Yesterday brought the sad news of designer Betty Sherrill's death. For decades, the New Orleans-born Sherrill was the doyenne of American decorating. Having joined McMillen Inc. as a young designer in 1952, Sherrill later became the firm's president, a role for which the talented designer seemed made. Under Sherrill's tutelage, McMillen Inc. operated in the upper echelon of the design world and continued to maintain the high standards set by the firm's founder, Eleanor McMillen Brown.
Visit any of the marquee buildings of New York's Upper East Side, and you'll likely find a number of McMillen-designed apartments. This is no coincidence. Betty Sherrill moved in the same social circles as many of her clients, who have included members of society, industry, and royalty, and with her innate understanding of luxury, taste, tradition, and discretion, Sherrill and her staff became the go-to decorators for those seeking help with their manses and their maisonettes. Betty Sherrill knew how her clients wanted to live, because she lived in a similar fashion.
Although her death marks the end of an era, it does not mark the end of McMillen Inc. With Sherrill's daughter, Ann Pyne, now serving as President and her granddaughter, Elizabeth Pyne, working on staff as a designer, the firm is poised to remain one of this country's premier design firms. With a legacy that includes Eleanor McMillen Brown and Betty Sherrill, it shouldn't be any other way.
Photos of Betty Sherrill's homes from The Decorator by Florence de Dampierre and The World of McMillen: Sixty Years of Interior Design by Erica Brown
In recent years, McMillen has become even more of a 'quiet quality' firm, producing attractive interiors that the owners would not want published even if the magazines wanted to. There is plenty of room for firms like McMillen in the industry, keeping a steady course with a focus on comfort and traditional design, and I predict continued success.
ReplyDeleteJohn, So true. It's reassuring to know that the children of long-time McMillen clients are now employing the firm to decorate their homes.
DeleteThe white and green room is beautiful but the first and the last rooms are very subtly so. The book about McMillen you mention - is that the second or has another never been published?
ReplyDeleteBlue, As far as I know, the book, "The World of McMillen..." is the only one about the firm that has been published to date. It came out in the 1980s.
DeleteMrs. Sherrill was a great friend of our family. She was so lovely to me as a newcomer, always inviting, interested and gregarious. She had a great sense of humor and a great dislike for exclusionary behavior, which I looked up to. She loved when the children came for a swim and showed them the secret stash of m&m's, they loved her. She was one of the finest ladies I will ever be graced to know. End of an era most definitely.
ReplyDeleteAll the damask-covered furniture definitely speaks of a different era, but the rooms hold up beautifully. I wonder what the story is on all the ceiling lights in the first room (and the little chandelier way off at one end).
ReplyDeleteDear Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteAnother great post on another very iconic firm and a lovely lady. I was most fortunate, as I had a friend who worked at McMillen, and she used to let me wander around in the offices and I even saw the magnificent drawing room, which was set up to show clients the look- it was all very proper. Then too, I often saw Mrs. Sherrill out shopping, when I worked on the gift floor at Bergdorf's and she always looked so snappy and attractive. I heard that her daughter has also written some novels about society, which I have not gotten round to reading just yet. My mentor, the late George Clarkson, had a similar clientele to McMillen, and so, I was lucky to see see of the most elegant homes in Manhattan, Long Island, and Connecticut, as well as meeting his clients- thanks for the beautiful tribute to an elegant arbiter of classical decorating.
Jennifer, It is amazing to see work completed decades ago that still resonates and looks fresh. Proves that thoughtful floor plans and comfortable furnishings can last a lifetime. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteDear Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteMy query isn't so much a stylistic one as a linguistic one: I am British, as you know, and am bemused by the expression "marquee buildings". In Britain, a marquee is a large, glorified tent - typically, one in which weddings are held, end-of-term lunch parties at public (i.e. private) school, cricket matches or regattas. But "marquee buildings"? In Britain, a "manse" is the house of a protestant (non-conformist - perhaps Methodist) minister (as opposed to the vicarage or rectory, the house of a Church of England priest). So what is a "manse" in the States? And a maisonette, in the UK, is what you in the States would usually call a "duplex". Are you simply being quaintly, alliteratively British in using this word, or is there a third meaning that escapes me?
What fun!
Kind regards, and thank you for following that board of mine on Pinterest! I hope you like the renderings I posted on it :-)
Toby
Toby, we tend to use the word "marquee" as an adjective, which means "well-known". So, a marquee building on the Upper East Side would be 740 Park, for example, which is one of the most high-profile buildings on the UES. In American realty parlance, a maisonette can be a duplex, but one which has an exterior door. I *think* that a maisonette can be one floor only. And the word "manse" is simply another way of saying "mansion". So, although I didn't make a British connection when using these three words, it is interesting to learn of their British definitions. :)
DeleteJennifer, thank you for the explanations (gosh, marquee = well-known?), which only lead to more questions! What is the "UES"? Perhaps something to do with the "Eastern Seaboard"? A maisonette in British "property" (as opposed to "realty") parlance is simply a flat (i.e. apartment) on two floors, regardless of whether it has an exterior door, but absolutely, definitely, on two floors (i.e. maisonette - a "little house" as opposed to a bungalow). How fascinating. And in the UK, the only word that is used for a house is a house - whether it's a castle or a suburban semi-detached...
ReplyDeleteThank you, as always, for your interesting post, which has taught me a great deal on more than one level.
Take care,
Toby
Upper East Side.
DeleteMy mother, Ann Pyne, is writing a second book on McMillen, to be published at either the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015. (Fingers crossed for 2014 to correspond with our 90th Anniversary Exhibition at the New York School of Interior Design, which will open on September 18th!) Thank you again for your post, which made everyone in my family and at McMillen so happy!
ReplyDeleteSo sad to hear about Mrs. Sherrill's passing. She was indeed a significant figure in the history of interior design. She was a true American classic.
ReplyDeleteJennifer , Mrs. Sherrill will indeed be missed and yet remembered always for her elegant, classic design aesthetic!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena