By MARK VANHOENACKER
Wandering Ventfort’s fabulous rooms, it’s hard to imagine how close it came to demolition. The site’s rescue was assured only in 1997, as ice encroached on the parlor and the dismemberment of its interior architecture was already under way. Today, telltale blond highlights scattered throughout the original woodwork, darkened by age, testify to years of meticulous restoration.
