Reclusive Billionaire 'Grandbunny' Mellon Celebrates 100th

Local Kicks hoped to show you a photo of Bunny Mellon, but there are no photos available of the reclusive billionairess. At least since 1968. And before that, 1946. Even The New York Daily News had to settle for a 1962 photo of Mrs. Mellon, while photo-rich Vanity Fair has plenty of photos of Mrs. Mellon's farm and Lady Gaga in its August 2010 issue, but alas, none of Mrs. Mellon. Here, a photo of a tree gracing Rokeby Road in Upperville, on the manicured estate of Mrs. Mellon, who with her late husband Paul Mellon (who died in 1992), was once the richest couple in the world.

By Marcia A. Chidester
 
UPPERVILLE, VA. - At 100 years of age, it appears little is slowing down Rachel "Bunny" Lambert Mellon, widow of the late philanthropist and billionaire Paul Mellon, who celebrated her 100th birthday last week at her sprawling, 4,000-acres estate in Fauquier County's horse country.  
 
Last month, Mrs. Mellon, who is publicity shy and has not been photographed publicly since 1968, gave a long, breezy interview to Vanity Fair Magazine in which she allowed an extensive interview and photo tour of her beloved Oak Spring Farm - but no photos of her.  Last year, she gained notoriety when she was questioned by the FBI for her role in funneling campaign contributions through an intermediary who was assisting the mistress of presidential candidate John Edwards.
 
Last week, Mrs. Mellon's guest list was short, numbering only 14 family members and close friends to attend the three-hour party at her estate in Upperville, Mellon's attorney Alexander Forger told The Fauquier Times-Democrat.
 
Among the guests was Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy. Mellon was close friends with Schlossberg's mother, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Schlossberg, who flew to the event with Forger, supplied 100 candles for the cake.
 
Toasts to Mellon abounded during the event, Forger said.
 
"All the family toasted 'Grandbunny', as she is called," he said. "It was a very happy occasion."
 
Beyond her significance as the widow of a philanthropist, art collector and thoroughbred breeder, Mellon was accomplished in her own right.
 
 During Onassis' White House years, Mellon advised her about fine arts and antiques.
 
As a self-taught botanist, Mellon designed the White House Rose Garden and the East Garden, which was finished after Kennedy's death, and dedicated as the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden.
 
Mellon also assisted in the restoration of Louis XIV's Potager du Roi in Versailles, France.
 
Mellon has a library of more than 10,000 books about botany, Forger said.
 
"She's made major contributions to education about plants, where they came from, how they arrived," he said. "She is an expert arborist."
 
Before the celebration started last week, 80 farm employees gathered under Mellon's windows to sing "Happy Birthday," Forger said.
 
Guests wore party hats during the festivities and sang songs from World War II, with piano accompaniment, he said.
"I think [the party] represented a glorious celebration of a life long-lived," Forger said.
 
Marcia Chidester writes for The Fauquier Times-Democrat in Warrenton, VA., from which this is excerpted with the paper's permission.