Biography

Writer, photographer, dairy farmer, philanthropist, and long-time Litchfield, Conn., resident, Sonia Phipps Farrell Seherr-Thoss was the granddaughter of Henry Phipps, a partner of steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie and the daughter of Henry Carnegie Phipps and Gladys Livingston Mills Phipps. Sonia, who went by the nickname Sunny, grew up in Roslyn, Long Island, New York; New York City; and Palm Beach, Fla. She married Hans Seherr-Thoss, nicknamed Boysie, in Palm Beach, Fla. in 1948. Both had children from previous marriages. Also in 1948, the Seherr-Thosses purchased property in Litchfield, Conn. They established Butternut Brook Jerseys, a dairy farm, in 1956, which they ran until 1966. They also had residences in New York City and Wickenburg, Ariz. With her husband, family, and friends, Sunny Seherr-Thoss traveled extensively to such places as Europe, Russia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran, India, China, Japan, Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and the Galapagos Islands. In 1968, the Smithsonian Institution Press published Design and Color in Islamic Architecture: Afganistan, Iran, Turkey. Written by Mrs. Seherr-Thoss, the photographs were taken by Mr. Seherr-Thoss. Following his death, she wrote four more books. She was active in philanthropic activities in the Litchfield area.

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