Albert Hadley on Illustrations

About eight or nine years ago, I had the opportunity, thanks to a friend, to meet privately with Albert Hadley. Because our meeting was one of those "pinch-me" moments (at least, it was for me,) much of what we discussed is a blur. But Mr. Hadley made one comment that I will never forget. He said that today's magazines feature too few illustrations.  His comment struck a chord with me, because I'm an avid fan of illustrations, especially those of interiors.  When executed by a deft hand, interior illustrations can convey a room's personality in a way that photography simply can't. 

Take these illustrations, for example, which appeared in a 1934 issue of House & Garden.  Depicting an "all-metal house in a traditional style" (the house's architect, Robert B. Carr, specified that the make-believe structure be constructed of "enameled metal shingles over steel braced structural walls",) the illustrations show an inventive marriage of Regency-style flourishes and then-cutting-edge finishes.  What I find so beguiling and, yes, inspiring is the style of the illustrations.  They are colorful and concise in a way that really captures- and even amplifies- the decorative essence of each room.  And because the rooms are anonymous, I find it easier to imagine myself inhabiting these spaces.  Finally, although there are dated elements to these rendered rooms (that fish-tank table in the living room illustration should be left to the 1930s,) many of the colors and decorations still look fresh today.  Can't you just see the bathroom's bright blue door with gold star (see below) in a stylish home of today?

Would magazine pages full of interior illustrations fly in today's world? Probably not.  But I agree with Albert Hadley that interior illustrations still have relevance.  The benefit to such illustrations is that they stimulate the reader's imagination, requiring the reader to flesh out details and adapt the illustrated ideas for use in his or her home.  And it's imagination that gives design its flavor and its personality.   

Seventies Redux

You've likely heard by now that Seventies style is back in fashion...again.  Much has been written about this latest bout of Seventies fever, which seems to strike those who didn't experience this decade the first time around.  Under the circumstances, it only seems fitting that we revisit a few interiors that were published in 1970.  I don't think we should copy that decade's decorating room for room, but there are elements in each of these chosen interiors that, when taken out of their 1970s context, are really kind of fabulous.

So, what were prominent decorators up to at the dawn of the 1970s?  Let's start with Albert Hadley, whose Manhattan living room is shown at the top of the post.  I'd say that's a room that looks terrific no matter the decade.

Editor's Note: Since I wrote this article last week, I have read two more articles about the allure of 1970s-style, one in Bazaar and the other in T.  I think this post will be the last on Seventies style for a while. 

You could say that the bedroom of designer François Catroux and his wife, Betty, reflects a very specific moment in time. However, you could also say that Catroux was forward-thinking in the way he decorated this space. Innovation helped to drive decorating through the 1970s.  It was anything but a stagnant decade in design history.

The U.N. Plaza apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Schneider, which was decorated by Burt Wayne and John Doktor.  I admire the chrome furniture as well as the David Hicks carpet, but those vertical blinds and stalactite diffused lighting?  Not so much.

The London dining room of Mrs. John Duffield, which was designed by Count Alessandro Albrizzi.  Albrizzi also designed the octagonal glass dining table as well as the carpet.  Just imagine the dinner parties Mrs. Duffield hosted in this room...and just imagine how exhilarated Albrizzi must have felt while decorating this room.

Designer Val Arnold was behind the décor of this card room, which boasted then-de rigueur flamestitch fabric.

A sophisticated pink palette, courtesy of Milo Baugham, who designed this living room.

Designer Arthur Elrod chose this colorful triptych by artist Helen Munkacsy for his Palm Springs vacation house.  Bright, bold colors were a hallmark of 1970s decorating.

Designers Stuart Blaine and Robert Booth used colorful wall decorations (the canvases were painted by the designers) as a counterpoint to their living room's neutral color palette.  The furniture, not to mention that Stark antelope-print rug, look just as good today as they did back then.

Between you and me, I kind of like vinyl wallcovering, but only if it's high-quality.  The dark brown vinyl-covered walls and ceiling look dramatic, if not slick, in the Milan home of antiques dealer Dino Granzin.

Designer Thomas Britt went for it with camel-colored plaid in the New York City apartment of Bernard Relin.

Albert Hadley: A Heritage of Riches

I want to invite my New York readers to join me on Monday, September 24 at the Avenue Antiques, Art, & Design Show at the Armory. I am very excited to be participating in a panel discussion titled Albert Hadley: A Heritage of Riches. Moderated by Inge Heckel, the presentation will also feature Bunny Williams, David Kleinberg, Britton Smith, and Diana Quasha. The event will include remembrances of the great Mr. Hadley as well as an overview of some of his most memorable interiors. Needless to say, I am honored to be included in a tribute to the designer who has so inspired me.

The event starts at 10 a.m. There are also many other interesting events that are part of this show. For more information, please click here. I look forward to seeing you at the Armory!

Country in the City

I'm still trying to complete my collection of Architectural Digest books. Just recently, I bought Architectural Digest American Interiors, published in 1978. I have to say that it's not one of my favorite AD books, but there are some profiled interiors that still look charming today.

Take, for example, this Upper East Side home of designer Thomas Morrow III. What's unique about the home is that it is an 1835 farm house that was built on the former Carnegie estate. (Because it was listed as a New York City historical landmark, I'm assuming that it's still there. If you know, please tell me.) According to the book, the house still had its original paint and 18th c. wallpaper when Morrow bought it sometime in the mid-20th century. Morrow said that the house had been neglected for years before he purchased it, although its structure was sound and its floors were in remarkable condition. While Albert Hadley helped Morrow to make a few architectural changes, it was Morrow who was chiefly responsible for the design of the interiors.

What's notable is that in addition to being an interior designer, Morrow was also an artist and a textile and wallcovering designer whose firm, Hannett-Morrow, was based in the house. You can see many of the firm's textiles in the photos below. What I find most interesting is that the adjoining living rooms look like a very elegant and glamorous New York apartment (one with overtones of Albert Hadley and Billy Baldwin,) and yet the other rooms like the master bedroom, the dining room, and the conservatory look like something straight out of a quaint country cottage. It's kind of an anomaly, and a most striking one at that.




There were two adjacent living rooms, each being 15 by 20 foot. The two photos above show one of the living rooms...







...while these photos show the other living area.






The Library. The artwork above the mantel was done by Morrow as well as a few friends.





A guest bedroom looks like something straight out of a French country house.





The master bedroom was like a sophisticated, stylized version of a country bedroom.





The rustic dining room.





The conservatory.







All photos from Architectural Digest American Interiors, Richard Champion photographer.

Sister Parish in Maine

I suppose, in a way, it's fitting to end the week with photos of Sister Parish's homes in Dark Harbor, Maine. Homes is plural because, as you'll recall, she owned both a winter house in town as well as a summer place that was down the road.

At first glance, it's a heady mix of floral chintzes, stripes, and patchwork. But take a good look at the rooms and you'll see evidence of Sister Parish's projects: decoupage, needlework, and floral arrangements that she attended to daily. They add such a homey touch to the interiors, don't you think? In fact, these photos make me want to take up decoupage. Well, almost.


The Summer House


Mrs. Parish's sitting room. The rug was Irish made. The interesting looking corner cabinet held sweaters.




No, not Yummy, but rather Desmond the Pekingese.

Mrs. Parish's needlework sat beneath a faience jug of sunflowers and green tobacco leaf.


The Winter Town House


The town house living room. The fabric on the sofa was an Albert Hadley design.



A town house arrangement of lettuces, chicory, nasturtiums, beedtops, and parsley was done by Parish's daughter, Apple Bartlett.



A guest bedroom at the town house. The headboards were upholstered in quilts from West Virginia, while the bed spreads, also quilts, were made in Kentucky.



Mrs. Parish decoupaged this old mirror.



Mrs. Parish's town house bedroom with its four different floral chintzes.



A hallway that led from the greenhouse to the living room.


All photos from House & Garden, March 1971, Horst photographer.

My Tribute to Albert Hadley

It's with a very heavy heart that I'm publishing this post, one that I hope will be a fitting tribute to Albert Hadley. As I'm sure some of you are aware, Mr. Hadley died early this morning in his hometown of Nashville. It's strange how very sad I feel, especially considering the fact that Mr. Hadley and I were barely acquainted with one another. And yet, I feel as though I knew him quite well. His work resonated with me like that of no other designer. And truth be told, no other designer has taught me as much about design and living as Albert Hadley did.

There have been very few times in my life that I've been struck by the proverbial thunderbolt, but one indeed hit me while reading the Elle Decor cover story on Albert Hadley's Manhattan apartment (February/March 2000.) If there is such a thing as a perfect home, that was it. Yes, the rooms possessed more style and flair than most of us can ever hope to achieve in our own homes, but what mattered more to me was the apartment's complete lack of pretension. His home was just that: a home, one in which he surrounded himself with objects that had meaning for him or that simply struck his fancy. You could tell that nothing was chosen for show, but rather because it spoke to him. And in turn, his apartment spoke to me.

One of my dreams in life was to meet Mr. Hadley. I was fortunate enough to have spent time with him on three different occasions. But before meeting him, we had corresponded by mail. Shortly after starting my blog, I sent out holiday cards that I had designed using a photo of Sister Parish goofing off and holding an empty Jeroboam up to her mouth. A friend suggested that I mail a card to Mr. Hadley, and so I did. He responded with a very gracious letter in which he wrote, "Sister Parish would be thrilled to be the Christmas card for "The Peak of Chic"! I don't recognize the photograph, but she's certainly belting it out."

A few months later, I had a private meeting with him at his office. He was very generous with his time, answering all of the silly questions that I asked him. I was struck by his mild manner and his still-mellifluous Southern accent that seemed little affected after years of living away from the South. Seeing that I was a fellow Southerner, he was especially interested to show me framed drawings and sketches of the work that he did at Rosedown Plantation in Louisiana. I realized after that meeting that Mr. Hadley was not just a great designer, but a kind and courtly gentleman as well.

That was not to be my only meeting with Albert Hadley. Close to four years ago, the editors at House Beautiful assigned me an article to write about a wonderful Manhattan apartment designed by Mr. Hadley and his then associate Harry Heissmann. (House Beautiful, April 2009.) Once again, I made the journey up to the offices of Albert Hadley Inc., only this time I was armed with my tape recorder, pad, and pencil for an interview. I suppose that if there is to be one plum writing assignment in my life, that was it!

Mr. Hadley was the best kind of decorator. His primary concern was to create homes for his clients in which they could live comfortably and live well. He catered not to his whims but rather to the needs of his clients. And most impressive to me was that he encouraged young designers to get educated in the history of design and the decorative arts. He believed that without this foundation of knowledge, decorating with any kind of authority is difficult at best.

I realize that my tribute to Albert Hadley might border on hagiography, but death has not elevated Mr. Hadley to legend status nor design sainthood. He achieved that long ago during his exalted career. And it might seem hackneyed to say that his passing marks the end of an era, but in my mind, indeed it does. I feel fairly certain that the word "branding" never crossed Mr. Hadley's lips. And I do wonder if a humble, thoughtful person like Albert Hadley could succeed in today's world where never-ending self-promotion has become the norm.

There are other masters of design practicing today, and for that we should be thankful. But there will only be one Dean of American Decorators, and for me, Albert Hadley will bear that title forever.





Some of my favorite Albert Hadley and Parish-Hadley designed interiors:



The Manhattan apartment of Albert Hadley.



A mid-1970s era Manhattan living room in which Parish-Hadley used a mix of Alan Campbell fabrics.



A Palm Beach guest house bedroom. (Parish-Hadley)




A garden room at a Greenwich, CT show house. (Parish-Hadley)



Brooke Astor's Manhattan apartment. (Parish-Hadley)





The Manhattan apartment of the late Glenn Bernbaum of Mortimer's fame. (Parish Hadley)



Mr. Hadley's former country house in Tarrytown, New York.




A Manhattan bedroom designed for a bachelor. (Parish-Hadley)



Decorated by a young Albert Hadley, this room appeared in a 1959 Vogue article, "Summer on a Shoestring".



The guest sitting room of the Leonard Davis house, Palm Beach. (Parish-Hadley)



The "Dog Sitting Room" in the guest suite of the late Brooke Astor's apartment. (Parish-Hadley)



Mr. Hadley's Kips Bay show house room from 2001, "Homage to Van Day Truex". (Albert Hadley)




Mr. Hadley's Southport, Connecticut house.


All interiors photos with the exception of the first are from Albert Hadley: The Story of America's Preeminent Interior Designer by Adam Lewis and Parish-Hadley: Sixty Years of American Design by Christopher Petkanas, both terrific resources.