Hi John,
I just love that article about Grayson and Sam's country home. Incidentally, there was a followup about what the same decorator (Harrison Cultra) did with their New York apartment--I believe this was the Sept. or Oct. 1983 issue. For this number, a scene in the Halls' apartment made the COVER of the magazine. The essay, which had been planned as a showcase of Cultra's skills, became a memorial to him as he passed away very suddenly in the Summer of 1983.
Yes, it is true that the house was named Wildercliff when it was first built in the late Eighteenth century---if you can believe it, in the 1790's. Talk about coincidence.
"Windcliff" was a house in an Edith Wharton novel. It was also the name of an actual estate in the Hudson Valley area--can't recall just now whether it was in Dutchess or Columbia County. If the house still exists, I believe it is now a ruin.
Steve