Administrative Records, 1935-2003, undated

Scope and content:

Topics in this series are widely varied, however they are all related to the Shangri La residence. Materials include inventories of shipments of furniture and other household items purchased by Doris Duke and her husband James Cromwell from locations such as Siam, Japan, China, India, and Europe, receipted bills and disbursements for "Honolulu", invoices, statements and vouchers relating to repairs at Shangri La (many with an "OK DD" signature), and detailed reports of expenditures for the construction and general upkeep of the residence. Also included in the series are legal documentation, including contracts, survey maps related to the purchase of the land and the construction of the home, and hundreds of recipes for a variety of meals that were presumably prepared at Shangri La (including Doris Duke's Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Milk and recipes from "Mrs. Castro"). Of particular interest are the inventories of items at Shangri La such as furnishings and decorative objects. These inventories typically include color photographs for each item as well as detailed information about when and where the item originated, when and where it was purchased, and its cost.

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Collection is open for research.

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