As a landlady of Mogosoaia, Martha Bibescu resided at first in Elchingen Villa, the palace proper being uninhabitable. There, in Marie-Nicole’s chalet, “her aestheticism strove for and succeeded to tame the banality of some rooms lacking any plan or proportion, by changing the tone and rhythm of the details. It was there that she initiated the fashion of whitewashed walls, liberated from any ornament or decoration, of large spaces, of black sashes, windows and doors, of big flower pots ranged on the floor, of comfortable low chairs and tables.”
In September 1912, while living now near Posada (in the castle G.V. Bibescu had at Comarnic, Prahova County), now at Mogosoaia, Martha Bibescu started the restoration works with a team of Italian craftsmen led by the Venetian architect Domenico Rupolo. The materials the palace interiors needed for decoration were also brought from Venice, where the princess accompanied the architect. Rupolo is the man who conferred the palace facades a Venetian appearance: he removed the old plaster and treated them in face brick. “The new clothing, much more durable – Grigore Ionescu appreciated -, added the edifice an accomplished colour interplay: the ashy grey of the stone columns, balustrades, arches and consoles did harmonise perfectly the patinated red of the bricks swept by the rain and scorched by the sun for so many years.”
The works advanced slowly, due both to their complexity and mainly to the war that was going to break out. However, life went on at Mogosoaia. In August 1913, Martha Bibescu welcomed there the Romanian royal family, King Charles I and Queen Elisabeth – the latter seeming to her “a didactic fairy” -, and a year later, on September 26, 1914, she invited at dinner princes Ferdinand and Maria, heirs apparent to the throne, Prime-Minister Ionel Bratianu and his wife Eliza, Simona Lahovary, hostess’ cousin, Leon Ghica-Dumbraveni and I.G. Duca.
Two people used to keep company to Martha at Mogosoaia in the period: Princess Maria, the future queen of Romania, and Emmanuel Bibescu. The close friendship between Princess Maria and Marha Bibescu was strengthened by their artistic affinities too. “We shared the same love for beauty – Queen Maria remembered -, and this made us close friends for years. Both of us enjoyed gardening and flowers, we liked to imagine strange and original dwellings, to collect antique stones or discover mysterious, unexplored places, old churches, deserted houses and so many charming things to which other people pay almost no attention. We liked books and poetry, beautiful colours and far off bell tolls; yes, we resembled in many respects.” As for Emmanuel Bibescu, an intense passion turned kinship (he was a cousin of Martha’s husband) into an intimate relationship.
