 11, 1976.
New Year's Eve at Sunnylands
Details for the New Year’s Eve celebration were carefully curated each year.
Her Majesty, The Queen
The Annenbergs welcomed Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Sunnylands for a historic visit on February 27, 1983.
Summit in the Sun
President George H.W. Bush met Japan’s prime minister, Toshiki Kaifu, at Sunnylands in March 1990 – a rare time an official dinner was held outside of the White House. Photo: George Bush Presidential Library
The Shirt-Sleeve Summit
President Xi Jinping of China and President Barack Obama met at Sunnylands for a historic and symbolic meeting in the summer of 2013.
Entertaining at Sunnylands
Sunnylands is celebrated as a significant historical site, both for the extraordinary estate that Walter and Leonore Annenberg completed in 1966, as well as for what transpired there. Prominent figures from the political, business, social, philanthropic, and arts arenas have convened at Sunnylands in unexpected combinations. These well-traveled guests consistently reported that the experience of staying at Sunnylands is like no other in the world.
Prince Charles described the hospitality at Sunnylands as “unbelievable.”
Dolores Hope, Dinah Shore, and Constance Towers sing on New Year’s Eve, 1988.
President Obama applauds Sunnylands staff for their hospitality during his 2013 visit.
CATALOG
The exhibition catalog, The Pleasure of Your Company: Entertaining at Sunnylands, was written by Anne Rowe, Sunnylands director of collections and exhibitions, and explores details discovered in the Sunnylands archives about each of the events featured in the exhibition.
A digital version of the catalog The Pleasure of Your Company: Entertaining at Sunnylands, is available for download.
A print edition is available for purchase in the Sunnylands gift shop.
