Welty
upholstery in his amazing Tao House, in Danville,
California, decorated in the 1930s by his wife, Carlotta.
O'Neill is, after all, of the early to mid-twentieth century
and one sees in Tao House earmarks of the eclecticism—
with a touch of exoticism—in decoration which began
at mid-century: a superb collection of masks, African,
Chinese, Japanese, Noh and American Indian; good
Chinese furniture, ceramics, rugs, screens and lamps,
much culled from Gump's department store in San
Francisco.
O'Neill's was a tortured temperament, given to drink;
under Carlotta's stewardship, Tao House provided what
the playwright called "the final home and harbor for me,"
one in which he completed the plays that many consider
HYLAND
