STYLE: Georgia Peach

My mothers portrait by Joseph Wallace King

Happy Mothers Day- ! Like the soft pink petals of the rose a mother never fades away she becomes a beautiful potpourri of memories and love - And I'm certainly very grateful and fortunate to still have my lovely mother-

In a funny aside, many years ago I had this oil sketch done of my mother (as a gift for my father) by the late artist Joseph Wallace King, who at that time was the only American to have painted Queen Elizabeth -!  I guess I figured if he was good enough for the queen he was good enough for my mother LOL !

An interesting fellow with an interesting background we met through Leigh Rose when I did the foyer for the Shakespeare Festival decorator show house on Arbor Road- Leigh and her husband Selwyn had moved to Winston-Salem from Beverly Hills, California where Leigh drove a Rolls-Royce - with a gold key - she told me it was in the shop more often than in her garage- through Leigh I became friends with Joe's second wife Deborah, who divided her time between homes in Florence, Italy and Winston-Salem.  Deborah and I also participated in the Gourmet Gala - which was another fundraiser charity event back then and it was a lot of fun.

Another eccentric and funny thing about Joe was that he only had one arm- imagine a one armed portrait painter !  But no one thought anything of it- he was very talented - and his first wife, Earline King, was a classically trained sculptor- they had this glamorous  house at the end of Arbor Road across from JoAnn Reynolds' estate- that rambled on and on like something out of a Hollywood version of a Connecticut country house and the most interesting thing to me was it had a very serpentine curved pierced brick wall that wrapped around the entire property which was hung with Ivy- it was amazingly beautiful- DF

NEWPORT: Quatrel on Market

Restored and inviting Ogden Codman masterpiece offers every modern amenity and comfort. Exquisitely detailed interiors flow beautifully for entertaining or just relaxing at home. This historic property includes a two bedroom carriage house. Bailey’s Beach and the Cliff Walk are a short walk away. Absolute perfection! “Quatrel” was built in 1853 and was originally known as “Fairbourne”. It was built for Earl P. Mason of Providence who was the president of the Rhode Island National Bank. The house was designed by Providence architect Thomas Alexander Tefft in the style of an Italianate villa. In 1880 the house was sold to New York lawyer and art connoisseur Egerton Winthrop. In 1903 Winthrop engaged architect Dudley Newton and Ogden Codman, Jr. to enlarge and remodel the house in the Classical Revival style. Many of Codman’s architectural drawings for “Quatrel” are in the collection of Historic New England and include elevations, details, and plans for the dining room, hall, library drawing room, and the garden and trellis. Codman was a friend of Edith Wharton, the 19th century writer and taste-maker who wrote several design books including The Decoration of Houses which was co-authored by Codman. In 1949 the house was sold to Louis and Elaine Lorillard who renamed the house “Quatrel”. The Lorillard’s were the founders of The Newport Jazz Festival. Only six families have owned “Quatrel” since it was built. You can see more here.

I found this room on "the Glam pad "yesterday and I wanted to focus on the drawing room because it represents an opulent Newport look that I've always admired- the house itself is over 150 years old and sits on famed Bellevue, across from "Rough Point" the former Doris Duke estate- inspiring!  I was drawn to the sunny color scheme and the mix of damask with chintz- so elegant and refined !  DF

KIPS BAY NY: 2019

Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club

Yesterday my associate the decorator Ruth Condit loaned me her copy of the kips Bay catalog from New York, she had just been there for the weekend to see the show house- So I was delighted and surprised to see that two pages were given to the kips Bay Palm Beach show house where my dear friend Louise had done the beautiful Loggia (pages 34-35) !  There's nothing quite as exciting as kicking off spring with a visit to the kips Bay decorator show house in New York City- I remember going there back in the 80s every year and the Rigaud candles would be burning like mad- so fabulous and so inspiring!  DF

GLORIA: Inspiring Forever

Gloria Vanderbilt via VOGUE

MY MODERN MUSE GLORIA VANDERBILT IS SHOWN ABOVE IN HER FORMER GRACIE SQUARE APARTMENT, NOTICE SHE IS HOLDING A FAN IN HER HAND!  The beautiful chintz on the walls and her headboard was obtained from my old friend Ron Grimaldi at Rose Cumming in Manhattan-

This image reminds me somewhat of the time I had to go over to the Park Avenue apartment of
Anne Ford to look at the carpet in her bedroom- In researching Ms. Vanderbilt I discovered that many bloggers have written about her including Heather Clawson of habitually chic and Mark Sikes- No surprise as she is an eternal inspiration- But I also came across this fabulous Interview
with her from interview magazine online- a very interesting follow -up to the video I had posted on her a few days ago from Wendy Goodman of The Cut - enjoy!  DF

NEOCLASSIC: Focal Point

Dean Farris Interior Design (c) 2019

This evening view of the east end of my "cottage" living room also known as the penthouse living room features a beautiful porcelain bust reproduction by Maitland Smith-

And as mentioned before I've had quite a bit of fun with my pillows and Chinese fan and the overall placement of the furnishings in this grouping- Which includes the teal painted Louis XV style open armchair in creamy white Jack Lenor Larsen Linen with the gold lame' under backing-(from Albert)  empire style pedestal and turquoise damask pillow from Blaze Interiors, Miromar Design Center.  DF

BOOKS: Stacked

Dean Farris Interior Design

As my collection of design books has grown significantly I've had to make a decision as to whether to put them on shelves or stack them on tables- So I came up with having most of them stacked in a library shelf in my home office but I decided to put some of my favorite ones on tables stacked throughout my living room and dining area- And while the idea of a library/dining table is nothing new I enjoy it because it gives me a place to display some of the more decorative ones-  And I've noticed that it's easier to reach them when I want to look at them if I have them readily available-  DF

DECORATIVE: Chinese Fans

Dean Farris Interior Design 

I was out shopping yesterday and came across these charming  and inexpensive Chinese fans. One dollar!  The chic of high-low!!  Orientalism- exoticism- ! They reminded me of when I had visited the townhouse of Angelo Donghia many years ago- he had fans which I believe Richard Giglio had made propped in different rooms in his house there on the upper East side of Manhattan- The memory of which I still relish- This entrée was due to the fact that I had Reginald Charrier as an instructor at the Art Institute of Atlanta and he was able to get us in - he later worked as a draftsman for Parish Hadley-

Another thing I noticed which I got a kick out of was my plate (antique Mintons plate) had Chinese fans on it as well- so decorative!  These fans were also popular with Karl Lagerfeld and were seen throughout the 1970's disco era- fun! CHIC! C'est chic, Le freak ! DF

R.I.P: Jayne Wrightsman

Jayne Wrightsman via NYSD

I was interested to read about the passing of the late connoisseur of French decorative arts, Jayne Wrightsman, the wife of Charles Wrightsman -who was known as Charlie.  Old Charlie was an heir to standard oil in Oklahoma and Kansas and Jayne was a party girl in Los Angeles before she became Mrs. Charles Wrightsman- what a fabulous legacy she left behind- the Wrightsman Galleries at the Met are my personal favorite.

My client whom I had mentioned yesterday had given me a copy of the Michael Gross book "740 Park" when we first met- Which I really enjoyed and still reference occasionally so I did not realize that Mr. Gross had come out with a sequel to that book.  "Rogues' Gallery, The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money that Made the Metropolitan Museum" - Apparently this book sheds light on how the very rich in Manhattan would use the museum for social entrée including Mr. and Mrs. Wrightsman- So of course I jumped on Amazon and ordered a copy!  I found it interesting that the Wrightsmans were considered nouveau, but I suppose I should not be surprised -

It would be fun and interesting to hear what Gloria Vanderbilt would have to say about the social ascent of Mr. and Mrs. Wrightsman in Palm Beach and New York-  I was Browsing some of the quintessence videos on YouTube and came across this fabulous one about Gloria  Apparently her son is helping her sell her art on her Instagram account and she's having a great success!  As I've written here before on my design blog Ms. Vanderbilt has always been and always will be a great inspiration to me.  She is the eternal definition of style and New York elegance!  DF

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COTTAGE CHARM: DFID

Dean Farris Interior Design

Not only was I thrilled to get a referral from a previous client I also just received another one yesterday- This latest client referral is an especially interesting one for me as it (originally) came from the office of the late Albert Hadley in New York-

My delightful client saw the apartment of Betsy Bulleit here in Naples and loved what Albert had done there -so she was referred to Alberts office and Nancy Porter there referred her to me!  This was many years ago and so I was delighted to receive a call yesterday from this client who now has four homes on the East Coast of the United States-  Looking forward to sharing some updated images with you from this latest refresh of an existing decorating project-! DF

MARBELLA DESIGN: Vilma Kovar

Vilma Kovar Miromar Design Center

Currently at the Miromar Design Center, we are showing outdoor furniture settings in our beautiful atrium.  Please do stop in and see all of the wonderful selections and curated collections-

I was especially fond of this setting created by Vilma Kovar of  Marbella designs- And we have 12 other settings to see which are also very beautiful- ( plus over 45 showrooms) - hope to see you soon!

We are located at 10800 Corkscrew Road, Estero, Florida.  DF

LAYERED: Mr. Dean's

Dean Farris Interior Design (c) 2019

In my own flat I'm partial to this warm and cozy layered look.  One of the first things I did when I knew I was getting this apartment was to have new curtain panels made for the sliding glass doors- Later on I used my chairs as holdbacks since I was inspired by John Fowler, Pauline de Rothschild - and Ann Getty-

Professor Stanley Barrows was quoted as saying that the best rooms combine a classical approach with a romantic approach and that also factored into my desire for a layered look in my own apartment- The natural light is something that I'm especially fond of after having been in a very dark apartment for the past few years.  While this room is far from perfect it's a small space that I enjoy arranging, changing and thinking about -as well as using on a daily basis-!

In a way it's an homage to some of my favorite decorators and Designers such as Billy Baldwin,Tom Britt, Albert Hadley, Angelo Donghia, John Fowler,  Georgina Fairholme and Mario Buatta- And I've included their books to remind me of my friendships with these iconic decorators over the years.  Because of these fine gentleman (and ladies) I enjoy discovering and promoting the work of  new, young, up and coming Designers!  DF

MR. BEES: Southern Style

Matthew Monroe Bees for Kips Bay Showhouse 2019

Happy May 1! Remember when I had posted about the decorative object known as an obelisk?  Well surprise, surprise, look what Mr. B's used in his Kips Bay room- he's one of the up-and-coming young Decorators  that we keep hearing about - and it's great fun to see this 80's revival look coming into play- Here he used a pair of obelisk in malachite and I especially am partial to the pair of chairs in the ikat pattern-  tres' jolie ! Tres' chic!  DF